China Travel Answers

Well, be prepared, because trains can be overbooked at that time, but still, there are lots of trains every day anywhere, like almost every hour. I don't know any other way to book the tickets except buying it in travel agency. I think, there are too many destinations in such a short time on your plan. There is nothing in Hohhot anyway:) I have been to Hohhot last year and yes, it is an advanture, but because there are no tourists and ... services, no accommodation. Think about places you want to see and use planes if you can.

here is the trains: Shenzhen--Guilin T38/T39 17:57--06:42(the next day) Guilin--Nanchang 1558 00:43--16:01 Nanchang--Huangshan 2240 14:24--23:07 Huangshan--Shanghai N420/N417 21:44--10:44 There are a lot of trains from Shanghai to Xi'an. The same as from Xi'an to Beijing.Just be careful that there are four railway stations in Beijing (east, west, north and south), and the trains from Xi'an arrive at the north and west railway stations. There is no direct train from Beijing to HK. you will have to take train first arrive in Guangzhou or Shenzhen,and then take bus or train to HK. You'd better book the tickets before since late July and August are the hottest touriurist seasons in China.

Check the train times yourself (also gives distances and fares) travelchinaguide.com/china-t... You're certainly zigging and zagging across China - Guilin and Xi'an are in the west, Shanghai and Beijing in the east. Regarding sleeper accommodation, there are two basic levels, hard sleeper and soft sleeper. However personally I didn't notice any difference in comfort level, it's just that soft sleeper is more private. I find hard sleeper quite adequate, but make sure I get lower berth - the headroom lessens on the way up. Wait until Ellyse is back from her holiday and she'll tell you about Huangshan... You can't usually book tickets more than about a week in advance, not online either, and you can't usually book tickets in a different province either. Best thing is to queue up as soon as you get off, then fit your plans around what you get! or fly - http://english.ctrip.com/

NB no direct train Beijing-HK, although there is one from Shanghai. (on that previous link use Kowloon as the destination).

Shenzhen -- Guilin: T38/T39 (1757--0642) 12h45min If you're aiming to go to Yangshuo, there're also direct overnight buses for Shenzhen -- Yangshuo: yangers.com/Shenzhen_to_Yang... Guilin -- Nanchang: 1558 (0043--1601) 15h18min Why are you going to Nanchang for, anyway? Nanchang -- Huangshan: 2240 (1424--2307) 8h43min Huangshan -- Shanghai: N420 (2144--1044) 13h00min OR 2184/2181 (2211--1107) 12h56min Best overnight timings for Shanghai -- Xi'an: T138/T139 (1556--0758) 16h02min T116/T117 (1632--0738) 15h06min K560/K557 (1749--1354) 20h05min T52/T53 (2048--1152) 15h04min Also, why not go directly Xi'an -- Hohhot instead of detouring through Beijing? Xi'an -- Hohhot: 1676/1673 (1220--1021) 22h01min Best overnight timings for Hohhot -- Beijing: K274/K275/K277 (2030--0826) 11h56min 1116 (2106--0748) 10h42min K90 (2123--0720) 9h57min K218/K219 (2210--0923) 11h13min K264 (2228--0843) 10h15min 1186 (2338--0955) 10h17min There ARE direct Beijing -- Hong Kong trains, T97 leaving every other day (even-numbered days in August) taking 24 hours: it3.mtr.com.hk/B2C/UserPage/... Any more queries you could also email me at ellyse99@yahoo.com -- do put "VirtualTourist" and your own username (eg drewdixon) in the subject line, thanks.

You see! What did I say? I said as soon as Ellyse is back from her holiday, she'll tell you all you need to know.

This is a "Cut and Paste" from my general post in Railways in China. I mention the X'ian train trip in it as well as a wealth of information as I travelled the same routes you did almost. Feel free to contact me for more information. The number one method of transportation from city to city is by train. One nice thing about train travel (and often similar by Bus) is there are many night trains and for example, there is a 9:30 pm over-night train to Xi’an from Beijing that arrives in Xi’an (give or take) at about 11:00 am. This saves you a lot of time and saves the cost of accommodation. First thing you really have to know is it is impossible to buy a return ticket to/from anywhere. It’s all one way travel or a line up to return hopefully on the day and time you wish to return. The second thing to know is tickets go on sale only five days prior to the date you want to depart … and … they sell very very fast. Some tips on getting your tickets: When you arrive at a station, if you know the date you want to continue on to your next destination, get your ticket while you are at the station. There is, in most stations, a “Foreigners Wicket” (remember you are the Foreigner) , it will be lined up with local Chinese travelers but what you can count on is someone who can speak reasonable English and knows not to sell you a hard seat (coach) ticket no matter how cheap it is , no matter that it is the last ticket to where you want to go and how much you want to buy it. I too will tell you not to buy it. If you actually get a soft (coach seat for over-night) seat, there will be small plastic stools in the aisle, and when they are full people just sort of sit on the floor anywhere and that means on the floor at your feet. Coach or as they call it a soft seat or a hard seat is okay for a day trip but over-night, no way. The soft seat is more comfortable, more space without having people sitting on your lap. Soft or hard has little to do with how soft or hard they are. It’s something lost in translation and is the same as second or first class. A soft sleeper vs. a hard sleeper is quality and a soft sleeper is a small room with six beds in it and hard sleeper is best described as a “dormitory on wheels”: (see pictures). You will be amazed at how you can pick out the Chinese who can speak English. They are often about 20 something and female. Most younger people in China speak some level of English and one thing that is nice in China is that almost all and any signage anywhere is in Chinese and in English. So finding the a “Foreigners Wicket” is easy. A “Foreigners Wicket” will sell a ticket to any destination, however, if there is no a “Foreigners Wicket” then you will need to read carefully which wickets sell which tickets and it is best to test your skills at finding that 20 something female who understands English so you can make sure you are in the right line up ... why? Because line-ups can be anywhere from an hour to three hours long. When I was in Xi’an all the students were going home, at the same time, for the summer and it took me over three hours to buy my ticket. Be warned that people do and will butt in line and you must quickly learn the skills of not letting them because they think that you as a “Foreigners” will be an easy target to jump in front of. Outside the station there may be lost of people literally camped out, with tents and sleeping bags. When this occurs, just wait to see the line ups inside. Did I mention how stifling hot it can be in a train station? You do not need any documentation to buy a ticket but once in Guangzhou, while on board we were asked to show our passports and the information was written down. It is either because Guangzhou is a special economic zone or there was someone bad on the train they were looking for. As always, keep your passport close to you at all times. Before queuing up to the next stage make sure you pay one last visit to the washrooms and most stations have lots of food stalls with a great selection of "Train Food". (Noodles, candy, chips etc etc) Next on the rails is the Hall or waiting room before proceeding to the platform. Signage in English is generally good and you can match your Train Number on the ticket with the Train Number for the line up in the waiting room. Often there is someone there to direct people to the correct que. You will know when it is time to move to the platform when four or five hundred travelers run at the same time for the gate. If you have a sleeper (berth) it is assigned so don’t feel too obligated to play the cattle call game to the platform. If you get to your room or bed, expect someone to be sleeping it in. It happens, not often but it happens. You get used to these sort of things. In the West we have a smaller circle of personel space drawn around us than do the Chinese. You get used to it and I think your ccircle gets smaller the longer you stay. You can insist on new sheets and I always bring my own pillow case. In a soft sleeper the room is you and five others who you will get to know better than you may care too. The Chinese are accustomed to this form of travel and will be very friendly and helpful. If you are on the top bunk, you may find the ceiling only 12 inches away. The middle one is best. The bottom bunks are a “free for all” and it is expected that the bottom bunks will be shared by all during the day to sit on. The price difference between a lower, middle and top bunk in a sleeper is quite a variance as is the difference between the soft sleeper and hard sleeper. Most will bring food onboard the train and dry dehydrated noodles that you add water to are most popular. If you forget to bring your own, you can buy some onboard as well as beer, orange juice with extra extra added sugar and other stuff best described as muck. The Chinese are very regimented with their meal times, expect line ups at the hot (boiling, can burn badly) water tap to fill up your noodle container. You can also go earlier or later and people will think it is odd you are eating so early or late. Lights seem to got out around 11:00 pm as well as the annoying looped traditional Chinese music which is so culturally interesting for the first hour. In the hall way of the train there are large picture windows that have little drop down seats to sit at and a samll table. Smoking is not allowed in the trains except in the compartments between trains and no one seems to play their own music perhaps the iPod has alleviated us from that possible annoyance. Expect to surrender your ticket to an official who keeps it for you and replaces it with a plastic card much like a credit card. When it is time for you to get off the train they will come by and collect that card and give you the ticket back. Its almost impossible to miss your stop or sleep in as they make it their duty to see you are off the train when your tickets says you should. At most stations you need to show the ticket to exit the station. I have no idea why and if you lost your ticket, a blank stare at the officer will likely get you through as they would rather not have an incident when it is more likely than not that you had a ticket. The ticket will be in Chinese as well as English but is convoluted all the same and confusing trying to figure things out as translations are often less than perfect. Watch out for pickpockets at train stations. There is minimal crime in China but when people want to get home for Spring Festival and other important times of the year, they get desperate if they are poor and petty crime increases at train stations. One interesting thing is that it is easy to get a refund on a ticket up until departure (less any travel agent fees if you used one). I have done this and I have heard people who never even used their ticket and got a refund days later but that I have not done. Trading seats or sleepers once on board is not easy if at all. If you buy a train ticket from a travel agent, like the bus, the agency fee is not returned in a refund and often the ticket is a lot more expensive as everyone takes a “cut” from the Hotel or Hostel to the Taxi driver who delivers the ticket and anyone else who thinks they are doing you a favour. I have seen some tickets almost double in cost buying them from an agent or a Hostel. Hotels are the worst for this. I guess I’ve pointed out a lot of warnings and concerns but you know it is very enjoyable and just because it is different from what we are used to, it amazed me how soon I became used to it and where I could not, I always referred to it as a “Cultural Experience”.

Just a couple of points arising from the previous post: 1) Soft sleeper is only four-berth, in a cabin with a door; hard sleeper is 6-berths per bay (no door), i.e. triple bunk beds 2) There is a water boiler in every carriage, for tea, noodles, whatever. I carry a small basin plug with me, so I can use that hot water, via the thermos supplied, to wash in the otherwise cold water in the public wash room. Don't forget a towel! 3) Ticket refunds are 90% of price paid before you travel. After time of travel I don't think you can get anything - certainly I didn't when we missed a train in Xi'an. On the ticket it tells you in fact that if you want you can transfer to another train within 3 days. But that's only the actual ride; any sleeping accommodation is lost.