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Thread: Traveling by Train in China

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[quote=DANIEL                  ,252]I have toured almost the whole country by train, and I must say that's the safest and most comfortable way of discovering the country!Which class?I routinely opt for the hard sleeper as it's economical, yet comfortable enough. The only drag: The attendant will turn off the light when she pleases (often as early as ten p.m.!). I think this is nanny state mentality! Soft sleepers have doors you can close, and in some you can keep the light on (on your bunk). The latest hard sleeper carriages also have a special night lamp to each bunk - you can read after curfew!Availability of ticketsa little tricky sometimes, but a great way of avoiding disappointment is by going to a travel agent inside a luxury hotel. They may get preferential service at the train station for their guests, and it won't cost you an arm and a leg - say 30 kuai, sometimes 20 per ticket. You don't even have to be guest at the hotel! In Kunming: Go to the King World Hotel; in Guangzhou go to the BAIYUN HOTEL; elsewhere find a 4/5 star hotel!Why trains?First of all, you are ten times safer than on the road! China is one of two countries in which I sat in a bus involved in a serious traffic accident (I survived with minor scratches in Turpan). Also, you can bond with some of your fellow travellers; this is less often happening now, but it used to be easy to beco0me friends with Chinese tourists or home returnees!Thirdly, it's a great way of seeing some landscapes en detail while you are comfortably ensconced in your seat; carriages now are air-conditoned. Speed:Chinese trains on average are a bit slow, but they have been making tremendous progress over the last ten years! Initially, their average speed was around 60 km per hour; now it often surpasses 100 on long-haul routes! And then, there is a high-speed train being considered between Shanghai and Peking that will travel at well over 200 km per hour; if the German supplier of Maglev technology will be accepted the train will race at over 500 km per hour; if it's a conventional ICE or TGV from Germany or France respectively, or a Japanese Shinkansen, the speed will still top 250 km an hour. Which places to visit in Guangdong?I think, Macau is a good choice, very good one, before entering Guangdong. What next? Shunde (Daliang), Zhuhai (next to Macau), Guangzhou, Zhaoqing; give Shenzhen a wide berth, and you can also forget about Dongguan. where are you going from there?[/quote]

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