The Best Moments of My Travelling Days in China - Train to Travel in China (Part 10)

" You spend your whole LIFE thinking you are on the right track, only to find out you are on the wrong train "

" To realize the value of one minute, ask a person who missed the train "

" LIFE is a train, get on board "

For most of my free & east travelling in China, I used trains & long distance buses for inter-city or inter-province travels. China's rail networks covered a total of 120,000km with over 5,500 train stations. Travelling by overnight trains is economical but buying a sleeper beds at short notice can be very challenging especially during the peak seasons. In recent years, many of the local trains have been upgraded with air-conditioning so you can travel in comfort during the day or night.

Travelling during the peak seasons by trains can be a nightmare as in order to cater for the masses, all train stations sell "Standing" tickets (ie when all seats & sleeper beds are sold out on a particular journey) so you may have to stand for long hours as your "Standing" tickets do not have a seat number throughout the journey. But in most instances, some kind hearted souls near you may spare their seats  to you for a short while so that you can rest your feet after hours of standing ! The trains can be very crowded & stuffy so be prepared for it. But for long distance or overnight travels if there are vacant sleeper beds along the way, you can request for an upgrade and pay for the price difference.

Major cities are now connected with a highly efficient high speed train network so one could travel in great comfort and lesser time to arrive at one's destinations. These modern trains provide quality services parallel to that of domestic flights !

Foreign tourists & Chinese government civil servants are allowed to queue up at a special service counter in some big train stations so this reduces the waiting time to buy their train tickets.

Most of the older train stations are located in the city centers which are well connected by town buses, subway & taxis. In recent years, China introduced the high speed train services and many of their new train stations are located in suburban areas - 15-20km from the city centers. The bigger cities like Beijing, Shanghai & Xian have different  stations for boarding, so make sure you check your train ticket & go to the right station based on your destination.

All trains have hot water dispensers so you can make your own hot tea or coffee or a quick instant noodle meals throughout the journey !

The older train station buildings looked grand, unique & historical with a character of it's own ! I am glad that I had gone to great experience taking trains while travelling free & easy in major China provinces !

Have Train - Will Travel In All Seasons In China !

1) Beijing Train Station

2) Tianjin Train Station

3) Harbin Train Station - Heilongjiang

4) Suifenhe Train Station - Heilongjiang

5) Heihe Train Station - Heilongjiang

6) Mudanjiang Train Station - Heilongjiang

7) Qingdao Train Station - Shandong

8) Yantai Train Station - Shandong

9) Xiamen Train Station - Fujian

10) Shanghai Train Station

11) Changchun Train Station - Jilin

12) Tumen Train Station - Jilin

13) Yanji Train Station - Jilin

14) Dalian Train Station - Liaoning

15) Dandong Train Station - Liaoning

16) Xian Train Station - Shaanxi

17) Louhu Train Station - Shenzhen, Guangdong

18) Golmud Train Station - Qinghai

19) Xining West Train Station - Qinghai

20) Qiqihar Train Station - Inner Mongolia

21) Manzhouli Train Station - Inner Mongolia

22) Hohhot Train Station, Inner Mongolia

23) Yingchuan Train station - Ningxia

24) Urumqi Train Station - Xinjiang

25) Yichang Train Station - Hubei

26) Kunming Train Station - Yunnan

27) Zhangjiajie Train Station - Hunan

28) Jiujiang Train Station - Jiangxi

29) Guangzhou Train Station, Guangdong

30) Guilin Train Station - Guangxi

31) Sanya High Speed Train Station - Hainan Island