Trains in China
China has one of the largest and busiest rail networks in the world, and trains link almost every town and city. Some people may still imagine Chinese trains to be old-fashioned and crowded. In fact, some routes still used traditional steam engines until 10 or 20 years ago. But today the best trains are very modern and comfortable and safe.
Trains in China have four classes: soft seat, soft sleeper, hard seat, and hard sleeper. Short distance trains normally have just hard class seats, or sometimes hard seats and soft seats, but no sleeper bunks. Long distance trains have soft and hard class sleepers as well as a few cars with hard seats, the so-called “cheap seats”. Soft sleepers have comfortable 4-berth compartments with full bedding provided. Hard class sleepers have bunks in an open-style dormitory cars, usually arranged in bays of 6 (upper, middle and lower) on one side of the aisle, with pairs of seats on the other side of the aisle for daytime use. For long trips, both hard class and soft class sleepers are quite comfortable, but soft class does provide much more space and privacy.
The most important trains on the Beijing-Shanghai, Beijing-Hong Kong, and some other routes also have deluxe soft class with 2-berth compartments as well as the normal 4-berth soft class. Of course, most long-distance trains have a restaurant car serving full meals.
So, how do you book a train ticket?
Reservations for the best Z-category express trains open 20 days in advance, but for most other trains bookings only open 4-10 days before departure. The rules appear to vary! However, you can't buy a ticket before bookings open. You can generally only book a train journey at the station where your journey starts, so (for example) the reservations office at Shanghai can sell you a Shanghai-Beijing ticket but not a Beijing-Xian ticket. You would have to purchase these tickets when you arrive in Beijing, so allow for a few days wait or else have someone in Beijing buy the tickets for you. Berths are best booked at least 2-3 days in advance, apart from peak periods (mainly the Spring Festival, May Day holiday, and National Day in October) when tickets should be booked as soon as reservations open. Many people travel during these times and tickets can be scarce.
Trains with a 'Z' in the train number are the best trains with the most modern coaches. "Z" stands for 直快, indicating that it arrives at the destination with little or no interim stops. Trains with a 'T' in the train number are the next best. The “T” stands for 特 as in 特快, 'extra' fast. Trains with a 'K' in the train number are just 快 'fast'. They will stop at many more stations along the way and generally take much longer to arrive at the final destination. At any rate, traveling by train is a great way to see the countryside and meet other travelers and local people along the way.
Editor:Wang Ping Source:CCTV.com
