Originally Posted by
moondog
I'd be very surprised if you were able to find any discounts greater than 20% next summer (it's much too early to book btw). Furthermore, my anectdotal evidence (fares are expensive, flights are full, bosses that force junior employees to ride trains are less and less common) suggests that demand for air travel has increased dramatically during the course of the past year. Finally, PEK itself is undergoing a major capacity reduction right now that is expected to be permanent.
Well that's a shame.
I'll have my family with me (4 of us) and I'd actually prefer to take a train if our itinerary permits it. We enjoyed (well, maybe "enjoyed" is too strong a word) our overnight trains last year in the 4-person sleepers, and I've never heard anyone say a nice word about flying within China.
The thing that worries me about taking a train to or from Beijing during the Olympics is that -- to my hazy recollection -- you can't make reservations too far in advance for Chinese trains. While that is not usually a big problem, I wonder if it could be a problem during the Olympics. I presume I could arrange air travel further in advance.