Travelling in China during the summer period
 

Hi everyone,
I am hoping people on this forum can help with our trip planning. We are travelling to China this year, flying into Chengdu on 2nd July & flying out from Hangzhou on 15th August, giving us 6 weeks. We have previously traveled SE Asia for 3 months & also India & Nepal for 3 months, both done independently on trains & buses.The SE Asia trip, 3 weeks was planned & the rest was just as we went while the India part of our trip was all pre-planned & Nepal was just as we went, so we don't mind a mixture of both.

We are hoping to do the same in China but are a little concerned as it will be during the summer holiday period. Our main concern is whether we will need to pre-book our trains & hotels & if so how far in advance would people recommend. We will have a few days in Chengdu when we first arrive & will then take 2 weeks to travel by bus up to Xining

The trains we will be taking are
Xining to Xi'an hopefully a hard sleeper
Xi'an to Pingyao probably a day train
Pingyao to Datong also a day train
Beijing to Shanghai bullet train

We will have a couple of days in each place before leaving again so will it be feasible to book when we first arrive at that city?
With our hotels, can we have a few target hotels & just rock up ? Will that work at this time of year?

Many thanks for any help.

Summer is busy although not crazy like the Golden week in October.
I would not worry too much about hotels unless there are some specific ones that you want to stay at. There are tons of hotels in the places although some are better value than others.
For trains, it depends on the route. I would certainly not worry about Beijing-Shanghai. The Beijing-Datong-Pingyao-Xi'An axis is a different story, especially during the summer vacation. I am not familiar with the Xining-Xi'An route but hard sleepers should be easier.
I never book hotels far in advance but I would not just show up in a place without one. I prefer at least one day ahead to make that I know where I am ahead when I get off the train or plane.

Are you sure you want hard sleeper rather than soft? It's been a while since I did hard sleeper, and it's possible they're a bit softer now, but they were remarkably hard then (2001).

Canadachinatravels - thanks for your advice. I agree it's a good idea to book a day or two out for the hotels, just so we have an address for the taxi driver or whoever when we arrive. We didn't think we would have to worry about Beijing to Shanghai as there are so many trains travelling that route. We're not too worried about the Pingyao -Dating - Beijing route as there are buses we can catch if need be.

Thursdays - no we're not sure about the hard sleeper. Are they that hard? We may even keep an eye on the cost of flights for that leg seeing as how it's so far.

Can anyone tell us, can we book a train ticket from a station other than what we will be leaving from. Say, when we arrive in Chengdu can we check on the availability of seats for Xining - Xi'an route & if they're available book from there?

Is Jiuzhaigou really worth seeing considering the cost?

Many thanks for the information supplied so far.

In my experience hard really did mean hard, also open compartments, so noisy. Soft sleeper, on the other hand, can be very comfortable.

See also: http://seat61.com/China.htm#What%20a...0trains%20like

And on booking tickets see:

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...ility-cost.cfm

You can book tickets in any station in China, not just for train leaving from this station. In this case there will be a small fee of 5RMB.
I did Kunming-Dali on hard sleepers (we booked too late). It was not fun. In mid-afternoon in Dali we rented a room to have a nap as I was so tired. I had the upper bed which was really uncomfortable. At my age, I only go soft sleepers now.

I have taken hard-sleeper quite a few times over the years. The bed isn't really that hard in recent years. The main issue is privacy, noise and space. Luckily, you're going during Chinese New Year when everybody takes a lot of stuff, but still, each open compartment has 6 passengers and their belongings. And all will be sitting on the lower berth during day time as the upper berths have no headroom to sit up (upper barely, middle impossible). And the fact that there are simply more people having to share the bathrooms.

In short, if soft sleepers are available, go for it, as the difference in price isn't that much. For us. But if they're not available, hard sleepers are not the end of the world, and it's really NOT that hard.

I didn't book rooms in advance, except for my first few nights in China. But I did have a list of places and addresses, in both English and Chinese, that I could show to a taxi driver. And I successfully bargained for lower rates at almost all the hotels at which I stayed (details in my trip report, which you can find by clicking my name) -- BUT I was not staying at Western-style hotels, nor (as a rule) at high end ones. You might prefer to book ahead -- just letting you know your options.

I took only soft sleepers, and found them comfortable enough.

In 2010, routes that included Pingyao were popular and booked fast. Things could easily have changed.

Hope that helps!

Thanks everyone for all your help.
I think you have convinced us to go by soft sleeper even if only for the Xining-Xi'an leg & book through an agent ahead of time, considering it's so far it's better to be comfortable. The other legs we will have a look at when we arrive in Chengdu & may have to go with plan B (bus).

kja - yes, I have read your trip report (many times) & loved it. That's the way we usually like to travel but I am just a bit concerned this trip because it's summer holidays & our target hotels may be booked out & we'll have to end up paying a lot more than we had planned for accommodation. We do like to have a private bathroom & so long as the room is clean we are happy, so definitely not high end but not backpackers either.

The holidays that count in China are Chinese New Year (end Jan/beginning Feb) and National Day (week) the beginning of October.

> it's summer holidays

You're thinking like a Westerner. Summer holidays are for foreigners, who constitute a tiny percentage of travellers in China. Mid-summer is not the time when Chinese have holidays, or care to travel much, and those with discretionary travel time outside public holidays (not a vast percentage) head either overseas or to particular noted cooler spots.

> our target hotels may be booked out & we'll have to end up paying a lot more than we had planned for accommodation.

But that's highly unlikely, because it's not a high-traffic travel time for China, and because for most of the year, for most destinations there's an abundant over-supply of hotel rooms at all levels. If you're planning to stay at hotels belonging to luxury overseas groups (which you're not) you'll find the best prices on their own websites. For all Chinese-run hotels you'll end up paying a lot more if you book in advance. The on-line hotel booking sites with English-language interfaces are misleading: the photography is often way out of date, the descriptions wildly fanciful, you're shown not the best properties but the ones offering the site the best margins, there are very many properties not shown at all, and what look like spectacular discounts are only those that everyone gets, or beats, over the counter.

The best choice in your range is often the brand-new hotel just round the corner from the one in the guidebooks or being discussed on-line, where the staff are eager for business and the price is lower than the dowdier hotel everyone agrees is 'the' place to stay. By all means pick something to head for initially, but keep your eyes open en route, and pick a hotel in an area that has others nearby (which will almost always be true anyway). Whatever price you're given, bargain it down with a smile, and be prepared to walk out. Inspect the room before accepting, even if you've seen photos, as these are largely irrelevant as to the actual conditions. All of this is standard procedure in China. Book in advance and you'll pay what you plan, but more than you need.

I have to disagree somewhat with the above. While kids are out of school, there is a fair amount of domestic travel in China. As I said in my first comment, it is nowhere near as crazy as the "big" holidays but with all the families traveling, there is definitely more people at tourist sites and on trains than, say, May or September for example.

> We will have a couple of days in each place before leaving again so will it be feasible to book when we first arrive at that city?

Almost always yes--but *don't* have an itinerary planned to the day, but be flexible. At almost every single station in China you exit first and then go back round to the front to find the ticket office either in a separate building or in the main building but with a separate entrance, and apart from the rest. Ticket windows are open for most of the day and indeed right through the night in many cases. You'll need to have written down your destination (西安, 平遥 etc.), the date you wish to depart, the number of seats/berths you want, and the type. So you'll need a guide book that gives you characters such as 硬卧 (hard sleeper) or 软座 (soft seat--daytime trains only). If you care about such things, you'll also need to know the characters for top, middle, and bottom berths (上， 中， 下) in hard sleeper, or just 上 and 下 in soft sleeper. The lower the berth, the higher the price, although the difference isn't great. The lower berths are the most popular, but everyone treats them as public seating during the day, so the top is recommended, and a little more secure.

If it looks too busy or otherwise inconvenient you're better anyway to buy at a ticket agency in the town. LIttle windows selling railway tickets are all over the place, and your hotel will be able to direct you to the nearest with terminals on the railway computer system. There's a booking fee of ¥5 per ticket. You may book trains departing from any station within the local railway bureau's area, with full access to all ticket allocations. Note that allocations are large for trains that begin from your station, but small for trains that started somewhere else, and are merely passing through. You may also book trains that start in other railway bureau's districts and continue to either the same or a third bureau's district, but allocations for these are limited. A refusal for another bureau's trains doesn't mean you won't be able to obtain a ticket when you get to the place you want to board..

If you're determined to have a soft sleeper (I've spent days at a time in hard sleepers--it's always lively and interesting), but none is available, you can always attempt to upgrade on the train. There's a little office for that, but if in doubt, just wander up to the soft sleeper carriages (marked 软卧) and mutter something to the attendant about huàn piào. But it's very unlikely to come to this.

Also consider that much of your route is also doable by long-distance bus, particularly Xi'an to Pingyao, which doesn't have a high number of train choices. Boarding at tiny Pingyao station has also often been difficult due to only a small allocation of tickets, and it's much simpler to take a bus north from there to Taiyuan, Shanxi's capital, which has five times as many trains to Datong. Or try booking Pingyao to Datong while in Xi'an.

You don't mention Datong to Beijing, and there is a long history of tiresomeness getting out of Datong, due to the local CITS having a stranglehold on tickets for foreigners and leaving you no option but to book through them for several multiples of the normal fee. That problem may have gone away by now, and there are always buses as an alternative anyway.

But for both accommodation and transport, just rocking up, as you put it, will really be your best method.

@ temppeternh -- I SOoooo hope you still post here when I plan my next trip to China! The detail you provide is absolutely awesome. :-)

Just a few other things to remember about the trains:

The food on board is universally foul and overpriced, both in the restaurant car and served from trolleys. Go shopping at bakeries and convenience stores before you leave.

You'll always be paying cash for your tickets.

You must always present your passport to book a ticket. (Chinese law requires you to carry it with you wherever you go anyway.)

With sleepers it's still often the case that attendants will come along after you board, take your ticket, and give you a plastic token. Then before you alight they'll return with the ticket and expect to get the token (which has your berth number on it) back. Do NOT lose it unless you want to be involved in a lengthy tedious squabble.

Then keep your ticket to hand, because you'll have to show it again and have it torn as you exit the station. No ticket. No exit. Big problem.

If your ticket hasn't been returned and you're nearing your station, go look for the attendant. I was getting off the Ulaan Baator to Beijing train in Datong and the attendant hadn't noticed because of course all foreigners just went to Beijing. I had no trouble finding the attendant, a little more with the explanation.

(Great info, Peter, as kja says.)

Sorry I haven't been back for a few days, have been busy at work.

temppeternh, thank you so much for all your detailed information. All the research I had done on China indicated that while the summer period wasn't as busy as New Year or Golden Week it was still quite busy as that is when schools & universities are on holiday.
I hadn't mentioned about Datong to Beijing as I knew we could catch a bus if need be & will possibly do so for some other sectors if we can't get train tickets.
You have convinced us that it is possible to find accommodation & train tickets when we arrive in China, & because we have 6 weeks to see what we want we can be flexible & that is the way we prefer to travel. We will probably have a few target hotels in each area & go from there.
Once again, thank you so much for your invaluable advice.

Better play it safe on that route. Tickets go on sale 60 days ahead. Every once in a while within the 60 days, check on an agent's website such as china-diy-travel how many tickets are left and plan accordingly. Their information is live and reliable. If the number of tickets gets low than you should book something online ahead of time.

I will chime in on the Jiuzhaigou question:

Just before going to Jiuzhaigou in August, I visited some remote places that were devoid of tourists. So Jiuzhagou was a culture shock. So many people were crowded on the walkways that I was surprised nobody fell over into the river. Furthermore, the transit system disgorges everyone into the same places at the same time, making it hard to get away from the crowds. At first, I thought it was a tourist nightmare.

However, I also had spent time in some very arid places, so Jiuzhaigou was a refreshing change of pace because it is a water-filled wonderland. Eventually I picked up on a strategy to avoid the crowds. So I was very glad I went, though you need to be prepared for the hordes and take action to avoid them.