train to xian
 

how can you tell wich train is the soft sleeper. does that mean that the beds are softer

'Soft sleeper' is a class of accommodation available on all overnight services in China.

It typically consists of four beds, arranged in two columns, within a compartment with a lockable door.

On a very few more luxurious services between certain major cities there are also two-bed versions, some with private washroom.

The term 'soft sleeper' contrasts with 'hard sleeper', which consists of six couchettes (yes, harder) in two columns of three, separated by partitions from neighbouring columns, but with no door.

Soft sleeper berths are, needless to say, more expensive than hard sleeper ones.

Peter N-H

I have a question:
how do you reserve the soft sleeper for only 2 people with private bath?
Travel from Beijing to Xian
Xian to Guilin
Guilin to Shanghai
Shanghai to Beijing

still deciding if flights or train will save time? Money not the concern...
we aren't sure about overnight trains as we do want to see nightlife in cities and certain shows (acrobats,opera, light show in Yangshuo).
We only have 11 full days in China, so time is the most precious issue
Tradeoffs with flight checkin/not in cities , but shorter; vs. lose time in cities at night.
For those of you who know China, which do you think is best use of time?

izzofan -- China is huge, 4 cities in 11 days is really tight even if you spend 4 nights on overnight trains, you'll be running out of steam.
Based on your interests, suggest you reduce it to 3 locations.

<i>&quot;which do you think is best use of time?&quot;</i>

It depends.

If you want to see nightlife, then you need to fly and can't take the overnight trains. If you fly, you have to factor in trip to airport, flight time, and then trip from destination airport into town. This could easily take half a day if not a whole day.

Thus, if you see nightlife and fly, you'll have to factor in at least 3-4 days of your 11 days for travel time.

If you could skip the nightlife, then you could take the overnight soft sleeper trains.

I would guess that the best train portions would be Beijing-Xian and the Shanghai-Beijing. Better to fly the other two segments.

Maybe another regular, like rkkwan, can give you more definite information on train schedules.