A subway train adorned from floor to ceiling with cartoon hand paintings depicting the Maritime Silk Road history of Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, starts making the rounds across the city on May 20, 2015. [Photo: CFP]

A subway train adorned from floor to ceiling with cartoon hand paintings depicting the Maritime Silk Road history of Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, started making the rounds across the city on Wednesday.

The train has six cars that display Ningbo's historical relationship with the ancient trade waterway, as well as Ningbo's downtown trading areas in the modern age. The train cars are labeled as such: "Marine Silk Road"; "Posthouses on the Marine Silk Road"; "City Light"; "Neon Colors of the Youth Time"; "Exploration into the Future".

It is the first subway train in the country to be decorated with cartoon images in hand paintings. The cartoon illustrations mainly depict scenes from both ancient and modern times around Ningbo's Sanjiangkou District, where the Yongjiang River, Yaojiang River and the Fenghuajiang River converge and flow into the sea.

The train is now running on the Tiantongzhuang Section on Ningbo's Subway Line 1, as part of the city's efforts to promote China's "One Belt and One Road" Initiative.