So what's the deal with chinese Trains?

So what's the deal with chinese Trains? Honestly I want to know :)

Are trains a good way to travel in China? Are the prices of train tickets cheaper than bus or Plane tickets or about the same (like in the states). What are the classes like. What are the conditions and reliabiliy of them? Are they fast? Are they safe, if do you have to sleep with one eye open? I am thinging of in my travels making it to China, and I am curious what is the best way to travel.

If you choose to travel by train in China, you are in good company. It is one of the cheapest modes of transportation (certainly cheapter than flying) for long distances and is widely used by the locals. It is important to consider different factors when you choose to travel by train. The type of seat you purchase will drastically affect the price you pay. Hard seats are the cheapest and quite popular but it is rather crowded and oddly enough, you are not always guaranteed a seat. China trains have a habit of overselling tickets. Hard seats are also inconvinient and uncomfortable when taking long trips. Soft seats are quite comfortable and ideal for short trips. Hard sleepers provide a bunk, pillow and blanket in a rather noisy environment but are nevertheless satisfactory for long trips. Soft sleepers are provide a quiet environment of four bunks to sleep and includes a door for privacy. If you forget to bring snacks on the train, there are food trolleys that frequent the aisles so you can always buy some on the train. I would personally recommend the hard sleeper for great value and comfort, but then again I can sleep through anything. The soft sleeper is ideal for comfort and privacy but is a little more expensive. The trains themselves are not incredibly fast, but certainly reliable! They are quite safe, but as a safety precaution make sure to have all of your important documents or valuable items close to you (within reach or on you), and keep an eye on your bag but there is no need to be especially paranoid. Hope this helps Travel Guy! Oh, and If you do plan to travel by train, China Highlights Travel boasts a 98% success rate for obtaining tickets for reservations (book 2 days prior to departure).

Generally speaking, you will save a lot on your budget by taking train rather than flight. Train tickets rate differ a lot depending on what class you purchase, eg. train from Beijing to Shanghai, hard seat cost RMB179, soft seat-RMB283, hard sleeper-RMB327, soft sleeper-RMB499. Oh, price is the same for domestic and overseas passengers as long as you take the same kinds of train.

Trains with "T" prefix are the fastes kinds, then comes those with "z" prefix.

Kind notes: There would be crowds of people when the national holidays like May Day holiday from May 1st to 7th, Spring Festival, Oct 1st to 7th as well as the period for summer vacation(July -early September) and winter vacation( January or February). If you book train tours through travel agency, there will be no problem with the confirmation from them. However, if you travel by yourself, you can also find a agency to help with. Otherwise you have to book at the station in person. They don't provide reservations in advance like flight tickets. You can only purchase it 4-7days ahead.
Hope it is helpful

train is a good way of transportation if time is not a big concern. trains run definitely much slower than air so choosing to travel by train means a lot of time on way. but here trains bring travelers lots of advantages like much cheaper, enjoying the scenary aloneg the line, leading to every parts of the country, etc.

I prefer traveling by air or bus instead of by train. Reasons are: For long distance traveling, which usu happens in such a big country, train can take years of time. It's totally waster of lift. Imagine that moving from Beijing to Urumqi, it takes more than 3 days by train but only 3 hours by air. What's more, tickets of great discount (70% off if you are lucky) can always be got at the ticket offices on the street, sometimes much cheaper than taking trains. :) For short distance traveling, bus can be always a good choice, with much flexible schedule and better conditions. As long as I know, highway or super highway have reaches every corner of China, including remote Tibet. It’s faster than trains in most of situation. However, if traveling time exceeds 8-10 hours, bus is largely disencouraged, when you'd better resort to air. However, my top choice goes to travelling in my own car, after I own one, of course :)

Gnoynee -- I can't agree more.
Please caculate the distance between the cities before you make a decision. Only choose the train travel when you are in tight budget and the destination can be reached by an overnight train journey. So sleep all the way and wake up at your dreaming destination.

The fast and newest train in China.

See what's the seats look like

The name is "中华之星"， some what "China Star".

Is this train run only between Beijing and Shanghai?