Coach travel throughout China

Coach travel throughout China
Apr 12, 2008 10:06
JABAROOTOO Points: Join Date: Jul 4, 2005 Status: offline	There seems to be some misconceptions about travelling by bus throughout China Some concerns are naturally related to safely but when you consider the volume of road transport and the numbers of people travelling in buses then the odds are pretty good. Obviously it is impossible to travel everywhere by train but there is no reason to avoid travelling to major centres by bus. Long distances buses between most cities are usually 'Coaches' of similar standard to those you would find anywhere else in the world, some with on board toilets and a hostess dispensing drinking water etc. These coaches can only carry the number of passengers they legally have seating for so are never overcrowded and they are always air-conditioned and no smoking applies. Long distance coaches leave at regular intervals, as often as every 10 mins between some cities and generally cover the distances much more quickly than the train if it is an option although the train can sometimes be cheaper by about 25%. One of the drawbacks for bus travel is the number of different coach stations that any given city actually has with buses sometimes not returning to the one that it originated from. there could be as many as 8 or more in really large cities and two or even three in quite small ones. So if you are planning return trips_keep your outbound ticket for a reference when buying a return ticket. For travel of six hours or less I personally prefer to take the bus. In many areas there is no other option Than to take the bus. I have seldom had a bad experience considering the number of hours I've spent on local buses. Just like train travel you can interact with the other passengers as much or as little as you want. Trains of course are much more practical for those longer distances where an overnight trip can save on and double as accommodation but you often travel through country at night which would be wonderful to experience in the daylight. And lastly, always check for cheap flights for those longer distances. Sometimes the saving in time can be worth spending a little more than the cost of a sleeper.

Apr 12, 2008 10:06

JABAROOTOO
Points:
Join Date: Jul 4, 2005
Status: offline

There seems to be some misconceptions about travelling by bus throughout China

Some concerns are naturally related to safely but when you consider the volume of road transport and the numbers of people travelling in buses then the odds are pretty good.

Obviously it is impossible to travel everywhere by train but there is no reason to avoid travelling to major centres by bus.

Long distances buses between most cities are usually 'Coaches' of similar standard to those you would find anywhere else in the world, some with on board toilets and a hostess dispensing drinking water etc. These coaches can only carry the number of passengers they legally have seating for so are never overcrowded and they are always air-conditioned and no smoking applies.

Long distance coaches leave at regular intervals, as often as every 10 mins between some cities and generally cover the distances much more quickly than the train if it is an option although the train can sometimes be cheaper by about 25%.

One of the drawbacks for bus travel is the number of different coach stations that any given city actually has with buses sometimes not returning to the one that it originated from. there could be as many as 8 or more in really large cities and two or even three in quite small ones.

So if you are planning return trips_keep your outbound ticket for a reference when buying a return ticket.

For travel of six hours or less I personally prefer to take the bus. In many areas there is no other option Than to take the bus. I have seldom had a bad experience considering the number of hours I've spent on local buses. Just like train travel you can interact with the other passengers as much or as little as you want.

Trains of course are much more practical for those longer distances where an overnight trip can save on and double as accommodation but you often travel through country at night which would be wonderful to experience in the daylight.

And lastly, always check for cheap flights for those longer distances. Sometimes the saving in time can be worth spending a little more than the cost of a sleeper.

Apr 13, 2008 09:27

APAULT
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Join Date: Mar 11, 2006
Status: Offline

Very thorough Jabs. I agree coach travel is generally quite safe and comfortable, though I have been on one or two driven by would be rally drivers! I must say my experiences are a little different and that I have frequently experienced overcrowding and sometimes smoking. In many instances the bus is checked to have no unseated passengers as it leaves the bus station, then 100m down the road the rest get on. Everyone knows this is happening, but it is on no-one's job description to do anything about it, so it continues. About 3 times, say 1% of my trips, there has been an en-route inspection, on two occasions the inspector has used a camcorder to take pictures of the passengers.

There are also sleeper buses which provide minibunks to sleep on (or try to) on overnight trips. My observation is that most look as thiough they have already done about a million kilometres and there are few new ones.

As Jabs says, once you have worked out where you can catch a bus, they are a good way to travel.

Apr 13, 2008 10:08

JCNILE123
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Join Date: Mar 30, 2006
Status: Offline

Per my personal experience, I think China have a great bus service,

I have travel long distances on china long-range buses, very comfortable and faster than train.

In a trip from Guilin to Haikou we travel on the second class bus that have beds, (NO first class available from Guilin to Haikou) to me that was a novelty because we don't have that in America.
Therefore, we travel on second class, passengers onboard were all common people, but I enjoy the service, the drivers were very polite and patient with my lack of experience on a common bus and zero of Chinese understanding on my part.
I think I got a lot for the money, my wife do not like bus traveling, she prefers train because she thinks airplane is too expensive, we negotiate it to our satisfaction, because I don’t like train too much, main reason; to many people in one place for too long.

Personally, I take airplane first, first class bus second and train last for long-range travel.

On the other hand, I love to travel on the small rural buses that stop on every kilometer mark,
It is a great learning experience to see how the average people go on with their daily life.

Apr 13, 2008 11:07	#3
ELLYSE Points: Join Date: Oct 30, 2005 Status: Offline	I must be travelling in a different China from all of you. The outstanding "nice" bus rides that I've taken could be counted on the fingers of 1 hand, or maximum on 2 hands!

Apr 15, 2008 07:45

JABAROOTOO
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Join Date: Jul 4, 2005
Status: Offline

Hey Ellyse

You'll have to get out and about more. From shanghai there should be some quality buses going places like Suzhou, Nanjing etc. I do most of my travel these days by bus and generally they a of good quality. It's really only in the rural regions where there are only one or two buses a day or even only one or two a week that they are of poorer quality. And you can understand when everyone uses them to carry their
livestock etc from place to place because they do not have private transport.

Yes Paul, some drivers could do the Dakar Rally I'm sure.

You'll find better quality sleeper coaches on routes like Guangzhou to Yangshou but these are few and far between. Mostly they are very cheap and you get what you pay for and mostly men who smoke non stop take these buses.

I had one trip travelling with my mother and sister but we didn't get much sleep mostly because of the condition of the road. everyone was very friendly and one of the drivers were interested in collecting foreign currency for his collection.

Apr 15, 2008 10:30	#5
ELLYSE Points: Join Date: Oct 30, 2005 Status: Offline	Jaba: Sorry, I think I'm already one of those who get out and about the most! I never go to Suzhou, Hangzhou and Nanjing from Shanghai by bus, simply because the trains are faster and cheaper.

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