China Internal Travel Stuff.

It's been a while fellow travellers, but before I return with the Xi'an blog and tales of the Hua Shuan Mountain, I thought I would fill you in on a few tips and some advice when travelling over or above the mass of land that is China.

Unless you have months over there, you are likely to need to focus in on a certain area, or at least narrow it down to two or three provinces, as otherwise a lot of your time will be swallowed up travelling. Of course you could just stay in one place, but when travelling so far it seems only fair to experience life from a few different perspectives and visit as many places as you can.

As you would expect their trains are excellent and they have a huge amount of super-fast trains and Shinkansen style trains, as well as more local and sleeper style services. Most towns and cities are accessible by train and it is a vast and busy network, serving a huge area of land and a helluva lot of people.

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/

This very easy to navigate website, has lots more information on the trains and allows you to book through them as a tour operator, if that's how you roll. Or it gives you the times and services and then you can book up to 58 days in advance, at the rail stations in China. (This is a new service since December 6th 2014. Previously, tickets were only available 30 days in advance by phone or Internet, and 28 days in advance at the station.) You will have to show your passport in order to purchase a ticket.

http://www.seat61.com/China.htm#.VInNpTGsVyU

I also stumbled across this website which looks quite useful in terms of breaking down your China travel into easy steps and walking you through it. There are also links about the Metro/Underground services in the bigger cities, and links to travel by ferry and other options.

If you are going to buy your tickets once there, as we did, you will need to find the one designated English speaking terminal in the station and probably wait behind lots of locals, as they can't keep one terminal purely for English speakers, not in off peak November. (Things may be different in the spring blossom rush or the summer months.) And then if you have a particular train journey in mind, or even better, have a list printed out of the journeys you want, this will help everything run a little smoother.

No 16, the English speaking booth. 

When using the super-fast trains, always book a return journey as well, otherwise you may be caught out especially in peak times, and you may have to wait hours, or find another way back involving hours of bus ride in hideous traffic. No, this didn't happen to us at all........ Well okay, it did, but the reason we hadn't booked a return was because we were up a sacred mountain and had no idea when we'd be finished and we didn't want to have to rush. In hindsight, a three hour journey back after several hours of hiking could have been avoided with a 35 minute train journey. Won't be making that mistake again.

Train tips:

• If you have a relatively short time in China, plan your route in advance and know where you want to be when. (Obviously if you have a little more freedom then you can be more flexible with dates and just book your travel as and when you need it.)
• If you prefer to have things done and settled before you leave, then book online with one of the operators and be safe in the knowledge that it's all done. 
• If booking from a station in person, be prepared to queue, especially when travelling the same day. Get there with time to spare and a hefty chunk of it just in case. 
• You must have a passport to travel by rail so keep a sharp eye on it. 
• Be prepared for airport style terminals at some of the bigger train stations and especially at the bullet train stations. You will need time to navigate the large halls and find your gate. 
• Hot and lukewarm water is available on the train free of charge, so if you have some tea handy, go for it. 
• Be aware of what you're booking - seats, soft sleeper or hard sleeper - before you book it so you don't unnecessarily decimate the budget or find yourself uncomfortable. Rail times can vary anywhere from a few minutes to a few days. 
• All trains have signs and announcements in Chinese and English, so once aboard you should be able to work out your stop and where the conveniences are. etc.
• Train tickets are very reasonable and are an affordable and environmentally stable way of getting around this large nation. For instance we paid 54.50 RMB for a 35 minute super-fast train journey, which is £5.45. And it went a distance of over 120kms. Bargain!

Moving on to air travel. It might not be quite as environmentally sound, but when faced with a twelve hour rail journey, or a short flight of around two hours, sometimes flying wins. Using China Eastern Airlines, we actually used two internal flights during our 16 day holiday. The prices were also very reasonable at around £120 for two people including ticket price, luggage and fees.  

The travel China guide mentioned above, also has a section on flights if you would prefer to book through an agent. But you can just as easily book in advance at the airline website. 

http://uk.ceair.com/muovc/newsite/main/en_GB/index.html

Please note that we booked a couple of months in advance and were informed of a change a few weeks later. The flight had been moved by several hours, which luckily didn't affect us too much, and actually opened up an extra few hours in Beijing. It just meant we arrived in Xi'an at pretty much midnight instead of late afternoon. So just be prepared for slight changes. It may not happen often but it is something to look out for. 

The airline was very organised. Everything went smoothly. They had lots of nice options to eat at the gates and the plane was new and half empty. Sadly it was the most turbulent flight I've ever been on and subsequently the longest two hour flight ever!

Before the turbulence. 

Air travel tips:

•  If you're facing an extremely long train journey and don't fancy sleeping on the train, check out flights for your destination and see if you can save yourself some time. 
• Book in advance but be aware of changes.
• Arrive at least ninety minutes prior to departure time.
• Be prepared for the cabin crew not to move for twenty minutes after departure, it's their law. It's weird because you're normally used to them being up and busy after about two minutes in the UK, Europe and the US. But don't panic, they are not sitting because they are terrified or because they have built in turbulence trackers, they're just following the rules. 

Okay, so now you're sorted. You've had your adventures in Beijing, you've had two days on the wall in remote Gubeikou and you've taken the plane to Xi'an. Now it's time for something a bit different. 

Next time join me in Xi'an, with three days of adventures and exploration. Think sacred mountains, crazy cable cars, sky ladders, high speed trains, an army made of...oh what's the stuff plant pots are made out of again?....and walking the walls. 

Until then, keep travelling. 

The Sarky Traveller.