mosburger

Really depends on the situation. Nowadays, I'm more often than not, arriving at SHA from Europe via HKG with luggage and continuing by HSR to a city on the Jinghu line.

That means the previous night spent on a plane and possibly meetings immediately after arrival. In these cases I always book at least first but with luggage tend to prefer to roomier business (VIP) class.

Value the privacy and tranquil setting most, although the spacious seat is not bad either. First class seats are actually sufficient regarding comfort but coming from longhauls the privacy aspect is equally important for me to get some rest.

I think this is the main reason also for Chinese executives and party echelons to travel "in style"

We had an old friend of my Chinese mentor and local party secretary visiting us a few weeks ago with his wife and he put emphasis on getting a "quiet room in a quiet setting". The good man is completely exhausted from administrative duties and playing the power game and wanted simply to rest, talk with friends and spend some time writing in a stress free environment.

This is where I see the niche for the business (VIP) class as well.

anacapamalibu

12 year olds don't use pencils, if the old man's TAP card works for VIP.
Good to go.

chornedsnorkack

Some 12 year old girls may be under 150 cm. Is it correct that the 50 % discount is 50% of any ticket price however big, and still entitles the under-150 to occupy 100 % of a seat?

moondog

I took the train up to Beijing today for the first time in several months, and note the following changes (to G18... not sure about other trains):

-~10 cars instead of ~16 cars
-dining car still exists, but now has actual second class assigned seats instead of free for all Denny's style

The lack of a dining car isn't a complete deal breaker (because the food is god awful), but I was still disappointed because I certainly prefer the dining car to second class seats, and feel it's on par with first class if you want to spread out and get work done. (Obviously, the dining car is not well suited for sleeping.)

anacapamalibu

They must have followed the western ways, cram as many seats as possible into as small a space as possible and don't give up anything for free.

June 2011 Shanghai - Beijing HSR Dining Car


2015 Shanghai - Beijing HSR Dining Car

JPDM

Yes, you can buy the food there but go back to your seat to eat it.

moondog

Update. I'm on g14 today, and am pleased to report that it has a true dining car (they even made an announcement about it).

moondog

During last week's Beijing trip, I took the 10a G train up and the 923p D train back.

The former was miserable (think: 6 hours in close proximity to your boss).

The latter was kind of cool, but I must point out that you will absolutely starve on this train; even the mineral water is nasty.

I kind of want to try the T train (which takes 15 hours), but it is surprisingly hard to book.

Next week, we're flying both ways.

mosburger

Last week G44 Suzhou 5:55 pm Beijingnan 11pm due to sudden schedule change. Ate nothing onboard with business partner but we then had a late night snack near our Beijing hotel.

Back with same 9:23 pm D train as moondog. Was exhausted by all meetings and negotiations by then so slept from about 10 pm to 7 am.

Most of the food outlets at Beijingnan departure level are 2nd Floor with no elevators or escalators provided. Better to eat downstairs at arrivals if with heavy luggage.

Very nice ride on the D 321 and would recommend the soft sleeper to anyone. Just make sure you get your hotel room (for taking a shower) early if not a permanent resident in Shanghai.

m.y

Actually it's not surprising at all since there are only two non-highspeed trains between Beijing and Shanghai: one T train and one regular train that takes 20 hours. Hard sleeper on T train cost 305 compare to 553 on second glass on G trains and the former saves a night of hotel cost thus it is very popular and tickets are sold out quickly.

chornedsnorkack

Indeed. Review of the basic options, Beijing-Shanghai:
G trains:
Trip time 4:48 to 6:00
Depart 7:00 (G101) to 17:50 (G159), arrive 12:37 to 23:28 (same)
Price second class 553 yuan, first class 933 yuan
40 trains over the day
D trains:
1 train nightly, D321
trip time 11:49
departs 21:23, arrives 9:12
second class seat 309 yuan, soft sleeper 696 yuan
Z trains
1 train nightly, Z4013
trip time 13:26
departs 18:01, arrives 7:27
soft seat 281 yuan 5 jiao, soft sleeper 497 yuan 5 jiao
T trains
1 train nightly, T109
trip time 15:11
departs 19:33, arrives 10:44
hard seat 177 yuan 5 jiao, hard sleeper 325 yuan 5 jiao, soft sleeper 497 yuan 5 jiao
number trains
1 train nightly, 1461
trip time 20:18
departs 11:54, arrives 8:11
hard seat 156 yuan 5 jiao, hard sleeper 304 yuan 5 jiao

mosburger

Slight correction to the otherwise excellent summary of chornedsnorkack:

There are two daily D night trains BJ - SH and vice versa, the first leaves at 21:16 and the second favoured by lao moondog and myself at 21:23. Can't recall the number of the slightly earlier train but sure about it's existence.

And just to add, don't leave purchasing night train tickets on this route to the departure day. They will be packed and last minute sleeper carriage tickets hard to find.

JPDM

Complete schedules as well as ticket availability are easily checked in English on website of most ticket agents such as china-diy-travel.com and many others.
Checking availability for the next 2-3 days tells you if getting a ticket at the last minute is realistic. I did not check but suspect that it is not likely.

hawflakes

2015 Shanghai to Beijing High Speed Train

hawklx

Regarding the overnight D trains, there are actually:
1 on Mon, Fri, Sat & Sun
2 on Tue & Thu
3 on Wed
on SH - BJ and vice versa.