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Riding Trains Between Cities in China--Hard Sleeper ClassJul 07 '01 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Cheaper than flying, saves the cost of a night in a hotel, and lets you experience the reality of China. Traveling between cities in China by overnight train can save you money and let you to experience the "real" China. It is cheaper than flying and saves you a night in a hotel. In May 2001 I toured China "adventure-style" for 15 days with a small tour group. The itinerary included one evening train ride, and three overnight train rides in "hard sleeper" class accommodations. I'd like to describe these rides. The trips were Beijing to Xi'an (overnight, 14 hours), Xi'an to Luoyang (evening, 7 hours), Luoyang to Yichang (overnight, 12 hours), and Guilin to Guangdong (overnight, 13 hours). Because I was with a tour group, someone purchased our train tickets for us. Therefore, I can't give any advice on purchasing tickets. When you enter the train station, police require you to put your luggage through an x-ray machine. After that, you make your way to an enormous waiting room. Shortly before boarding, a queue formed at our gate. We got on line, went through the turnstile, and down a passageway to our train. When you buy your ticket, you are assigned a specific bed in a specific car. After you board, a conductor comes around and takes your ticket. He places it in a book, and gives you a medallion. Just before you get off, another conductor comes around, takes the medallion, and gives you your ticket back. The purpose of this routine is not clear. China's trains have three classes of accommodations: hard seat, hard sleeper, and soft sleeper. Hard seat is self-explanatory. In hard sleeper the railroad car is divided into about ten doorless cubicles. Each cubicle contains two three-level bunk beds, so up to six people can fit in a cubicle. Each bed comes with a thin mattress, a blanket, a pillow, and a pillowcase. Between the bunk beds there is a small table and a large steel thermos bottle for hot water. An aisle run along one side of the car so the conductors and passengers can move around, and push carts selling food, beverages, and toilet articles can get through. There are bathrooms with Asian-style "squat" toilets at both ends of the cars, and a machine that dispenses boiled water for drinking. An overhead luggage rack is mounted to the aisle wall. Also attached to the wall are small pull-down seats so passengers can sit and look out the windows when it is light outside. People sit on the lower beds or the pull-down seats talking and eating until the lights in the car are dimmed, usually around 11pm. Then, most passengers try to get some sleep. In the morning, cleaning people come around to empty the wastebaskets and sweep the floor. All the trains we rode were fairly clean. The train we rode from Beijing to Xi'an was the most modern. The other three were older. On all trains there were some toilets that didn't flush properly. Smoking is not permitted on the train, but this rule is widely broken. Steve Carr scarr34@lycos.com  |
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