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mainland china trains
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| posted by whisper 686 days ago |
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Could anyone tell me if I need to book well in advance for trains within China itself? Eg. from Guangzhou to other places like Huangshan, etc. Time of travel will be end Dec to early Jan.
Also another question, just to be prepared for it-- are the trains non-smoking/ do you have a choice of non-smoking trains?
How about the trans-siberian train?
Thanks!!
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| posted by Mango 686 days ago (edited 686 days ago) |
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Even China is a developing country they have excellent websites where you can get all the information. On the other hand a call to the nearest travel agent also can answer all your question first hand.
I have gooooogled a bit for you and found the link below.
http://www.china-train-ticket.com/
almost always friendly and polite
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| posted by Wile E Coyote 685 days ago |
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Though my China train travel experiences aren't recent, they are extensive. I never bought my tix long in advance. Would buy 'em from the train station when I decided on the next leg of my trip - usually day of to two days in advance.
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| posted by Juno Watt 685 days ago |
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whisper > Most carriages are supposed to be non-smoking. At least that's what the signs say. But people still smoke in them. Your best bet is to find a carriage which isn't chock-full of people -- in that scenario, smokers will often go out into the corridor.
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| posted by kamote 685 days ago |
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you can usually get a train ticket easily. it is good to get it in advance maybe a week or two at most if you are travelling on a weekend or during holidays because the ticketing stations get full of people. buy directly in the ticketing booth and not with the people standing around and offering tickets. anyway, thier tickets are legit but a little higher priced.
The place to be happy is HERE and the time to be happy is NOW.
Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.
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| posted by kamote 685 days ago |
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and yes, most of the coach are supposed to be non smoking. but people still light up.
there are also choices of seats or bed. soft or hard. shared or private. depends on the length of travel you will have.
The place to be happy is HERE and the time to be happy is NOW.
Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.
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| posted by kamote 685 days ago |
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mango... the site prices is a bit high.
just for example from shanghai to Hangzhou K807 17:35/20:22 ?0„520 (US$33)
i dont recall paying that high.. it should be only around 50 RMB if bought in the station.
The place to be happy is HERE and the time to be happy is NOW.
Don't be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.
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| posted by ish 685 days ago |
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Dont believe whats on the site.
I lived in shanghai for 5 years, and the shanghai hangzhou ticket was only 30 odd rmb for soft seat one way.
Have travelled all over the country by train, usually try and get a soft bed if its long distance, 4 beds in a cabin, if you lucky the people are non-smokers then great, otherwise a polite reminder does get them to stop smoking since offically the trains are supposed to be non-smoking, december is not a peak time there, so you can usually get tickets 2 to 3 days in advance, except the Lhasa train, i have been told thats booked up for the next couple of months..
Most train stations usually have a "foreigner counter" where they are very helpfull, other option would be to ask your hotel business center to help you get, the surcharge is not that high, if by somechance you get a hard seat or hard bed on a long distance train and want to upgrade, just go to the particular carriage and usually the attendents (depending on how you speak to them) will help you upgrade your ticket (at a fee) but they do give you receipts.
Over my 15 odd years in china, i cannot recall any unpleasent train experience, great way to see the place and get a "feel" of the people..
"A good friend will come and bail you out of jail...but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn..That was brilliant!"
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| posted by whisper 685 days ago |
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Thank you all! I would stick to buying the tickets last minute then 
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| posted by Juno Watt 685 days ago |
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Yes, I never had any trouble buying tickets at the last minute. Just carry a map and point to your destination in Chinese, and smile a lot. You will usually get friendly service.
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| posted by whisper 685 days ago |
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How about from China back to eg. Shenzhen/ Hong Kong? I don't wanna fix a location in advance to depart from when returning to Shenzhen/Hong Kong.
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| posted by hongkonger 684 days ago (edited 684 days ago) |
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I often take the Shenzhen > Guangzhou train every couple of weeks, never once booked in advance. At the counter costs about RMB 80 (single). Even if all seats are taken, they still sell tickets and you have to stand....
If you want to take the through-train HKG Hung Hom Station > Guangzhou it costs more, cost about $200+ (single) last time I used it, could be more by now, probably better to buy those tickets in advance, although I have used the CTS counter at Hung Hom station to buy last minute tickets.
Incidentally, I wouldn't ever consider travelling by train during the golden week/CNY holidays unless your are well practiced in the art of push n' shove.......
We will consume 85 million barrels of oil today, what's going to be left for tomorrow?
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| posted by Wile E Coyote 684 days ago |
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Surprised that no one's mentioned the train's toilets.
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| posted by whisper 684 days ago |
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hongkonger > Thanks so much for the info!
Wile E Coyote > I don't wanna think about it...
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| posted by hongkonger 684 days ago |
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quote:
Originally posted by Wile E Coyote
Surprised that no one's mentioned the train's toilets.
mostly ok at the start of a trip, to be avoided at ALL costs after any long haul trip!
at least mainland trains have cabin service, some nice (NOT) snacks available
We will consume 85 million barrels of oil today, what's going to be left for tomorrow?
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| posted by whisper 683 days ago |
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Just how bad is it??? I thought it's a hole or something. Sorry for ignorance.
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