I have to agree with this. While, when everything works correctly flying may shave off an hour or two, the train is much more reliable. In my 4 years in China, I have been on one train that was late. The high speed from Shanghai to Beijing was 20 minutes late because we had to slow down for the final couple hundred kilometers due to snow.

And I will always take the comfort of the train over a plane.

Of course, if China wasn't more paranoid than the US about security, and one didn't have to go through a somewhat evasive security check to board a train, that would make the train a hands down winner.