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From: "http://www.pmgeiser.ch, Peter M. Geiser" Newsgroups: rec.travel.asia,soc.culture.china,rec.answers,soc.answers,news.answers Followup-To: rec.travel.asia Subject: China - The Internet Travel Guide (FAQ) (part 3/3) Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Summary: Travel guide to China. Expires: 31 Dec 2004 23:59:59 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 212.254.90.222 Message-ID: <3fed4d26_2@news.tiscalinet.ch> Date: 27 Dec 2003 10:13:10 +0100 X-Trace: news.tiscalinet.ch 1072516390 212.254.90.222 (27 Dec 2003 10:13:10 +0100) Organization: Customers of Tiscali DataComm AG - http://www.tiscali.ch/ Lines: 1018 Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!news2.telebyte.nl!newsfeed.stueberl.de!news.imp.ch!news.imp.ch!news.tiscalinet.ch!not-for-mail Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu rec.travel.asia:187769 soc.culture.china:654498 rec.answers:84410 soc.answers:18664 news.answers:263631 Archive-name: travel/china-guide/part3 Url: http://www.pmgeiser.ch/china Posting-Frequency: quarterly CHINA - Peter M. Geiser's Hotel and Travel Guide China is a superb tourist destination with a rich history and an enormous number of sights. Home to numerous different ethnic groups, it offers a cultural variety that is not found elsewhere. China's major cities Beijing, Shanghai, Xian and Guangzhou are all worth a trip alone. Check out these exciting China tour packages at http://www.chinahighlights.com/cgi-bin/a.pl?chinahi&1009&tours/index.htm or plan your own China trip at http://www.chinahighlights.com/cgi-bin/a.pl?chinahi&1009&forms/tripplanner.htm But China is not only a giant of tourism, it is in the middle of an economic boom that makes China one of the leading nations in the world. Places Beijing Chang Cheng (Great Wall) Chang Jiang (Yangtse) Changzhou Chengde Chengdu Chongqing Dali Dalian Dong Guan Dunhuang Emei Forbidden City Guangzhou (Canton) Guilin Haikou (Hainan Island) Hangzhou Hefei Hekou Huang Shan Jinan Jiuzhaigou Kashgar Khotan Kunming Lijiang Luoyang Nanjing Qingdao Shanghai Shaolin Monastery Shenzhen Suzhou Tianjin Urumqi Wuhan Xian Xiamen Yangshuo Zhengzhou General Information Border Crossing Climate Embassies Events Food Geographical Information Health History Hotels Internet Access Mail Money People Safety Telephone Visa Transportation Bicycle Boat Bus Flying Train ************************************************************************** CHINA - Peter M. Geiser's Hotel and Travel Guide Copyright (c) 1995 - 2004, Peter M. Geiser http://www.pmgeiser.ch http://www.pmgeiser.com http://www.mineralwaters.org http://www.dussy.ch ************************************************************************** BOOKS For books, please have a look at the online version at http://www.pmgeiser.ch/china ************************************************************************** HISTORY http://www.pmgeiser.ch/china/general/history.htm (Thanks to Wuchun for this section) A brief Chinese chronology Xia about 2100 b.c. -- 1600 b.c. *Hua Xia is used today by Chinese referring to China Shang about 1600 b.c. -- 1100 b.c. *There is a very famous ancient book (written in Ming) about the end of Shang _Feng1 Shen2 Yan3 Yi4_ (Yan Yi == historical novel) Zhou Western Zhou about 1100 b.c. -- 771 b.c. Eastern Zhou 770 b.c. -- 226 b.c. Spring/Autumn 770 b.c. -- 476 b.c. Warring States 475 b.c. -- 221 b.c. *Western and eastern Zhou are the same dynasty, ruled by the same family. The difference was eastern Zhou moved the capital to an eastern city. *Spring/Autumn time was one of the most important time in Chinese history. Most Chinese philosophies developed at this time. Among them are: Confucianism and Taoism. *_Art of War_ was written at this time by Sun Zi *Eastern Zhou was very weak, and was divided into lots of smaller states (and bigger states, such as Jin, was later divided into several states) fighting with each other. *The account of this period of history was later written by Sima Qian of Han dynasty. Shi3 Ji4 is one of the best Chinese history and literature book. Lots of its section were in the literature text book. Every Chinese is supposed to read it :) *Another book, "Dong Zhou Li Guo Zi" (How Eastern Zhou States Created), is supposed to be the text book for politicians. Qin 221 b.c. -- 207 b.c. *Perhaps the darkest time in Chinese history. Qin was one of the warring state, but managed to united China again. The worst thing they did was all the books were ordered to be burned. *Qin started building the Great Wall, although the one we see now was rebuilt much later in Ming. Han Western Han 206 b.c. -- 24 Eastern Han 25 -- 220 *Again, the two are considered to be the same dynasty. Eastern Han had its capital in todays Luo-yang (Luo is a river. Yang refers to the shadow of river bank here, which means north of river Luo) which is EAST of the old capital, todays Xian. *The so called Han Chinese used when trying to distinguish other minorities inside China came from here. *China became strong at this time, especially after Wu Di. *Dong Zhongsu advised Wu Di to use Confucianism as the ONLY philosophy. Other novel ideas developed at eastern Zhou was only discouraged, but outlawed. I list Dong most worst only next to Qin Shi Hunag. *China had many wars with Hun on north. Wu Di started a new way of solving the problem: sending his daughter as wife of Hun Khan. [According to Jin, Wu Di stopped the custom of sending his daughter to the huns. He defeated them after 40 years of battle.] Three Kingdoms Wei 220 -- 265 Shu Han 221 -- 263 Wu 222 -- 280 *Once again, the last emperor could and control the kingdom again. China was divided into three parts fighting to be the Son of Heaven. *Three Kingdoms is a very famous historical novel about this period. Jin 265 -- 420 *The winner of the fighting was the powerful general of Wei whose son started Jin dynasty. Northern/Southern Dynasties *Jin did not have a good contral of China either. China was divided in all kind of combinations. Southern Dynasties: Song 420 -- 479 Qi 479 -- 502 Liang 502 -- 557 Chen 557 -- 589 Northern Dynasties: Northern Wei 386 -- 534 Eastern Wei 534 -- 550 Northern Qi 550 -- 577 Western Wei 535 -- 556 Northern Zhou 557 -- 581 *Some kings in northern dynasties were not Han. Sui 581 -- 618 *Like Qin, this is a very short dynasty ruled by very cruel emperors. *But bad reader seems like to make big things. The longest channel was built at this time just like Great Wall was built in Qin. Tang 618 -- 907 *This is perhaps the best time in Chinese time. The oversea Chinese in early days like to use Tang Shan referring to their homeland. *Many good poems were written in this time. I believe no one so far has been able to top the great poets at that time. *Tnag was a very liberal (perhaps most liberal) period in Chinese history. Five Dynasties Later Liang 907 -- 923 Later Tang 923 -- 936 Later Jin 936 -- 946 Later Han 947 -- 950 Later Zhou 951 -- 960 *Can you believe the speed of dynasty change here? Song Northern Song 960 -- 1127 Southern Song 1127 -- 1279 *Song is the turning point of Chinese history (More actually, after Song Shen Zong). The society became conservative from then. Lots of bad Chinese traditions started from here. *Zu Xi carried Confucianism forward. *Ci2, poetry written to certain tunes with strict tonal pattern and rhyme schemes in fixed number of lines and words, was fully developed now. *Song was not a strong dynasty in history. It was consistently invaded by others from north. Song was in war with Liao and was later defeated by Jin at north. Song retreated to south of Yangtze. This was why northern and southern Song was named. *During southern Song period, north part of China was ruled by Jin (1115 -- 1234) Yuan 1271 -- 1368 *Jin had not had the trance to win Song. Mongolian was the winner after all. *Chinese culture was preserved under Mongolian ruling. It was Mongolian who were affected by Chinese culture. *It was the time Chinese opera developed. *Beijing was the capital for the first time. Ming 1368 -- 1644 *The Great Wall was rebuilt. It was what we see today. *In literature, the novel was fully developed at this time. Some of the novels, such as Three Kingdoms, were the best ever. *In late Ming, the so called capitalism buds started in some developed areas such as lower Yangtze Delta. Some quite big silk-making shops with one hundred some employee were recorded. Qing 1644 -- 1911 *China was ruled by non-Han once again. *Although China started becoming conservative after Song, Qing made the development stopped. ************************************************************************** HOTELS http://www.pmgeiser.ch/china/general/hotels.htm In China dormitories are widely known and by far the cheapest place. They are generally ok. It is possible to get reasonable priced single or double rooms. There is an ever increasing number of very fine luxury hotels, with both, the service and facilities as well as the prices being the same as in Western countries. Be careful with middle-class hotels. They usually are not exactly cheap (Westerners pay quite a lot more than local Chinese), and may be more expensive than the cheaper Western chains. On the other hand, they are often quite dirty and there is nearly no service. Even disregarding the price, budget hotels frequented by backpackers are usually much better. Reserve your hotel online at http://www.pmgeiser.ch/china/general/hotels.htm. ************************************************************************** MAIL http://www.pmgeiser.ch/china/general/mail.htm Post offices are efficiently run and very reliable. During the three months I was in China I mailed 11 parcels and all of them arrived, their contents complete. One or two things were broken, but from what I packed I expected much more damage. First class mail overseas costs CNY 3.60. For a letter within a city you have to pay 1 jiao, for a letter within China 2 jiao. Air mail to Switzerland takes about one week, surface mail three to four weeks. Air mail to Canada takes about 10 days. ************************************************************************** MONEY http://www.pmgeiser.ch/china/general/money.htm The currency is the Chinese Yuan (ISO code CNY), divided into 10 Jiao or 100 Fen. However, money within China is called RMB (Ren Min Bi, people's money), and people normally refer to Yuan as Kuai (piece, the counting word for money, as in yi kuai qian = one piece of money), Jiao as Mao and Fen as Sen. Notes are available in denominations of 100, 50, 10, 5, 2 and 1 yuan, 5, 2 and 1 jiao, and 5, 2, and 1 fen. Coins are 1 yuan, 5, 2 and 1 jiao, and 5, 2 and 1 fen. Note: As with most currencies, there are counterfeits. Banknotes printed from 1990 on have a metal thread woven into their fabric. The exchange rate is about USD 1 = 8.27 CNY (Jan 2003) (Historical development: very stable 8.28 since 1996, 8.3 Sep 1995, 8.7 Jan 1994, 5.8 in 1993, 5.5 in 1992, 5.3 in 1991, 4.8 in 1990, 3.8 in 1989) To get a nice small conversion table that you can put in you pocket, look at the Currency Cheat Sheet at http://www.oanda.com/convert/cheatsheet?user=pmgitg. Travellers cheques will give you a better exchange rate. Travellers cheques denominated in most major currencies are accepted by the Bank of China. You normally get a better exchange rate than for cash. There is a 0.75% commission. Most larger hotels, restaurants and department stores accept credit cards. Of course, in small shops, or markets, credit cards are not accepted. There is an American Express business travel center in the Swissotel Beijing Hong Kong - Macao Center in Beijing. It is a cooperative effort between American Express and China International Travel Service (CITS). American Express has four other travel service offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen and Guangzhou and 23 representative offices throughout China. American Express has also cash machines where you can get cash (Chinese Yuan), provided you have a pin. There is one in the Beijing World Trade Center Shopping Arcade. Remember to always bargain. Chinese people are very good business people that can smell money when it's lying around. They consider Westerners to be living and walking money bags. Even if it is sometimes a nuisance, they reason that even if you pay several times the price that a local pays, you still can afford it. Always ask for the price first, especially in restaurants. Otherwise you could end up having ordered this 'really special soup' that costs you USD 100 (one hundred, no typing mistake, it happened to a friend of mine!) The FEC (Foreign Exchange Certificate) was finally abolished in January 1994. However, it seems that still a few circulate. The disappearance of the FEC also caused the black market to virtually disappear. If you really want to change money on the black market, make sure you know the exchange rates, the bank notes, and count carefully the money you get before handing over your own money. Changing money on the black market is illegal, there are sometimes secret police changing, the exchange rate may be worse than in banks and shortchangings are frequent, so it is not really advisable anymore to change money on the black market unless you know the game quite well. ************************************************************************** PEOPLE http://www.pmgeiser.ch/china/general/people.htm Population 1247 mio (est. July 1999) (annual growth rate 0.77%) 92% Han Chinese, many minorities including Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean Life expectancy 68 years Language The official language within China is the Putonghua (Mandarin, based on the Beijing dialect.) Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority languages Religion Officially, China is atheistic, but religions are (again) tolerated. Mostly Daoism and Buddhism, often a blend between the two. 2% - 3% Muslim, 1% Christian Asian people, and Chinese don't make an exception, like to take pictures. The most important thing is the person on the picture, e.g. me in front of the Forbidden City, me on the Great Wall, me next to ... They also like being photographed together with a white person. So, if you are a white person, expect to be grabbed by locals that want to take pictures with you. ************************************************************************** SAFETY http://www.pmgeiser.ch/china/general/safety.htm China is not as safe as it used to be. The number of tourists reporting beeing robbed, mugged, beaten, knifed and worse is increasing. For instance, a freind of mine has been robbed in Guangzhou while travelling with his Chinese girlfriend. So, if you are not cautious on where you go, or even get lost, it could soon become a problem. Crime is worst in the big cities, and in the south. ************************************************************************** TELEPHONE http://www.pmgeiser.ch/china/general/telephone.htm The international direct dial code for China is 86. The prefix for international phone calls is 00 (e.g. Switzerland is 0041.) Some area codes (to dial you need the prefix 0): Anqing 556 Anshan 412 Baicheng 436 Baoan Xian 755 Baoding 312 Baoji 917 Beihai 779 Beijing 10 Bengbu 552 Cangzhou 317 Changchun 431 Changde 736 Changle 5041 Changsha 731 Changzhou 519 Chaoyang 7644 Chaozhou 7681 Chengde 314 Chengdu 28 Chongan 5098 Chongqing 811 Conghua 2092 Dagang 22 Dalian 411 Dandong 415 Daqing 4610 Deyang 8241 Dongguan 7620 Foshan 757 Fuding 5033 Fuxin 418 Fuzhou 591 Gaoming 7650 Gongzhuling 438 Guangzhou 20 Guilin 773 Guiyang 851 Gutian 5037 Haikou 750 Handan 310 Hangu 22 Hangzhou 571 Hankou 27 Harbin 451 Hefei 551 Hengshui 318 Hengyang 734 Hepu 7892 Heshan 7680 Huanggang 713 Huangshi 714 Huaxian 20 Huian 5051 Huizhou 752 Huzhou 572 Jiamusi 454 Jiangmen 7682 Jianou 5094 Jianyang 590 Jiaxing 573 Jilin 432 Jinan 531 Jinhua 579 Jining 537 Jinjiang 595 Jinzhou 416 Kaifeng 378 Kaiping 7658 Kunming 871 Langfang 316 Lanzhou 931 Lianyungang 518 Liaoyang 419 Liaoyuan 437 Lishui 578 Liuzhou 772 Longgang 755 Longhai 5062 Longyan, Fujian 597 Luoyang 379 Luzhou 8400 Maanshan 555 Mawei 591 Meizhou 753 Mianyang 816 Minqing 5046 Mudanjiang 453 Nanan 5053 Nanching 791 Nanchong 817 Nanjing 25 Nanning 771 Nanping 599 Nantong 513 Nantou 755 Nanyang 377 Ningbo 574 Ningde 593 Panjin 4271 Panyu 2096 Pingdingshan 375 Pingtan 5043 Pucheng 5091 Puning 7649 Putian 594 Qingdao 532 Qinhuangdao 335 Qinzhou 777 Quanzhou 595 Quzhou 570 Sanming 598 Sanshui 7652 Shanghai 21 Shangqiu 370 Shantou 754 Shaoguan 751 Shaowu 5096 Shaoxing 575 Shaxian 5081 Shekou 755 Shenyang 24 Shenzhen 755 Shijiazhuang 311 Shishi 595 Shuangcheng 4615 Shunde 7653 Sihui 7663 Siping 434 Suihua 455 Suxian 557 Suzhou 512 Taian 538 Taiwan 6 Taiyuan 351 Taizhou 576 Tanggu 22 Tangshan 315 Tianjin 22 Tianshui 938 Tieling 410 Tongan 5021 Tonghua 435 Urumqi 991 Weifang 536 Wenjiang 815 Wenzhou 577 Wuhan 27 Wuhu 553 Wuxi 510 Xiamen 592 Xian 29 Xiangtan 732 Xiaogan 712 Xiaolan 7654 Xiapu 5034 Xichang 834 Xikou 574 Xingtai 319 Xinhui 7656 Xining 971 Xinxiang 373 Xuchang 374 Xuzhou 516 Yanan 911 Yancheng 515 Yangzhou 514 Yanji 433 Yantai 535 Yibin 831 Yinchuan 951 Yiyang 737 Yongan 5084 Yongzhou 7401 Yueyang 730 Yulin 755 Zhangjiakou 313 Zhangpu 5063 Zhangzhou 596 Zhanjiang 759 Zhaoqing 758 Zhengzhou 371 Zhenjiang 511 Zherong 5032 Zhongshan 7654 Zhuhai 756 Zhuzhou 733 Zibo 533 Zigong 813 Some useful numbers: Police 110 Domestic Long Distance Operator 113 Local Phone Number Information 114 International Operator 115 Domestic Long Distance Inquiry 116 Time Inquiry 117 Fire Emergency 119 Ambulance 120 Weather forecast 121 Long Distance Business Inquiry 176 In China, telephoning is relatively easy if you adhere to certain procedures. The best way to place a phone call is to go to the local post office. At most places it is possible to dial directly, in other places you have to ask the operator. In many cities there are now public phone booths where you can make calls with a phonecard. Another good place is the local police station. In most hotels it is possible to phone directly either from the reception desk or from your room. The 'better' hotels with international standards usually add a hefty surcharge of up to 50%! Inquire before placing a call. Rates from China to the overseas (e.g. USA) is CNY 26 per minute. There is another service apart from the PTT one which lets you phone for USD 1.40 per minute, with 6 seconds billing. ************************************************************************** VISA http://www.pmgeiser.ch/china/general/visa.htm There are visa of various length. I have seen visa for 30, 90 and even 120 days. You normally get a visa from the embassy. Visa extensions are available in China from any police station, it costs CNY 110. Visa are not needed for visitors to Hong Kong staying less than 30 days. In Hong Kong, go to CITS (China International Travel Service), located in Peking Street in Tsim Sa Tsui or even better to the China Visa Issuing Office on the island (Connaught Road, Wanchai). It takes about 24 hours and costs HKD 100 for a single entry and HKD 150 for a double entry visa, valid for 30 days. Bring a passport photo with you. A multiple entry business visa, valid 60 days, costs HKD 300. It seems to be a big hassle to get a Chinese visa in the USA. If you have enough time in an Asian city (i.e. about 2-3 days), you better get the visa there. The visa costs USD 30, handling fee is USD 5, and then you'll have to add for postage. In Toronto, Canada, you can go to the Chinese consulate. There you'll have to fill out a 1 page form, give your passport, 2 photographs and CAD 50. One week later you can pick up your passport with a 60 day tourist visa. Have a look at the application form front and back (only in the web-version, of course. ************************************************************************** BICYCLE http://www.pmgeiser.ch/china/transport/bicycle.htm One of the best ways to see a place is by bicycle. Chinese cities seem to be made for cycling. You can rent a bicycle at your hotel or at one of the many shops. It is only a couple of yuans per day. If you want to go beyond the city borders beware of the big roads. The traffic on major roads between cities is just murderous. Pollution is extreme and you are bound to become deaf from all that honking by bus and truck drivers. Road conditions are very bad, and 'stronger' vehicles don't take care of 'weaker' ones (e.g. you as a bicycle rider have to move out of the way, if a truck decides that he wants to drive on his left (your) side!), so accidents are quite usual. There are many guarded parking lots. Of course, you will have to pay a modest fee of about one or two miao (CNY 0.1 - 0.2). ************************************************************************** BOAT http://www.pmgeiser.ch/china/transport/boat.htm Boat trips are probably the nicest way of travelling through China. The most important route is on the Chang Jiang (Yangtse) between Shanghai and Chung Qing. For travellers coming from Hong Kong and travelling through Guangzhou (Canton) to Guilin, there is a combined ticket of boat and bus, costing CNY 77 (buy the ticket directly at the ticket booth where the boat leaves.) The boat goes to Wuzhou, where you have to change into a bus. ************************************************************************** BUS http://www.pmgeiser.ch/china/transport/bus.htm There are two main type of busses: city busses and overland busses. Both run frequently and are very cheap, but uncomfortable. For a city bus you have to pay only some Jiao (less than CNY 1). Since these busses are extremely crowded, you have to be very careful of pickpockets. Take your bags in front of you, so that nobody can cut it open. The bus net is very extensive and the fares are quite low. There are no differences between local and foreigner prices. When going overland, try not to sit in the front of the bus. Within the cities, I always thought that the horn was very loud, until I travelled overland. There the honking was almost continual and deafening. There is a bus from Golmud to Lhasa which takes about 40 hours on a bumpy road. Overnight sleeper busses are more comfortable and, of course, more expensive. The bus from Yangshuo to Guangzhou takes 18 hours and the bus from Jinghong to Kunming 22 hours (CNY 160.) ************************************************************************** FLYING http://www.pmgeiser.ch/china/transport/plane.htm Flight Times To give an idea of flight times, here the times from Beijing: to time (in h:mm) Chengdu 2:25 Guangzhou 3:00 Kunming 3:20 Nanjing 1:40 Shanghai 1:50 Tianjin 0:50 Urumqi 4:00 Wuhan 1:45 Xian 1:55 Prices There are different prices for foreigners and local people. Some plane prices: Guangzhou Guilin CNY 600 Shanghai Hong Kong CNY 1450 Shanghai Shenzen CNY 1100 Yunnan Airlines has a flight from Kunming to Lijiang is CNY 330, plus airport tax of CNY 50. The flight from Dali to Kunming is CNY 300, and the airport tax CNY 50. Silkair has two flights weekly between Kunming and Singapore. The international departure tax is CNY 90. There are several flights a day between Hong Kong and Guangzhou. The flight takes about 40 minutes. There are four flights daily from Hong Kong to Guilin (HKD 500.) Safety The safety of flying within China has greatly improved over the last couple of years. Still, China's airlines are among the most dangerous in the world, with one fatality per 100'000 domestic flights (world average is about 1 to 1'500'000)! Airlines When flying, you are covered by an insurance with CNY 200'000. Most airlines now have modern Boeing and Airbus planes (China is the second largest market for Airbus, after France). However, not all the spare parts that are used are original. I do not know, if this is only true for non-critical parts, like cabin interior, or for everything. The airlines with the best repute are China Southern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Eastern and Shenzhen. There are about 50 domestic airlines. Of these, only four are registered with IATA. They are Air China, China Southern, China Shanghai, and China Eastern. Airlines in China: Air China China Eastern China Shanghai China Southern Shanghai Airlines Yunnan Airlines Planes not always on time, sometimes delaying departure for hours. ************************************************************************** TRAIN http://www.pmgeiser.ch/china/transport/train.htm With over 52800 km of tracks, the train is one of China's main means of transportation. However, most of these tracks operate with diesel or coal, only 5700 km are electrified. There are four classes available: Soft sleeper, hard sleeper, soft seater, and hard seater. Soft sleepers are four bed compartments with nice sheets and generally good comfort. Hard sleepers are open six bed niches with no door towards the corridor. Only a sheet is provided, but generally people are much nicer (not being high communist cadres or successful business people). Soft seaters are very comfortable. Hard seaters are the lowest class of them all, but also the cheapest. In contrast to the other classes, there is no limit on how many people will travel. Even though there are reservations one is supposed to move together, so that as many people as possible are able to sit. A good way to spend time on the train is to go to the dining car. Meals are cheap and usually ok. Especially when you're travelling hard seat, you'll be happy to have more space. Trains are usually very punctual and safe. There seems to be a change in the prices, they have gone up quite a lot recently (double for hard sleeper, and triple for soft sleeper). These prices are now valid for both, Chinese and foreigners, so there is now no difference anymore (since about October 1995.) At some place there is a black market for Chinese price tickets. The worst that can happen to you is that the train personnel doesn't believe you're a foreing student studying Chinese in China. Tickets are sometimes quite limited, so the best thing is to book your next ticket at the same day you arrive at some place. If you stay at one place for a couple of days don't forget to book at least two to three days before your planned departure. Many stations, especially the big cities, have special booths for foreigners. There you don't have to wait as long as at the regular booths, but prices are more expensive, and they may only have the more expensive tickets. (Edmund) When you go to the booth in the train station to buy the ticket, write down on a piece of paper the train number, time and date of departure, destination, and number of tickets you want to buy. Show this paper to the clerk at the booth in order to avoid a misunderstanding (a common occurence in China). (Edmund) A special note about the main train station in Beijing. I wouldn't try to get a train ticket at the regular line up there! The lineup is very long and moves very slowly. A friend explained to me why this is so: it seems that many poor peasants come to Beijing to make money. One way to do this is to line up for tickets at the station (even though you are not planning to go anywhere). Once they get near the front of the line, they can offer to buy tickets for other people who want to buy a ticket but can't afford the time to wait. This 'service' cost about 10 CNY for a short trip, or about CNY 200 for a long trip (in addition to the price of the ticket itself). You understand that this can only happen in a place where there is large gap in income, such as China is today. Anyway, if you are a foreigner, go inside the train station (you will have to show your passport to a guard at the gate to do this), go to the Foreign guests booking office ('Wai Bing Shou Piao Chu'), and buy your ticket there. It is best to go 3-4 days in advance of your trip to book the ticket. A good idea is to buy a railroad guide at one of the stations. Timetables Note: Some fares are only an estimate, and all prices are changing from time to time, so check once you're there. I try to keep the prices as accurate as possible, but things do change and I'm not from the Chinese railway company... From Beijing To: DestinationTrain No.Departure TimeArrival Time GuilinT510:5110:21+1 Hong KongT9710:0613:10+1 Hanoi (Vietnam)T510:5106:50+2 MoscowK307:4014:19+5 MoscowK1922:5017:55+6 NanjingT6520:4008:24+1 ShanghaiT1318:0808:08+1 ShanghaiT2118:0008:00+1 Ulan BatorK307:4013:15+1 Ulan BatorK2307:4013:15+1 UrumqiT6920:2019:59+2 WuhanT3718:5307:00+1 WuhanT7908:1021:02 XianT4117:1206:45+1 XianT5516:1006:16+1 From Xian to Suzhou 192/189 9:05 9:19 (2nd day) 166.00 519.00 108/105 9:40 11:01 (2nd day) 166.00 519.00 178/175 13:25 13:41 (2nd day) 166.00 519.00 140/137 20:30 20:22 (2nd day) 166.00 519.00 54/51 23:18 21:23 (2nd day) 182.00 543.00 From Hangzhou to Guilin 79 21:55 0:57 (3rd day) 182.00 543.00 179 22:49 6:56 (3rd day) 166.00 519.00 From Suzhou to Hangzhou Hard seat fare Soft seat fare 155/158 2:06 6:26 13.00 21.00 87/90 4:54 9:48 15.00 23.00 105/108 11:01 16:37 13.00 21.00 31 14:44 19:16 15.00 23.00 Tour 5 8:22 12:45 32.00 49.00 Tour 11 15:25 19:56 32.00 49.00 From Kunming to Hekou Hard seat fare Soft seat fare 14:45 7:00 (2nd day) The train from Guangzhou to Guilin takes 17 hours. The train from Wuxi to Beijing takes 22 to 24 hours. Hard sleeper is CNY 173, and soft sleeper CNY 446. From Wuxi to Zhangzhou takes only 40 minutes and costs CNY 3. The train from Hekou to Kunming takes about 16 hours through magnificent scenery. There are several trains daily; a direct one leaves at 13:20. Hard sleeper is CNY 80. Shanghai to Hangzhou takes 3 hours and costs CNY 55 for a soft seat. Suzhou to Beijing takes 22 hours and costs CNY 170 for a hard sleeper. Beijing to Xian takes 18 hours and costs CNY 270 for a hard sleeper. Xian to Chengdu takes 22 hours and costs CNY 170 for a hard sleeper. Chengdu to Jinjiang takes 17 hours and costs CNY 45 for a hard seat. Kunming to Guilin takes 33 hours and costs CNY 285 for a soft sleeper. Guangzhou to Shanghai takes 36 hours. In Shanghai it is possible to book tickets up to 30 days in advance. ************************************************************************** CHINA - Peter M. Geiser's Hotel and Travel Guide Copyright (c) 1995 - 2004, Peter M. Geiser http://www.pmgeiser.ch http://www.pmgeiser.com http://www.mineralwaters.org http://www.dussy.ch **************************************************************************