An employee of China Mobile tests the download speed at Rugao Shuihui Park. [Photo/WeChat account: rugaofabu]

The 5G network currently covers major scenic spots, transport hubs and commercial centers in Rugao, a county-level city in Nantong, local media reported on May 8.

Rugao Shuihui Park, a national-4A level scenic spot, was connected to the 5G network early in January.

The park received an average of 3,000 tourists every day before the novel coronavirus outbreak, according to the report. People can enjoy download speeds of up to 1Gbps, 10 times faster than  4G network.

"I just bought a 5G mobile phone few days ago. I was pleasantly surprised to have to 5G network in the park. I thought it was only available in big cities," said a tourist surnamed Zhang from Suzhou.

In March, Rugao Railway Station became the first county-level railway station to receive 5G network coverage in Jiangsu. The peak download speed is also more than 1Gbps.

"I upgraded seven apps on my phone within 10 seconds. It's amazing," said a passenger surnamed Zhang.

According to an employee at the station, the internet connection was slow during peak travel periods, but the problem has now been solved, with the average speed reaching 700M to 800M per second.

Rugao had built nearly 100 5G base stations by the end of 2019, and more are expected this year.

China had built a total of 198,000 5G base stations by the end of March, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The number of users has surpassed 50 million.