| Which is a better method of traveling, bus or train? | |
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| Nov 15, 2007 12:29 | #11   |
 | Security is not a problem on trains. Your neighbours will keep an eye on your stuff. Yes there are security guards...police actually, but don't be concerned that they will be checking on you, I doubt it. If anything they will ensure you are ok on their occasional tours of the train. It's often not a case of whether the train is better, but whether you can get a seat/bed. Bus is the standby, though I will sometimes take a train part way if that is available and then hope to find another bus or train...but it can be a hassle!. The problem with buses can be locating the right bus station(s), there are usually several. The staff do not usually know where buses travel to from the other bus stations. (Incidentally buses are sometimes called coache, using the UK word). |
| Nov 17, 2007 22:15 | #12 |
| If you are travelling more than say 800km and there is a train going your way, book a soft or hard sleeper. You may have to wait 3 days! The bus system is actually fantastic with regards to availability, price and ease of securing a ticket. The standard between large cities is good. They will stop for lunch and frequent toilet stops. Of course the bus is the ONLY way to get to many smaller places and we found were more convienient than trains because the bus stations were always less crowded than rail stations, you could usually find a friendly official to help you (if you can speak a little Mandarin) and you could always be guaranteed that there would be a bus departing within 2 hours to the next place on your journey. You need a map with English/Chinese characters so that you can point to the place where you want to go. In the mountains you will feel a little unsafe but hey China is a land of humps. You have to treat the journey as an experience....the arrival time may be out by 30%. In general they seem to enforce no smoking on express/luxury buses and they sometimes have a toilet on board. On rural shorts hauls which can be 12 hour trips you have to enforce no smoking yourself if you are strong enough. Trains/planes .....easy peasy but if you want to experience raw China at close quarters get on the buses. |
| Nov 28, 2007 14:13 | #13 |
| GUEST65717 | How do I get to Yongle Palace 永 樂 宮 from Xi'an? |
| Nov 29, 2007 01:15 | #14 |
| Is that the Yongle Gong in Shanxi province that you're talking about? |
| Nov 29, 2007 09:42 | #15 |
| I really, really want to try long train rides in China but never got the chance when I was there. Maybe next time. |
| Nov 29, 2007 12:13 | #16 |
| >>BILLYBAXTER: On rural shorts hauls which can be 12 hour trips you have to enforce no smoking yourself if you are strong enough. Trains/planes .....easy peasy<< >>SHESGOTTOBE: I really, really want to try long train rides in China but never got the chance when I was there. Maybe next time.<< Shesgottobe I don't know if you mind smoking, but if you do, I would think twice before you embark on a train ride in China! I made a terrible mistake this summer when I took a train from Guangzhou to Shanghai. I was told that there was no smoking on the train when I bought my ticket. People (mostly men) were smoking throughout the entire 30 hour trip! They lit up in between the cars but the smoke travelled throughout the train. It turned into a horrible nightmare. A day after I arrived in Shanghai I got sick (picked up a cold) because I lacked sleep from the train ride and my body's resistance was way down. I vowed I'd never take a train again in China. Billy what was your experience like in the 'easy peasy' trains regarding smoking? |
| Nov 29, 2007 15:00 | #17 |
| It all depends on who you are, where you are going, how much money you have to spend, You will get what ever you pay for. Some people have caviar taste with a sardine budget. |
| Nov 29, 2007 19:19 | #18 |
| >>It all depends on who you are, where you are going, how much money you have to spend, You will get what ever you pay for. Some people have caviar taste with a sardine budget.<< Hi JC, So are you saying that they have real non-smoking trains that you can pay for? If so, how does one distinguish the real ones from the fake ones? Would it be the price? And what happens if you pay the extra RMB and some people start to light up? What do you do then? |
| Nov 29, 2007 19:52 | #19 |
| Canada, No at all, you misunderstood me. To be honest to you, just to hear people’s experiences; to this date, I have avoided a train journey in China. As you know, our train service is very limited, in the USA. Therefore, I am not in to the train thing, I prefer other. In fact, first class bus in China is far better than our greyhound service in the USA. |
| Nov 29, 2007 23:43 | #20 |
| Smoking isn't allowed in the train carriages but allowed in the space in between carriages. Of course the smoke can travel, but still the smoking situation on trains is much better than on buses! |
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