| Is it worth travelling hard seat? | |
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| May 31, 2007 12:53 |   |
 | For newcomers, hard seats are not hard but there are 10 seats in a space compared with 8 in the soft seat carriages. In the past I have travelled 'hard seat' on the trains with the only problem being the shortage of space. There were a few people standing (as extra tickets are sold without a guarantee of a seat). In the last week I had a rerserved seat but I couldn't get to it because there were so many people standing in the aisle. Even if I had claimed my seat there were 9 people in the 6 seats on one side, 8 squeezed up on the seats and one standing in their legroom. Maybe the situation varies around the country (this was in Hebei) but the loading levels appear to have increased. In future I will not travel hard seat. What are other people's recent experiences? |
| May 31, 2007 17:02 | #1 |
| Apault, I recently moved from Wuhan, P.R.C. to Weixin, P.R.C. (Yunnan Province) and chose to take the train to get there. I opted to get a "hard sleeper" ticket because the train ride lasted 22 hours. The trip was very memorable as I met many friendly Chinese people who, again, helped me to further my knowledge of the Mandarin language. Hard seats, although economical, are very uncomfortable. Therefore, what you want to do is buy or hard or soft sleeper ticket because you get a bed rack to lie down on. Once all your baggage is lifted onto an overhead rack, you are free to wander to the dining car, or wherever you like. Hard seats can make for a very long, uncomfortable journey. Along the way, I must have written down at least 10 people's names and phone numbers who lived in Kunming. When I am back in Kunming this summer, I will have contacts of Chinese-speaking locals who will show me more of the lovely "Spring City". __WINDENERGY__ |
| May 31, 2007 20:54 | #2 |
| I think i've been traveling too luxuriously. Next time I want to try a hard seat just for the experience of traveling like most Chinese people do. It sounds so very exciting! |
| May 31, 2007 21:02 | #3 |
| hey PAUL my suggestion is do not take any seat ticket.especially during 5.1 or 10.1 for 2 reasons: 1.there are tooooooooooooo many people and so crowd. 2.there are many thieves on the train. they do not take sleep ticket because it cost too much andit is easier to steal among the mess of people.they can change seat from place to place. the thing is, you foreigners are considered rich people. believe me ,they will pay extra attention on you. and ,hey WINDENERGY , you were in wuhan ???? that is my home town!!!!! i born there and grow up there. what a pity did not know that earlier. if i do, i could suggest some excellent place. haha |
| May 31, 2007 21:36 | #4 |
| Hi Apault, I agree with JLEE0. Travelling on trains during the 3 Golden Weeks (May, October and Spring Festival) is just horrible. Too many people. Having said this, I have done it, and with a standing ONLY ticket during Spring Festival - but it is not an experience I would like to repeat. However, outside of these times, I have always found travelling by train, hard seat or hard sleeper, an enjoyable experience. Whilst still sometimes busy, there is usually no problem getting your allocated seat. Once, when I couldn't get to my seat, the conductor saw my ticket and evicted the person who was in my seat, I felt a bit bad about that though. I will ususally use a hard seat if the journey is less than 8 hours. More than that and I'll get a hard sleeper if possible! |
| May 31, 2007 22:26 | #5 |
| travelling hard seat in trians during a major holiday is understandably or rather expectedly bad due to the hugemonous crowd. But travel on a weekday - its ok; but on normal weekends will be packed too. Its economical. However for longer trian travels; if one buys the soft seat - then its actually just a notch cheaper than flying only - so do check the fares and air fares too before one decides on a soft seat for long journeys. |
| Jun 1, 2007 02:14 | #6 |
| If it is not a long distant ride, you may try hard seat. But do avoid Golden Weeks! |
| Jun 1, 2007 04:02 | #7 |
| I travelled on hardseat several times, each trip more than 10 hours long...man it was trying! The last one I took to Pin Yao was overnight--I couldn't get any proper shut eye, and when I got off the train my calves were visibly swollen and had to sleep a whole morning away to make it go back to normal. If you ask me why I did it--I had a tight budget, and it was a good experience anyway despite everything...But I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who's squeamish about been in a super crammed and closed space with possibly sweaty/dirty/noisy people (no offense to the passengers but the hardseat is usually populated by peasant and workers), with the possibility of not able to go to the bathroom or get off for food for long hours... |
| Jun 2, 2007 04:05 | #8 |
| Hard seat, or even hard stand (hard seat ticket with no seat booked), is a must-do experience, kind of a coming of age. You must experience it once, especially in a Golden Week. However, it is best avoided, if possible. Actually, on May Day last year my wife and I took a hard seat train from Beijing to Dalian, and although it wasn't pleasant, it was certainly a lot better than we expected. Guess it depends on your route, your train (that Dalian one was a double-decker job), time of year, etc.... |
| Jun 2, 2007 10:11 | #9 |
| My travel was last week... not a golden week. I have travelled hard seat before and it was acceptable, not too many people standing. My point was that my experiences this time were so different and I don't recommend it to anyone...despite many posts in here saying it is not too bad |
| Jun 22, 2007 05:58 | #10 |
| Hi Although my questions does not relate to travelling on Hard Seat, but I read some things in this thread that might relate to me. I have a trip to China from October 3rd to 9th, and I will take trains 4 times in this period. I cannot modify the dates, so I just have to put up with it. Will it be safe to travel on the Soft Sleeper class even with the crowds? I am not too afraid of thieves, but 20 hours on a train, I guess I will close my eyes for sometimes, and wouldnt like to be robbed. Someone said before that this period is specially a good chance for thieves to board trains, so I am just wondering if the Soft Sleeper car is affected or not. I will likely to leave my stuff behind (except my passport, money, etc) when going to the wash-room, but wouldnt like to get back to my seat/bed finding no luggage. Thanks, Ben |
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