TIANJIN, CHINA — I have set a land speed record, for me, anyway. Last Sunday I went nearly 209 mph (334 km/hr), in complete comfort.

No, not in a car. In one of China’s bullet trains.

Last weekend, I had to visit the US Embassy in Beijing (for reasons I will explain below), and I had set aside one day of my three-day junket to sight-see. While my hotel was fairly close to the Bird’s Nest and the Olympic Park, I decided to add another city to my list of visited places — Tianjin, a historic city that hosted foreign concessions as far back as the 1860s.

I would have skipped Tianjin for a more propitious time, but the idea of zipping along at an average speed of 150 mph was really appealing. I love trains.

Washing bullet trains for the next run

China is completely gonzo about high-speed rail services. Already blessed with an extensive conventional rail network, China is building new HSR lines to connect the provincial capitals and major cities. One such HSR line is the 73 mile (117 km) run between Beijing and Tianjin.

China’s bullet trains are built by China High-speed Rail (CHR) using technology and designs shared by French, Japanese and German companies. They run on dedicated electrified lines on welded rails (no clickety-clack noises), and the cars have airline-style seating. Ticket prices are a bit steeper than for conventional trains; the Beijing-Tianjin run costs 58 yuan ($8.50 — yeah, Americans, it sounds cheap, but a sleeper berth on the overnight train from Changsha to Jishou is 118 yuan. Everything’s relative.)

May 15th, 2010 | Tags: beijing, China, Tianjin, train, travel | Category: China | Comments (1)

CHANGSHA, HUNAN — Planning is important when traveling, but maybe I didn’t plan as carefully as I should have.

I am on my way to Beijing, to meet up with some friends and do the sight-seeing I couldn’t do in February. I planned to get to Beijing the same way as last: shuttle bus to Changsha, then overnight express train to Beijing. Only this time, I was going to stay overnight in Changsha.

And a good thing, too. Because my plans for train travel were dashed yesterday evening.

China has an extensive passenger train system. It also has a huge population. Normally, getting a train ticket is not a big issue, but the end of the summer holiday is two weeks away.

So, when I went to the ticket office last evening, I found a horde of people trying to buy tickets. And I found there were none for me.

The Changsha ticket office has two big LED boards listing available tickets for northbound and southbound trains. For the Beijing-bound trains, there were no sleeper berths available until after the 22nd, no seats until the 19th. If I wanted to travel standing for 16 hours, I could have gotten a ticket for the 18th.

But I was expected in Beijing on the 16th. And standing that long in a crowded train has little appeal. It’s bad enough on short trips.

August 15th, 2009 | Tags: China, elong, plane, train, travel | Category: China, Commentary | Leave a comment

JISHOU, HUNAN, Sept. 2 — I planned my departure from Kong Kong carefully, but the actual trip was not as smooth as I had expected.

Given my available funds, and time remaining before classes started here, I decided to fly in to China instead of taking the train. There are no direct flights from Hong Kong to Zhangjiajie, the nearest airport to Jishou. Those flights leave from Shenzhen, so I had to figure out how to get there.

Conveniently enough, there is a coach that departs every half hour from Hong Kong that takes you to a special transfer point. The immigration controls for both Hong Kong and China share the same building, which straddles the border. After leaving there, you board another coach that shuttles you to the airport.

Even more conveniently, for me, the ChinaLink Bus Company leaves from the Elements shopping mall right above a Hong Kong MTR stop (Kowloon station). So, all I needed to do was walk a half block from my hotel to the MTR station at Yau Ma Tei, transfer at Central station on Hong Kong Island (yes, you do not have to take the Star Ferry to cross Victoria Bay!), get off at Kowloon station, go up one floor and walk a short distance to ChinaLink’s depot across from Starbucks.

[My alternate plan was to take the MTR to the intercity rail station, take a train to Shenzhen's rail station, then buy a ticket to Jishou. I rejected this plan, because it would have required an overnight train. As things turned out, it would have made no difference.]

September 2nd, 2008 | Tags: changsha, China, jishou, shenzhen, train | Category: China | Comments (2)