My father is travelling to China next month and is going to spend a few days in Nanjing before starting an organised tour from Shanghai. He plans to travel by train but is worried about getting lost at the railway station and catching the wrong train. He watched Globe Trekker on Discovery Travel & Living last night and was concerned after seeing the presenter battle crowds at Shanghai to catch a train.

Has anyone had experience with catching trains in Shanghai? In particular my father would like to know how difficult it is for someone who doesn't speak Chinese in determining the right destination and platform for a long-distance service.

I've done lots of travelling on Chinese trains and would say that once you've made it to the station it's quite difficult to miss your train, or catch the wrong one. The key is the train number. There are always boards which display the train number, and he can always get directions from any staff member (show your ticket and they'll point where to go). Tickets are checked at the door to the carriage and it's always good to state your destination and get confirmation.

Assuming that your father isn't totally clueless he should have no problems.

Thanks for that advice. I think it's just nervousness on my father's part as it will be his first trip alone. He has already learned the benefit of checking train numbers, he and my late stepmother missed the train to Munich from Venezia Santa Lucia station because they were looking for "Munich" or "M�nchen" and didn't realise that it was "Monaco di Bavaria" in Italian. I told them that they should have looked for the "EC86" number on the board to get the right platform.

He has been studying his Mandarin phrasebook, so he should be able to use that if need be.

You can also tell your father that all the announcements for train boarding at the Shanghai station are made in English as well as Mandarin, and the board listing the upcoming trains switches between Mandarin and English. The train station in Nanjing does not do announcements in English, but he can go up to the desk in the "soft seat" waiting area, show the clerk his ticket, and they will let him know when to head up on the platform. The upcoming train board is all in Mandarin, but the train numbers and times are in "American" style characters, so he will be able to figure out when his train is expected on the board.

He should also know that all soft-seat tickets have assigned seating. On the ticket he will find a set of 2 numbers - the first number is the train car number, and the second is his seat number.

Why not fly into NKG from HKG/SIN/MFM and avoid one train trip altogether?

I'd put in a recommendation for the Sofitel Galaxy in Nanjing if he is searching for hotels.

Thanks tvelinsk, I've called my father and passed on your advice and that's put his mind at ease. His guidebook has the Mandarin characters for all the major cities so he should be able to recognise Shanghai on the board when he gets the return train.

Also, thanks Skillet for the hotel recommendation. Unfortunately he can't fly into NKG as he's travelling on a Qantas Frequent Flyer award flight from Sydney to Shanghai. That's the reason he's going to do the side trip to Nanjing as I could only get a SYD-PVG J seat 6 days before the organised tour starts, so he's got a bit of extra time. I managed to get a PKG-SYD J seat for the day after the tour finishes in Beijing, so he doesn't have to wait around there.

I did this route back in 2002 while on business. Since I had 2 local colleagues accompanied me, I didn't pay much attention to finding my own way around.
This was in late April. On the train, Christmas music was blaring the entire way. Go figure. There was food and drink (include hot tea poured from a tin tea pot) on the train. But most travelers (in 1st class) brought their own tea and food. Upon arrival at Nanjing train station, the scene outside the station was extremely confusing. We had to literally shoulder our way to find a taxi. Lots of people, bikes, buses, cars and trucks around. The traffic didn't seem to have any order or pattern. If I was there by myself, I would be a bit perplexed.

That said, here are couple of tips: Have someone write down the station (in Chinese) that he has to alight. Plus the address in Chinese where he has to go. Show that to the taxi driver. Taxi drivers in China are fine, even though they tend to drive too fast. But they won't cheat you.

Thanks allset2travel. He's in Shanghai now and has sent me a few SMS messages. I think he's travelling to Nanjing tomorrow, so I'll pass on the advice.

Again, thanks to everyone for their input^^. FT is a wonderful travel resource!