Asia - Train ride between Hong Kong & Beijing

Did a FT search in the Asia forum on this topic, and couldn't find anything. If you have taken the 24-hour Hong Kong to Beijing train ride, I'll be interested in your thoughts about it. Was it fun? Did you get to see the countryside? What class did you travel in? Soft sleeper? Hard sleeper?

Thanks!

Did a FT search in the Asia forum on this topic, and couldn't find anything. If you have taken the 24-hour Hong Kong to Beijing train ride, I'll be interested in your thoughts about it. Was it fun? Did you get to see the countryside? What class did you travel in? Soft sleeper? Hard sleeper?

Thanks!

i would not do that run on by train without breaking it up into 2 or 3 segments. i suggest you start off in guangzhou and stop in places you'd probably miss otherwise, such as changsha or kaifeng.

if that doesn't float your boat, then you should just fly because there are many 12-hour train rides in china that provide just as much "scenery". 24 hours is a long time to sit on a train. for hkg-pek, i would probably suck it up and go for the soft sleeper (even though air fares are comparable). for shorter trips like pek-sha, hard sleepers are ok, especially if you ride with one of the better train companies. (i don't know specific companies, but can opine that the shanghai-based trains are among the best in the country and i always go out of my to book them.)

I did it in Dec 1999. I think it was more like 27 hours... it gets blurry after awhile.

1) Do not take the hard sleeper. I did. I went with friends to get an 'experience'. there's no door thus no privacy. 2 bunk beds (stacked 3 high) in a 7'x7' space...

2) It was Dec1999. Macau was just handed back to China... Propaganda oops, I mean patriotic speeches blaring from the speakers ---> no Sleep

3) Food... Bring your own enuf said.

There is a lot of countryside... mostly farmland. It was nice ... for about 3 hours...

Am jiggering my schedule so that I will only be taking the overnight BJS-SHA train ride, which is about 12 hours. Get to sleep hopefully, save the cost of a 1-night hotel stay, and see a wee bit of China scenery before passing out :)

Am bringing my 4 year-old so that she can see what China is like. Thanks!

Am jiggering my schedule so that I will only be taking the overnight BJS-SHA train ride, which is about 12 hours. Get to sleep hopefully, save the cost of a 1-night hotel stay, and see a wee bit of China scenery before passing out :)

Am bringing my 4 year-old so that she can see what China is like. Thanks!

that run is 14 hours on 特快 (t) trains. try to get on the 6:00 or 6:08 departures. the 8p train is crap by comparison.

Thanks, Moondog! <EOM>

Came across this blog posting of train service from Beijing to Shanghai.

http://home.wangjianshuo.com/archives/20040801_train_from_beijing_to_shanghai.htm

Hope it helps future travellers.

All the best,
Mark.

My parents took the T98/97 Jiulong-Beijing in 2003, and like it so much that they did the K100/99 Jiulong-Shanghai in 2004. While these trains don't use the new cars shown in the blog (linked above), they have the "Deluxe Softsleeper" with just 2 in a room, and no upper berth. A whole train car sleeps only 18 persons, so very comfortable.

I have travelled Jiulong-Beijing over a decade ago when it used to take about 36 hours. Still it was fun, with enough to see. Dining on Chinese trains are also usually very good when you're travelling in soft-sleeper class.