Shanghai to Beijing

[gundamhamtaro]

Hi all, I may be going to Shanghai in late July. From there I will need to travel to Beijing, may I know how long would the flight/train ride from Shanghai to Beijing will take? And if I choose to take a flight (instead of the train), do I need to buy online first before going to Shanghai?

Thank you for looking, I have never been to China before so confused about stuff.

 

[tycosiao]

Hi all, I may be going to Shanghai in late July. From there I will need to travel to Beijing, may I know how long would the flight/train ride from Shanghai to Beijing will take? And if I choose to take a flight (instead of the train), do I need to buy online first before going to Shanghai?

Thank you for looking, I have never been to China before so confused about stuff.

The bullet trains with train numbers starting with "G" takes around 5 hours and the flight takes about two hours in the air.

The trains get you straight into the city and a ticket costs 555cny while flights are slightly more expensive.

If you choose to fly, you can of course go online and get tickets first and snap up the heavily discounted fares. Try ctrip.com or travelzen.com, they both accept international credit cards but ctrip charges a 3% intl fee.

Flights can be delayed as usual in china, the commute from BJ airport to City takes approx an hour. If you must fly, try to fly from Shanghai Hongqiao airport as its nearer to SH City.

Safe Travels.

 

[gundamhamtaro]

Thank you tycosiao. Is it feasible if I take the train instead? Only afraid of tickets being sold out by the time I am in China. I wll be there around 19th July, is it conciding with any of their public holidays?

 

[Upzzzz]

There are many trains between the 2 cities. So you can drop by the stations or ticketing point to buy or even approach the hotel to help. You need passport to purchase the ticket. Alternatively, if you know someone in Shanghai, email them copy of your passport, they can buy using that.

 

[gundamhamtaro]

I can even ask the hotels to help? Wow thats great to know. Thanks =)

 

[lcpteck]

China HSR

I can even ask the hotels to help? Wow thats great to know. Thanks =)

Yeah, they might impose an admin fee though. Nevertheless, if it's your first time, go through the hotel concierge to save the hassle.

There are 3 classes of seats for the G trains (Inter-city High speed) between Shanghai and Beijing.

Class of seat ---- Chinese name ---- Seating configuration (like an airplane)
Business Class - Shang wu wei - 3 in a row (2x2) - First cabin of a 16 cabin train only.
First Class - Yi deng wei - 4 in a row across (2x2)
Second Class - Er deng wei - 5 in a row (2x3)

Since it's a 5+ hour ride (depending on the train schedule), I suggest to take the First Class seat since it's wider and you'll have more space to store your luggage in the overhead compartment.

Remember to tell the concierge you want a first class seat. If you don't, by default it's second class.

I like taking the high speed trains when I travel in China (leisure), it's convenient and it's an experience by itself, 300km/hour. If you want to ride at a specific timing/train based on the schedule, I suggest to book at least 1 day in advance (another reason is cause the paper ticket needs to be delivered to the hotel).

 

[grungeattitude]

if you're pressed for time i'd advise u take flights as sometimes train delays can take 2 hrs or more. this, adding to the actual duration of travel (4-5hrs) on train would easily eat up almost half of your day....

 

[Upzzzz]

I'd normally buy air ticket via ctrip. Just note that delays are norm. At ctrip, they display the % of on-time departure so take that as a guide.

Beijing has airport express and Hongqiao is served by Shanghai metro. If your hotels are accessible by train, good.