Originally Posted by
CrispyRice
I've got the reverse question.
We're flying into Xi'an and hoping to take a sleeper train from Xi'an to Beijing, but we want to do it on Saturday, May 7th.
That's the end of the the big holiday week, right? Is that going to be a problem? We'd like to get a soft sleeper cabin.
We're planning on arriving in Xi'an on the 5th. We have flexibility enough to leave on the Sunday the 8th instead. Our other choice is to fly.
Also, are there any reputable online services with which we can book / reserve train tickets early? Or will we be ok getting tickets in Xi'an as soon as we arrive?
Thanks!
It hasn't been a special holiday since around 2006, but even if it was, the holiday thing (that doesn't include May 7) would be more likely to help you than hurt you.
In light of the fact that I've burnt on the route in question on many occasions (though only 20% of the time), I advise you to:
1) buy airplane tickets
or
2) ask your hotel to fetch train tickets for you
Regarding #2, I've yet to see an online agency that can book train tickets for less than the fanciest hotels around.
ETA: Changed "can't" to "can" in final sentence. My point was that I don't think very highly of current online train ticketing services.