Journey to Nowhere

the express train highway

Starting 1 August 2008, the intercity express train service between Beijing and Tianjin will be launched, halving the train journey between the two cities from the current 1 hour to 30 minutes. It is said the train departs from either city every five minutes, and can be as fast as 350km per hour.

If you are planning a visit to Beijing and Tianjin, this may be a piece of good news for you.

Do note that the train will start from Beijing South Train Station, due to be opened soon, to welcome in the Beijing Olympic Games.

Starting early this month, the direct train service between Hong Kong and Shanghai/Beijing will use more modern trains. It is said the deluxe soft sleeper room has been upgraded to be like a mobile hotel, equipped with bathroom, TV with LCD high-definition monitor, sofa and wardrobe, not to mention its own air condition.

The Hong Kong MTR company (www.mtr.com.hk), which runs the service, is offering  discounts on this occasion of new train introduction.  If you buy the ticket in Hong Kong, you will have a 10% to 20% discount, depending on if it is a single-way or round-trip ticket. A one-way ticket for Deluxe Soft Sleeper, for instance, costs HK$1072 after discount. The offer is valid until the end of June this year.

The Beijing-Hong Kong Through Train and the Shanghai-Hong Kong Through Train operate on alternate days, taking about 24 & 20 hours respectively.

Check out here for details.

If you travel to China, and if you depart from Hong Kong or Macau, it is likely that you will use the train station in Guangzhou, or Dongguan in southern China. Note that, these two cities have two train stations, both with the newer one at the eastern part of the city, called Guangzhou East Station and Dongguan East Station respectively. 

The original and old stations in the cities are simply called Guangzhou Station and Dongguan Station. As mentioned in my previous post, do pay attention to which station you will land at or get to. Otherwise, you will have big troubles, especially when you are catching a train.  

The two train stations in Dongguan are near, with 10 minute taxi ride between each other. But in Guangzhou, the two train stations are rather apart. Fortunately, at both stations, there are metro stops. You can easily go from one to the other.  

As China’s economy is expanding, so is its transport system. One only needs to look at China’ train stations. In major cities, there are at least two train stations. For the first time traveler to China, this sometimes can cause confusion.

Take Shenzhen, the neighboring city of Hong Kong. It has Shenzhen Station, which is the biggest and busiest station in Lowu. If you go to Hong Kong from China, you would want to arrive at the Lowu train station, as the border crossing at Lowu is easier – both Hong Kong and China’s passport control points are located in the same building. After the Hong Kong control point, you reach Hong Kong railway system (KCRC) right away, which, with transition to the city’s underground system (MTR), can take you to almost any corner in the city.

Shenzhen has Shenzhen East Station, which is newer, smaller, and is about one hour taxi to Lowu (about RMB70-90) and the city centre. The location is a bit remote. From here it is shorter distance to reach Huanggang border crossing to Hong Kong. Bus connection is available at the Hong Kong side.

So beware which station in the city you are headed to. On the train ticket, if it is written “to Shenzhen”, then it is to the Shenzhen Station in Lowu. If it is to the Shenzhen East Station, the ticket will show the word “East”. When you check out train transport information, do look out for which station of the city the train goes to. Most of the time, the train table you can find may not show the information.

A foreigner wanting to buy a train ticket in China, who cannot speak or read Chinese, will find it very frustrating. It is hard, very hard. The common experience is, you take your chance to queue at one of the long lines, and when you finally get to the front, you are told it is wrong line, or “mei you mei you” (not available).

The tip is, you go to the five-star hotels, if any, and try your luck. In these luxury hotels, they usually have ticketing service and the staff can speak English. You can get your train or bus tickets for a handling fee of 5-20rmb.

You can also try four-star hotels where ticketing service can be available.

You don’t need to be a guest of the hotel to use the service.