Beijing to Xian Train
 

Am planning to catch the overnight train to Xian from Beijing (and back) in April with my 4 children , Wondering if anyone has any useful suggestions
eg
when best to buy tickets (on day /1 week out etc)
quality of the sleepers (is deluxe worth going with
is it a comfortable trip

any help appreciated

regards

Andrew

Hi

We did this a couple of years back and I have written about the experience in my trip report http://gardkarlsen.com/china_beijing.htm . Maybe you can find some useful info there :d

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

I've only done this trip in seat claas and it was almost 10 years ago.

It was like extracting a tooth trying to buy a ticket. I guess things have changed and suspect that the more lux your trip the less lead time is necessary.

But on the day - NO - I don't think so.

4days advanced,you only can get the tickets inside 4days,you can get help from you hotel,they can book for you but add extra 30RMB per ticket

The best site for train info is seat61.com, which includes pictures of the inside.

I've done this trip in both hard and soft sleeper. Hard sleeper is a bit hard and a bit crowded, soft sleeper is quite luxurious. With 4 of you I'd be inclined to go for soft sleeper, you should get a compartment to yourselves. Also, both classes come with thermos flasks of hot water, filled by the attendants, so you can take tea, coffee, noodles, dry soup etc to fix.

I would arrange the ticket ahead of time through a local travel agency like CITS. You can only buy tickets in the town where you're boarding the train, and this is a popular route. Wish I was going!

tourday - didn't see your post until mine went up. Not sure you're info is correct, this is what seat61 says:

"Reservations for the best Z-category express trains open 20 days before departure, reservations for most other trains open up to 10 days before departure, assuming the train you want starts its journey at that station. If the train you want starts its journey somewhere else and calls at your boarding station already well into its journey, tickets may only be available 2 days before departure. The rules vary by city..! You can generally only book a train journey at the station where your journey starts... Berths are best booked at least 2-3 days in advance, apart from peak periods (the Spring Festival, May Day 1st May, National Day 1st October) when they should be booked as soon as reservations open."

Regular soft-sleeper is 4 in a cabin, with two upper berths and two lower. Deluxe is 2 in a cabin, lower berths only.

If the train has deluxe, they will be on separate cars from the regular soft sleepers.

I get there there will be like 5 or 6 of you going together, not just 4. You have a decision to make.

Don't attempt to buy the tickets by yourself. Pay someone to do it for you. Very well worth it.

If not travelling in high season, it is not difficult to buy the soft sleeper ticket from beijing to xian.

There are several trains from beijing to xian, the best choice is Z19, a direct train without stopover. You can check the train timetable through http://www.adventurechinatrip.com/chinatrain.asp.

Good luck

thanks for the tips . All are much appreciated (there will be 6 of us travelling)

As already stated 4 days (I thought it was 3) before is the soonest and usually on the Beijing to Xian route the tickets for the sleepers are gone before lunch - We went to the station at 7am and brought our tickets no problem and then had them pickpocketed! - forgot to transfer them into our moneybelts!@ duh! - anyway we then found that the hotels and agents block out all these seats as its the main tourist route and many people in the hotels in Beijing go down overnight see the warriers and return to their hotel in Beijing.
so... just letting you know that you can easily buy them yourself if you catch a taxi down to the station early on the day they are released (check with hotel 3 or 4 days before) or as suggested above, pay the surcharge and get an agent or hotel to get them for you.
Main thing to remember if you go to buy them yourself and they say sold out - just do the rounds of all the 4 and 5 star hotel tour desks and youll find them somewhere.

topping with thanks

Would this information also apply to the Beijing-Shanghai sleeper? I plan to take that in early April.
Thanks!

Also, since I am a single traveler, I wonder if the sleepers are segregated by gender, ie..will they put me in a car with another woman?

ek - no, the compartments are not segregated - not anywhere in Asia. I didn't find this to be a problem - I travel with the top half of a shalwar kameez, and change into it in the toilet. Then I take my trousers off after I get into bed - I usually travel with a silk sleep sack. But generally the guys in a soft sleeper will leave the compartment if you indicate you need to change.

Thanks thursdaysd, I have had a look at seat61.com and its just the sort of info I was after. This sounds like a much better alternative to air travel, all that 'wasted' time in airport lounges. And after I did the exchange into Aussie dollars it seems quite reasonable to go the Deluxe soft seater (Z19) are the ammenities as nice as they look?

I also gleam from my readings on this site that I should book that before we go with someone like Cits?

One more question, if we go to Xian on one night and back the next, does that allow for suffient time in Xian?

ek - I think I was just in regular soft sleeper, but it was plenty comfortable. I bought that ticket through CITS, because I was traveling not long after National Day.

I really like Xi'an - I've been there three times, although the last time it was more concrete and glass than before - so I would say one day is definitely not enough. Going to see the warriors took me most of a day last time, although I did do it by public transport that time. I also recommend the Muslim quarter - make sure you walk far enough in - the Great Mosque, the Big Goose Pagoda, the Temple of the Eight Great Immortals, the Shaanxi Provincial Museum, and just general wandering around. I think it was Xi'an where I found a nice park on my last trip.

I am not sure that all "Z" trains get those new rolling stock you see in the picture with private bathrooms and LCD screens. Seat61 shows pictures that the Xian one does, but I don't think there's guarantee.

But even the older Soft Sleepers and Deluxe Soft Sleepers are very nice, and is more than okay for an overnight trip. The toilets are on either end of each carriage and are relatively clean; one of them has a sit-toilet, not just a hole.

I think Z trains are the fastest with fewer stops and "should" have good quality sleepers. I'm not positive, but I think the two-to-a-cabin carriages are only on the BJ-HK or possibly BJ-SH routes.

I've ridden both hard and soft sleeper frequently, and I'd say for the average foreigner, soft sleeper is better. However, hard sleeper will give you a much more adventurous peek at "real" Chinese!

I've usually traveled alone and my 4-person cabin was invariably filled with three men. Without exception they were more than courteous, forced food on me, went outside to smoke and once ran into the compartment to drag me out into the passageway to see the Yellow River as we were crossing it. In one case, a group of an obvious boss and two underlings kept after me about eating with them in the restaurant car that it became easier to just go than to keep refusing. But that's another story!

By the way, I dress in sweat pants, drawstring or elastic waisted pants or the like and don't bother trying to change into anything else. I sleep on whatever I keep my passport and money in and take it when going to the bathroom. Also, I find it's not all that restful, as trains do stop along the way and sometimes, I don't know the term, hook up with other cars which will definitely wake you up! But you do save on an overnight hotel and the soft sleepers are still a bit cheaper than planes.

K

Hong Kong - Shanghai/Beijing, Shanghai-Beijing, and Beijing-Xi'an (Z19) should all have the Deluxe. seat61.com also says the same. By definition, a "Z" train is non-stop. Z = Zhida = Direct (meaning non-stop).

I took the Z19 Beijing - Xi'an train last summer and it is the best way to go. It was comfortable, clean, not very loud, and no frequent stops like the train I took from Xi'an to Shanghai. It also was full of westerners and very few native Chinese. Finally, may I suggest brining some noodle buckets that you can find in several grocery type store, the train has hot water available and they make a decent and cheap dinner.

Woh, this is all so very very helpful. Thank you to rkkwan for your 'toilet' comment. I have to say as silly as it sound, this is the one thing making me very nervous about China. I don't know about the rest of you, but I good, clean sit down toilet for me is a necessity.

If we go all out and get the 'best' ticket on the Z (thanks for the definition rrkwan) will we get a good sit down toilet? Sorry to be blunt.

We will make do with what we have to when we out for the day 'exploring' but we have made a pact that our accommodation will be the best we can all manage. Hope that doesn't sound too snooty????

Actually, in Asia you're often better off with a squat. Consider how much water and infrastructure are needed for western style toilets to work... Consider swaying trains... On trains I go for the squats, although I mostly stay in places with Western toilets. For my tips on how to use a squat, see www.wilhelmswords.com/faq.

thursdaysd, thanks.....I think! Sounds awful. But a necessity of life I guess.

I do remember seeing at the Casino on the Gold Coast her in Australia, instructions, c/w diagrams on how to use the toilets. This was some years ago and I couldn't imagine at the time why anyone from anywhere would need 'instructions'. One visit to Singapore and 'I got it'.

To be honest, I understand as per your detail description the need for squat toilets, but for the life of me I can't understand the 'filth'. Pile of paper in the corner etc. Theres gotta be a better/hygenic way. Or am I being niave?

aussiedreamer - From the pictures on seat61.com and elsewhere, if you get the new type of train sets with private bathroom, then the toilet is a sit down one.

If it's the old-fashioned trains without private toilets, then there is one toilet at each end of each car. One end is sit down, one end is squat.

ek - well, without getting too graphic, in a lot of Asia people use water rather than paper, so they're not set up to handle it.

I realize I sound like a capitalist devil, but do people ever buy both berths in a two-berth luxury sleeper?

I plan on taking train Beijing-Shanghai and am certain that my compartment mate will be a loud snorer.

I took the Z20 train from Xian to BJ last Dec. This is the nonstop high speed service between the two cities (ie Z19 is BJ to Xian). According to the glossy advertising brochure I got from the train, this train has Soft sleeper and deluxe soft sleeper cabins only (ie no hard sleeper or seats like other trains).

Ticket prices on the brochure were at that time: Soft sleeper = upper berth 400 RMB, and lower berth 417 RMB. Deluxe soft sleeper for upper berth 737 RMB and Lower berth 767 RMB. We bought Deluxe soft sleeper tickets so there was only us two in the cabin. These deluxe soft sleeper cabins are very luxurious by Chinese standards. I think it is the same size or just a bit bigger as a normal soft sleeper cabin, and as it only has 2 bunks instead of 4, there is also a soft comfy sitting chair and a private bathroom consisting of a western style sit down toilet and a washbasin (no shower though). There is also a small wardrobe and a shelf up the top, and even a safe under the bottom bunk. Also had the small LCD TV screens for each persons' bunk. The train was very new and clean looking inside and the toilet even had a paper cover over the seat saying it had been disinfected/sterilized. The bunks had a sheet, and we got a duvet and pillow. I think the soft sleepers are similar to the usual ones, but they are probably with the latest appointments, and very neat and clean, as this train is a new one that went into service post April 2004 (according to the brochure info). We got CITS to buy our tickets as didn't want to spend out time doing it ourselves, but for this you will be charged a service fee (I think we paid about 70 RMB -it seems a bit steep,but I think they put it up higher because we got them delivered to our hotel.

As the train is over night it does save some time and the cost of a hotel. Down side is that you can't see much of the scenery, which I would like to have seen, because it was dark for the whole journey-it left at 19:23 and got to BJ at 6:53(appr). However I went in winter so if it was summer you may be able to something for a little of the way.

As mentioned by others, the website seat61.com is good and has lot of info and some pictures of the trains in China. As we went in the offseason I don't think the train was full. I think the train probably gets busy in the summer and on season when a lot of tourists take it, but when we travelled there was only locals (I mean as in domestic Chinese travellers on it) and I didn't see other foreigners on it.

Thanks, abc. It is the fact that I am traveling alone and do not want to be up all night with a snorer that I was considering buying the two berths...it is pricey, though. Your description was good to read..very detailed and very reassuring; too bad about the scenery, though... I will be traveling in April so I may see a little bit...

eckscrunchy & afisher

Aloha from Beijing!

I am in Beijing right now and purchased tickets online through China Trip Advisor dot com. before we got here.

The prices quoted by abc88 are the prices I was charged plus a small service charge. They delivered our tickets today to our hotel(The Peninsula) just as ordered and I would highly recommend their service.

We leave Beijing on 3-24 so I will try and report about the train trip when time allows or in my trip report when we return after 4-12.

Tickets for the deluxe soft sleepers on the Z-19 train from BJ to Xian go on sale 20 days before departure so it would be nice but not mandatory to get the ticks before you arrive.

Don't worry about what people will think about you buying the two berths as it is done more times than you think and who cares what anyone else thinks. The only ones that would say anything about that are the small minded people that nobody cares really gives a hoot about anyway.

Enjoy your trip!

Aloha!

For those wondering about the Chinese trains, would suggest reading "Fried Eggs with Chopsticks" by Polly Evans. I bought it at one of the large bookstore chains. Entertaining reading. At first I thought it would be Bill Bryson-ish but she actually puts more historial and cultural information, too.

Just want to report that I did buy both berths for the Z13 sleeper Beijing-Shanghai and that the train trip was just great! HIghly recommended although you do not see much since it is dark outside. One tip: Eat dinner before the trip or bring some snacks as the dinner provided in your room is not so great..

I am still in Asia so will report more when I return home...I loved China!

ek - so glad to hear you're loving China - and that the train worked well for you. Looking forward to hearing all about your trip.