The only authoritative schedules on-line are in Chinese only. You need to be able to input Chinese to read them. A few agents claim to have schedules on-line, but these are only partial, rarely updated, and mostly suite their own purposes.

There's one English-language interface with the National Rail Timetable which has been engineered by a foreign-run café in Zhongdian:

http://treehouse.ofb.net/guide/searc...routes?lang=en

But you might find it easier to download a free partial timetable, translated and re-organized into international format, from here:

http://www.chinatt.org

The full timetable can also be purchased.

Almost every stall selling soft drinks, maps, etc., has the full national railway timetable on sale. It's in Chinese (not unreasonably), and so poorly organised that few Chinese can use it, and costs Y8. But there's one section where the major points of departure are organized in pinyin alphabetical order, with major trains listed. You need merely be able to recognise the characters for your destination. This section is called the 'da zhan shikebiao'. Presumably you work with people who can find this section for you, and who can write down the characters for Suzhou.

You could have looked a the vast signs on the wall, maybe? It's only necessary to know the characters for Suzhou--just two characters.

There are indeed trains of varying speeds and those that pass through Suzhou on their way somewhere else, but in general you'll prefer the 'T' (te kuai--especially fast) trains to others. There are 14 of these a day, and should you buy a Chinese timetable you'll find them in the upper table on page 117, and there are further trains on p.119 and other tables.

It should be added that for most trains in China just showing up, buying a ticket, and boarding is not an option, at least if you want one of the more comfortable seats or a numbered place, although on a well-serviced daytime run on seat-only trains such as those from Shanghai to Suzhou it may be possible. Most guide books give details of how the system works, and perhaps a little more reading is in order.

And if there's an unwillingness to engage with the station or the language, it's simplest just to use a ticket agent. There are some with terminals on the railway system charging just Y5 commission and whose locations are generally shown on Chinese-language maps with the railway symbol, and hundreds around the city who will run off and get the ticket for you for about Y20. Within larger hotels (residence not required) these often speak some English, although the fee may also be higher.

Peter N-H
http://www.datasinica.com
http://peternh.blogspot.com