Train from Xi'an to Beijing at 清明节

[dnevets]

I'm planning to travel from Xi'an to Beijing, sleeper train, on 4/5th April. Just realised that 5th April is the first day of 清明节 / qingmingjie/tomb sweeping festival. Is that going to be difficult? I dont live in China any more, and I dont remember ever travelling around that time. Am I likely to encounter massive spring festival-sized crowds at the train station that'll take hours to wade through? We'll have luggage and two young kids with us...

 

Then planning to spend a couple of days in Beijing before flying back to the uk. I assume life in Beijing is pretty much business as usual at that time, wont have any problems taking the kids to the great wall etc? (Not badaling, obviously.) I used to live in Xi'an and dont remember anything being any different during this festival.

 

Edit: before considering the train i looked at flight prices on Qunar.com and noticed the prices almost tripled around this time compared to a week before (400 vs 1100 rmb) which made me start to worry.

Edited January 27, 2018 at 10:19 AM by dnevets
Extra info

[ChTTay]

I think any national holiday here will be busy. Even if it’s not “known” as a holiday that’s “crazy” like spring festival, this is still a country with a massive population. Any holiday means there should be a big enough number of people holidaying for it to be less convenient and more expensive to travel. 

 

I would take the fast fast train to Beijing though. There are ones for just 4.5 hours. You can buy tickets in advance on ctrip (and I guess qunar). I feel like the fast trains are always more comfortable during these periods. 

 

I don’t think stations will be busy like spring festival but they’ll be busier. As you mention, the price rise says a lot. 

[889]

You can buy train tickets 30 days in advance now, so book as soon as tickets are available. That should work, but if not you've plenty of time to make other arrangements.

 

[hahahhahha]

not as crowded as the spring festival.   However, there are still many people going back their home town...................................

[hahahhahha]

buy the ticket as soon as you can otherwise you will be  in trouble 

[dnevets]

Thanks for the input. I was actually hoping to take a sleeper train, I thought the kids might like it. I'll report back after I've done it, whatever I choose to do, in case it's of use to anyone else in future. Wish me luck!

[anonymoose]

I think it will almost certainly be very crowded, and I guess train tickets will disappear very quickly after being put on sale. This is such a big problem in China that there are even apps you can download to help you snatch up a ticket within seconds of them becoming available.