China high speed rail

[elvintay07]

Something I have learned after taking many HSR.

1. if can buy first class or business class. The standing ppl will swamp around second class seats
2. Try to queue early or very late because the PRC will bulldoze you. If got kids then may kana stampede.
3. Always bring 25” luggage or smaller. The big ones no place to store unless you take business or first class. Or unless you think you can fight and win PRC
4. Take didi also try not to take at the designated area. I may take the metro to 1-2 station away else you will see a mad rush like Covid

 

[beanstalk6]

I am looking at trip.com for high speed trains from Xi An to Beijing. Some timings state that the departure is Xi An while some state that it is Xianbei. Are they two different stations and which is the better option, when departing from Novotel XiAn The Bell Tower hotel?

There are 2 train stations in XiAn. Xian Station is just outside the north city wall and your hotel is right smack in the middle of the city within the walls. The route can be walked, but I advise against it when you have luggage. North Station is a great deal farther.

 

[jywy2005]

Something I have learned after taking many HSR.

1. if can buy first class or business class. The standing ppl will swamp around second class seats
2. Try to queue early or very late because the PRC will bulldoze you. If got kids then may kana stampede.
3. Always bring 25” luggage or smaller. The big ones no place to store unless you take business or first class. Or unless you think you can fight and win PRC
4. Take didi also try not to take at the designated area. I may take the metro to 1-2 station away else you will see a mad rush like Covid

There was once I stow my lugguage at the back of the seats in first class cabin. Someone conveniently sat on it. So try to board as early as possible in order to place on the luggage rack.

 

[beanstalk6]

There was once I stow my lugguage at the back of the seats in first class cabin. Someone conveniently sat on it. So try to board as early as possible in order to place on the luggage rack.

There you have it. At some point of your travels, you will realise a culture shock that the Chinese have no sense of personal boundaries. Are you going to raise an issue with the guy or are you going to look the other way?

 

[mikeeeey]

Is it better to pay a premium to use other platform to 抢票？
Like trip.com or ctrip all these?

 

[hawkwind]

Is it better to pay a premium to use other platform to 抢票？
Like trip.com or ctrip all these?

I usually book using Trip. It's fully in English and although there's a small fee, it helps that all my itinerary is under Trip. The app will organize everything in sequence and with the hotels, provide the Chinese hotel name and address which is useful for biking Didi and such.

 

[beanstalk6]

Is it better to pay a premium to use other platform to 抢票？
Like trip.com or ctrip all these?

If you want peace of mind when you wish to buy tickets for popular trains, by all means, go for the service. I made use of trip's service usually during CNY.

 

[froztheart]

There was once I stow my lugguage at the back of the seats in first class cabin. Someone conveniently sat on it. So try to board as early as possible in order to place on the luggage rack.

The Chinese's culture is such that personal boundary is non-existent.
As the saying goes, when in rome do as the romans do!

 

[Panerex]

There are 2 train stations in XiAn. Xian Station is just outside the north city wall and your hotel is right smack in the middle of the city within the walls. The route can be walked, but I advise against it when you have luggage. North Station is a great deal farther.

I will be staying at Novotel Xi An too and need to travel to Beijing Xin Qiao Hotel.

There seems to be no HSR from Xi An/ Xi An North station to Beijing South station.

However, I do see many to Beijing West station instead.


Not sure if i have checked wrongly.

 

[Panerex]

Generally, if book second class ticket, will there be assigned seats?

 

[sbl2560]

Generally, if book second class ticket, will there be assigned seats?

Yes

 

[beanstalk6]

I will be staying at Novotel Xi An too and need to travel to Beijing Xin Qiao Hotel.

There seems to be no HSR from Xi An/ Xi An North station to Beijing South station.

However, I do see many to Beijing West station instead.


Not sure if i have checked wrongly.

It is more important to filter out those trains that take more than 5 hours. The remainder should be Xi'an North to Beijing West station, I think.

 

[Panerex]

It is more important to filter out those trains that take more than 5 hours. The remainder should be Xi'an North to Beijing West station, I think.

Yes you are correct.

it seems like Xi An North to Beijing West is the only approach for me

 

[sbl2560]

Booked tickets today, Guiyang to Kunming for September, as able to book 14 days ahead. Payment was 3 percent surcharge using Alipay as exceeds RMB 200. Use Youtrip to pay without additional charge.

 

[beanstalk6]

Yes you are correct.

it seems like Xi An North to Beijing West is the only approach for me

Have you checked the airfare? I am told airfares are low now that bad times have hit the Chinese so they travel less. Airlines are losing money as well. Pay a little more and save 90min or so.

 

[Shalom_555]

Something I have learned after taking many HSR.

1. if can buy first class or business class. The standing ppl will swamp around second class seats
2. Try to queue early or very late because the PRC will bulldoze you. If got kids then may kana stampede.
3. Always bring 25” luggage or smaller. The big ones no place to store unless you take business or first class. Or unless you think you can fight and win PRC
4. Take didi also try not to take at the designated area. I may take the metro to 1-2 station away else you will see a mad rush like Covid

It is incredibly difficult to book HSR from Chengdu East to HLJiuzhai station morning (ie 6.45am/8.36/11+) and return from 5-9pm slots, all snapped up immediately except standing room-! Someone mentioned buying via Trip (1 mth in advance). Is success rate better? FAQ said will only be rejeted 2 -3 days before departure. Sounds worrying,,

 

[elvintay07]

It is incredibly difficult to book HSR from Chengdu East to HLJiuzhai station morning (ie 6.45am/8.36/11+) and return from 5-9pm slots, all snapped up immediately except standing room-! Someone mentioned buying via Trip (1 mth in advance). Is success rate better? FAQ said will only be rejeted 2 -3 days before departure. Sounds worrying,,

So far I prefer to do it myself at the official website. The idea is to book as soon as the booking is open. I suggest from Cheng du to HLJiuzhai, go for 6am train as it is not crowded and you have more time. Imagine you reach JZG at 845am, you will probably get on board bus/ car at 915am and you will reach JZG area around 1130 to 12pm, just nice go for lunch and get ready to check in.

To come back from JZG, take the 3-4pm train is the best. Just nice reach back Cheng Du and hotel by 7pm and can have dinner. I booked some show from trip.com and they allocated lousy tickets to me. Instead of asking me to collect tickets from ticketing booth, they asked me to look for some 3rd party agents on site and they give me some lousy back row VIP seats. I went to some shows and did self booking, they gave me the best front/ second row seats.

 

[Shalom_555]

So far I prefer to do it myself at the official website. The idea is to book as soon as the booking is open. I suggest from Cheng du to HLJiuzhai, go for 6am train as it is not crowded and you have more time. Imagine you reach JZG at 845am, you will probably get on board bus/ car at 915am and you will reach JZG area around 1130 to 12pm, just nice go for lunch and get ready to check in.

To come back from JZG, take the 3-4pm train is the best. Just nice reach back Cheng Du and hotel by 7pm and can have dinner. I booked some show from trip.com and they allocated lousy tickets to me. Instead of asking me to collect tickets from ticketing booth, they asked me to look for some 3rd party agents on site and they give me some lousy back row VIP seats. I went to some shows and did self booking, they gave me the best front/ second row seats.

Brilliant, Thanks for your advice

 

[LWZ]

It is incredibly difficult to book HSR from Chengdu East to HLJiuzhai station morning (ie 6.45am/8.36/11+) and return from 5-9pm slots, all snapped up immediately except standing room-! Someone mentioned buying via Trip (1 mth in advance). Is success rate better? FAQ said will only be rejeted 2 -3 days before departure. Sounds worrying,,

recently bought for this route, within two days all 1st class were gone and only left three biz class

 

[Panerex]

Does “open” means 12am?