“Of course it can!”, says Xu Yifa, a lifelong servant of China Railways, “There can be no argument. China has been to all the countries with high speed rail and then taken the best parts. We are now the most advanced high speed rail nation in the world. We can build it for you easily.” Mr Xu began his career nearly 40 years ago shoveling coal into steam locos — he estimates he’s personally shoveled 8,000 tons of coal - before becoming a diesel-electric driver and now an official on the Beijing-Shanghai line.