Steve Weagant

I saw a reference to this on another thread. I gathered that these are seats that allow a forward view from the front of the train. Am I correct?

I also noticed that there is a dining car on some of the high speed trains. What is the menu like?

If the on the trains is pretty bad, then what are the food options like in Beijing station before getting on the train to Qingdao?

Thanks

moondog

You're correct about the forward view thing. But, it's seriously not worth 1750.

The food sucks; go for KFC in the train station.

mosburger

I've occasionally gotten these "business class" seats for "first class" prices on shorter segments. Don't ask me why the definitions are in this order.

BrianMinn

A few months ago I took the high-speed train Beijing to Shanghai with a sister, and got first class seats to assure we could get a good view of the countryside. Strangely, we ended up in two of the four seats that had no window! We looked for empty seats, but they were all occupied with people either reading or using their computers.

Why would there not be windows at every seat, especially in first class?

moondog

You could have gone to the dining car (my SOP, regardless of class). Also, note that first class costs half as much as business class (and sight seeing class).

jiejie

To reiterate, the English translations of Chinese HSR train classes might throw some people off. Do not equate them to airline cabin designations.

--"Business Class" "VIP Class" "Sightseeing Class" are the same thing (Sightseeing being a designated part of this class) and are the most expensive. Relatively few of these seats, and very expensive.

--"First Class" is the standard "better" seats in 2-aisle-2 configuration.

--"Second Class" are less roomy though still OK, 2-aisle-3 or 3-aisle-3.

Windows are generally found at the majority of seats, although there are differences in individual carriages across the entire HSR collection of rolling stock. I think BrianMinn was just unlucky on that particular trip. Murphy's Law: if one wants to sleep, you'll get assigned the seats on the sunny side with the broken window shade.

moondog

They are the same price, but not the same thing. Sightseeing class consists of 5 seats in the front of the first car (1 or 16), the rest of which is first class. Business class is located a few cars back. 3 of the 5 seats in sightseeing class are just as nice as business class, while the other two are not.

jiejie

So BrianMinn got the other two? I'm still not clear on what class he was really in.

BrianMinn

I bought first class, knowing business class was much more expensive, and my previous experience in first class was always seats in a windowed row. Why would there be no windows? Pathway for electrical conductors from the high-voltage line to the motors below? Such a thing could be placed near the toilets. It was a complete surprise and since I can't recall the seat numbers, there is no way to prevent a recurrence!

moondog

All 5 seats in sightseeing class offer a very nice view (a bit like being the nose of a 747), but only 3 of them are the biz class style recliners.

Bear4Asian

Of course you're going so fast you get dizzy if you look out the window. But it is an interesting experience.

moondog

I've never experienced dizziness issues; most of the stuff to look at is at least 500 meters away from the train, so it's not like it passes by in a blur.

BrianMinn

The shinkansen in Japan is mostly elevated or in tunnels, so I never experienced any dizziness there. When taking the TGV (mostly at grade) in France, looking out the window definitely made one dizzy unless one focused only on distant objects. The Chinese HST are, like the Japanese, mostly elevated, so comfortable for sightseeing.

eethan

I noticed Ctrip only sells 2nd, 1st, and J class. Is there a way to guarantee getting a sightseeing seat - preferably buying just a 1st ticket?

Thought it'd be cool to see how these high-speeds work. Any review out there of the sightseeing car experience?

I assume all G-type trains have a sightseeing car, since I'll be taking the Harbin-Dalian line.

moondog

On the routes I frequent:

-not all trains offer sightseeing class
-it usually costs more than first but less than business
-I would not buy on ctrip hoping to upgrade because there are very few seats on offer