The Train Station

[jackiechanbabe]

Hi there. I'll be flying into Beijing and then taking the train to Qingdao. Problem is, I speak 0 Chinese, have never been to China, and am really bad at directions and have bad luck with this kind of thing even in the US. I also probably will be alone. I'm a nice looking young blond lady. I don't know if this will help me or make matters worse.

I suppose I'm wondering if this is the dumbest idea ever. Will any English speakers be there to help me figure out how to buy a ticket and how to catch my train (and know when to get off!). I don't want to end up in Mongolia or Moscow by accident.

I plan on giving myself hours to get to the right train, but I have no idea how to buy the ticket, or how to ask where to go! Any advice would be great. I could fly for twice the price, but I'd like to see the countryside and save some $$ after a $2000 plane ticket.

Thanks!

[roddy]

To be honest, I'd fly - if you book in advance via ctrip or elong it might not even be that much more expensive. You can see plenty of countryside later (and to be honest it's not all that anyway - pretty flat and grey. Interesting if you haven't seen it I guess, but it can wait). And getting across Beijing, buying the ticket, waiting, getting on the train, with luggage and jetlag?

Anyway, if you want to take the train . . .

Trains to Qingdao leave from both Beijing Station (more central) and Beijing South (bit out of the way, but on the subway now I think). From Beijing Station I think there's just one or two slower overnight trains - something like ten hours I think it takes. It'll be dark, you won't see much.

There are also regular fast trains from Beijing South. These take about six hours.

There will likely be signed English speaking windows at Beijing South, there's certainly one at Beijing Station. Although saying 'Qingdao, next train' will get you what you want at any window.

You could maybe make preparations by checking timetables on huochepiao.com and making little slips of paper to hand over with your requirements written on. Chinese train stations can be pretty overwhelming places, but they're not completely unmanageable.

[gougou]

A friend told me that there are automatic vending machines at Beijing South, which have an English interface. Not sure whether you have those at Beijing Station, too.

I'd agree with roddy that the countryside between Beijing and Qingdao is not the greatest; the more interesting train rides are in the South or the West of China.

[xiaoxiaocao]

This site is great for train schedules and in 3 years has never done me wrong - http://www.chinahighlights.com/china-trains/

[889]

There are trains from Beijing Nan (Beijing South) to Qingdao at 07:05, 08:30, 11:15, 13:25, 16:05, and 17:05. These are fast "D" trains that take about 5h30m for the trip. Yes, the Metro to Beijing Nan is now open.

There's also a fairly slow overnight train at 22:22 from Beijing Xi (Beijing West) as well as a somewhat faster train at 22:48 from Beijing Zhan (Beijing Station). Since the 22:22 from Beijing Xi starts elsewhere, from Baotou, it's not a good choice.There's Metro to Beijing Zhan, but not Beijing Xi.

Buying tickets isn't too difficult. Best is to have your request written in Chinese, but you can try saying it: Dao Qingdao, mashang zou, er deng, yi zhang piao. That is, "To Qingdao, leaving ASAP, second class, one ticket." In characters, it's 到青岛, 马上走, 二等 , 一张票. If you want first class, it's 一等 “yi deng." The night train's more complicated since there are sleeper options (and you'd certainly want a sleeper overnight.)

"D" train fares are 273RMB second class and 328RMB first.

The problem, as you can see, is that there aren't that many D trains to Qingdao and it's not rare for tickets to be sold out, though day train tickets are almost always easier to buy than night trains. So plan to spend a night in Beijing if you can't get a ticket.

In any event, I'd agree that flying would be far easier since you'll already be at the airport. You can check fares and buy tickets online at www.elong.com and www.ctrip.com. Fares are sometimes discounted and not expensive.

[jackiechanbabe]

Thanks for the great advice! And the Chinese language help. I'll print that out for sure.

I don't mind taking a day or 2 to explore Beijing before I head to Qingdao, so I should be able to buy a ticket a day in advance (is that enough time?). I could get a hostel near the Beijing South (if there is one) station and give myself plenty of time to figure out how to buy the ticket and where to go.

Hmm. I'll have to think about it some more. Thanks for all the advice! Feel free to add more if some comes to mind.

[roddy]

Trouble with staying near Beijing South is that there's nothing else there. Most hostels will get train tickets for you for a fee.

If you actually want to spend a couple of days in Beijing, fair enough - you'll be leaving the airport anyway, and the train's a perfectly reasonable way to get to Qingdao. I'd consider the sleeper leaving from Beijing Station - it'll give you full use of your last day in Beijing (the hostel will store your luggage), it's the easiest to get to, and it'll get you to Qingdao nice and early in the morning. Plus every trip to China should include one overnight train ride.

[889]

Since there's only one sleeper train starting from Beijing, don't be surprised if tickets are hard to buy even on a couple days' notice. "D" trains shouldn't be a problem, though.

Ticket halls at Chinese train stations can be tumultuous. It's much easier to buy tickets at sales outlets scattered about the city. (There's a 5RMB commission.) You can ask your hotel where the nearest one is.

For sleepers, you'll need to know "hard sleeper" ying wo 硬卧 and "soft sleeper" ruan wo 软卧.

[lordnikon]

In Beijing, you can buy tickets at Beijing Main station (metro Bejingzhan), or Beijing West station (called Beijing Xi or Xizhan, metro Junshibowuguan sometimes called 'Military Museum'). At Beijing Main station, the ticketing office for foreigners is on the north west corner of the 1st floor, accessed via the soft seat waiting room. It is open 05:30-07:30, 08:00-18:30, 19:00-23:00. Only domestic Chinese tickets are sold, not international tickets. At Beijing West station, ticket window 1 in the main hall is marked 'English speaking', open 24 hours. Service here is reported as 'fluent & efficient'. Alternatively, you can buy train tickets at BTG Travel & Tours, on Fwai Dajie between the New Otani and Gloria Plaza Hotels, open 08:00-20:00.

A great guide for train travel in china can be found here http://www.seat61.com/China.htm this a great site for getting familiar with train travel as there is a guide for most countries

[liuzhou]

This site is great for train schedules and in 3 years has never done me wrong - http://www.chinahigh...m/china-trains/

You must be incredibly lucky or on commission. Every search I have made for my local station has been ludicrously inaccurate.

It tells me that the provincial capital is 255 km away, but the journey time varies from between 4:52 hours (about right) to 33:48 hours (only if it goes via lunar orbit).

A trip to Guilin (2 and a half hours away by coach) apparently takes anything up to 25 hours by train!