deelyon

We want to take the train between Shanghai and Nanking and back to Suzhou then Shanghai in a 3 day trip at the end of a 15 day Chinaspree tour that starts this week.
Can you tell me if it will be difficult for a non-Chinese speaking American to obtain tickets at the train station? Tour guide says we "can't handle" the chaos at the station, that we should have our hotel arrange them but we are on a budget. Internet websites charge $50 for a $14 at most leg of the trip and I have 3 legs for 2 people making it exorbitant. I am concerned the 'service charge' at the desk will be as much. And of course, can't afford to call China to inquire. Unfortunately, they don't seem to want you to drive over there. We are otherwise intrepid travelers. Thanks so much for your help.Would love to hear comments on our planned adventure. My son-in-laws aunt was a missionary in Nanking during the massacre and we want to visit the site. We leave day after tomorrow - I know, plan ahead!

Dukey

i ahev read REPEATEDLY that a lot of Chinese interior train travel is booked at the last minute and certainly within a few days of the travel dates. I also know that overnight train tickets between Beijing and Shanghai, for example, can only be booked 10-20 days ahead.

Assume you have read the info on www.seat61.com

The hotel may not levy much of a 'service charge' as those website agencies often do...I would go through the hotel if I didn't want to do it myself.

Check to see if there is still, in fact, a ticket window "for foreigners" at the train station as there used to be...I believe the one in Beijing may have closed down.

ekscrunchy

Yes, get the tickets through the hotel. I was not able to book Beijing Shanghai overnight train until about 4 days out. (This is what my hotel told me..I asked them too book the tickets when I arrived in Beijing, a week before I wanted to travel to Shanghai and they told me it was too early) Not sure about the Shanghai Nanking Suzhou runs.

My guess is that if you have the time and want to brave it, you would do all right at the station, too. Eventually you will find someone to help you, but you should allow ample time..

LeighTravelClub

Having done pretty much the trip you are proposing, I would say MOST DEFINITELY, don't try it on your own, if you have no previous experience of China train travel.
Our leg from Nanjing to Suzhou involved several 'stages' at Nanjing station. Each progression being instructed via the P.A. system. Of course, in Chinese!! It's quite different to European train travel for example.
Even after having done it in the company of a guide, I don't think I would like to do it 'solo'.

deelyon

Thank you all for your replies. Some questions about them.
Dukey: We're new to these sites, never assume. Thanks for the lead, I looked up seat 61 & had basically read the same info elsewhere. Good toknow about the 'foreigner's window at the train station.
Part of my concern is the traveling will be on May 1-3rd! Our tour agent told me it wouldn't be a problem because it was "no longer a holiday!!" when I first made air reservations some months ago for our final departure - obviously she was wrong based on all I've since been reading. Because of that, I believe I will contact the hotel by phone once I get in China and see what arrangements they can make to get me the tickets as soon as they become available.
Leigh Travel Club: Are you saying we shouldn't do the TRAIN TRIP at all on our own? I was just worried about obtaining the tickets. I don't know any other way to get there. And we already have hotel reservations. I understood driving was not approved over there. ????
ekscrunchy: your postings are always helpful & comforting, thank you. (at least what I've read these last days anyway!).

Dukey

Well, if it is any "comfort" to you I am planning to do the actual trip I have planned on my own so I see no reason why you couldn't do so, either. Hopefully I am not making an assumption here LOL.

ekscrunchy

Deelyon: These days I am slogging away at my never-ending Southeast Asia saga, but in case you did not read this and will forgive my self-promotion, here is the China report with the train information. For the record. I loved the train ride and wished it had been longer!


http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34984181

Yes, call as soon as you arrrive and let he hotel sort out the tickets..

PeterN_H

I wonder if there can really be any need to point out that hundreds of thousands of train trips are taken every year in China by people without two words of Mandarin to rub together. The difficulties are entirely in the eyes of the beholder, and the destinations under discussion here are not exactly out in the wilds, but see vast numbers of foreign visitors every year.

Communication with train ticket sellers is amongst the easiest. They know you want to buy train tickets not discuss dialectical materialism. You just need to have written down the destination and date and class of seat and an English-speaker at your hotel can help with that.

But train ticket agents are innumerable, so there's no need to go to the station if you don't want to. There are ticket agencies all over town charging ¥5 commission per ticket, and others not on the railway's system charging around ¥20, and those in hotels etc. possibly charging ¥30 and upwards.

Booking on-line before departure through agencies is always the most indescribable rip-off. Train tickets within China have for some time been nothing like as difficult to obtain as they were--there are very many more services on every route, and there are certainly several trains a day from Shanghai to Nanjing (don't be misled by that 'k' from an old transliteration system--you should be saying 'jing' with a hard 'j', as in 'jingle bells'). Of course there are occasional hiccups.

May 1st may still be one of them. That day is still a public holiday, so anything that might be done as a day trip may very well be packed out.

However, there are alternative methods of reaching Nanjing, one of which would be bus.

But certainly do not be worried about doing this by yourself without Mandarin. Much signage is in English, it will be widely assumed you don't have a clue what's going on, and all you ever need to do is to wave your ticket at someone in uniform who will point (or take) you in the right direction.

Peter N-H

LeighTravelClub

Replies to issues raised about my points.

Deelyon, what I am saying is that buying tickets is easy!!!......getting on the right train is rather more tricky.

Regarding ekscruncys points.....I too, thoroughly enjoyed our train trips...one of the highlights of our time in China. It's great......once you get on the train.
You don't really want to start factoring in extra time to purchase train tickets....do you??
There is so much to see here!

Peter N-H, makes several valid points, however, his claim that '' Much signage is in English,'', is simply fanciful. At least in my experience. The one exception being the Maglev. Making train journeys in China,and to and from major destinations, my experience is that you will find next to ZERO English signage.

My memories of Nanjing railway station are of being moved stage by stage through different waiting areas, always from verbal instructions through the tanoy, and of course Chinese signage! Without our Chinese guide, I'm not sure how we would have managed.

On the other hand, Peter N-H, clearly has more experience of this country than I do and perhaps my experience was coloured by our novice status regarding China, but I guess you are as green about this country as we were, so I reckon our opinion is as valid as any other. It's certainly honest and from a very recent visit (as a first timer) to China.

Oh, and Peters Hutong walking guides were an inspiration.

deelyon

We're back and I want to thank everyone who gave advice. We made the train trips successfully and I would recommend them to anyone. There was almost always English signage but rarely anyone who spoke English. Once you know the train number you want it was clearly marked throughout the stations (Shanghai, Nanjing and Suzhou. Just follow the signs for the train #.
The biggest problem was the fact that it was a 3 day holiday and I was a little frantic about getting the tickets as soon as they became available, days ahead of when I was to arrive in the city I needed to buy the tickets in. Talking to the hotels in advance was frustrating even after I decided to bite the bullet and call from the states. They rarely spoke English clearly and never continued to communicate successfully by emails. The "business centers' at the hotels were useless, think I would try concierges next time.
One problem is Chinese train travel required that the ticket be purchased in the city I wished to travel from; in other words I couldn't have one person in one city get all 3 tickets. I had to use a contact in each individual city.
The one time I tried to use the "foreign visitor" section at a train station it was unmanned and I got a terrible runaround.Next time I would take my destination and dates and train # choices (which I got ahead of time on the web) all written in Chinese by the hotel & just present it at a window. All the tickets, by the way, were printed with enough English on them for me to keep them straight.
Since our independent travel was at the end of a 15 day organized tour, I used their guides to get my tickets. Given that it was a very busy holiday weekend where tickets had to be bought in advance and I wouldn't be in the cities til a day or so before I had to leave, I doubt we could have made the trips without that help.
But if there's not a time or holiday crunch I would feel very comfortable traveling around China by train.