In all my years in China, believe it or not, I’ve never been to Beijing. Well, a transfer through Terminal 3 doesn’t count, right? It isn’t as if I’ve been holed up in Shanghai the entire time either, as I’ve visited quite a few places throughout China in my days. But, yes, not Beijing. I haven’t visited the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, nope, not even the Great Wall. Some will say this is clearly a travesty for anyone who claims to be a resident of the Middle Kingdom, but I just consider it a quirk of fate. I just never had the time, nor made the time, to visit the heart of Red China.
With that in mind, I seized an impromptu last minute opportunity to follow Elliott up to Beijing last Thursday. In fact, I’m drafting this on my laptop riding the D31 high-speed train (pictured below) from Beijing heading back to Shanghai (last Friday), capitalizing on the discovery of an electrical outlet underneath our seats by a sharp-eyed fellow passenger beside me. Alas, we don’t yet live in a world of ubiquitous internet, but at least I have power and a keyboard to type on. It sure as hell beats the notebook (of the dead tree variety) I was scribbling in on my way here.
Oh, where was I? Right, I decided to plop a few hundred RMB down to buy last-minute train tickets to Beijing to join Elliott in having dinner with the ever-lovable Kaiser Kuo and the ever-adorable William Moss (aka Imagethief). We’d be joined with Bill Bishop, whom some China observers will readily identify as, amongst other things, @niubi on Twitter. Being of the same name, I’ve met Kaiser Kuo several times before (our handshakes nearly caused both of us to instantaneously cease to exist). However, I’ve never met the latter two, both of whom I’ve heard and read so much about, so much so that they’ve been accorded a subjective “legendary” status in my microcosm of reality. Having dinner with them promised to be an insight into why the Beijing bloggers are seemingly more tight-knit than us Shanghai bloggers.
I’m navel-gazing, aren’t I?
Shanghai-Beijing: Take the Train or the Plane?
Elliott had a flight up to Beijing but I opted to spend half the cost of roundtrip airfare on roundtrip train tickets and get the whole experience of taking the “overnight train to Beijing”. Traveling by plane obviously takes considerably less time but if you need to be in the other city by morning, the train let’s you get there reasonably fresh after a night of sleep on the train rather than looking ragged after waking up early to catch a plane. If time doesn’t matter and you’re traveling during the day, it boils down to your trade-off between time and money.
Doing everything at the last minute, I was pretty fortunate to actually get train tickets at all, securing a top bunk hard sleeper on the T110 train departing Shanghai Railway Station at 10:04pm to arrive in Beijing Railway Station the next morning at 11:24am. The trains prefixed with a “T” are faster than the old and busted trains that are only identified by four digits, but they’re still not as fast as the “D” trains. Whereas the trip between Shanghai and Beijing on a “D” train takes about 10 hours or so, the “T” train takes about 13, apparently because the latter makes more stops at smaller stops than the former. Dinner with the Beijing Greats would be Thursday night. My itinerary would be to leave Shanghai Wednesday night, arrive in Beijing Thursday noon, powder my nose, have dinner, try to get Kaiser Kuo and Will Moss in trouble, and then catch the 11:05am D31 day-train back to Shanghai on Friday. I’m in the middle of a move from Pudong to my new pad back in Puxi, and I need to get back to pack up and move over the weekend. It would be a very hectic few days.
But it’s the Imagethief, right?
Tomorrow: Shanghai Railway Station, the New Trains, and their Amenities
Hey, I know I am not ever-lovable or ever-adorable like the Beijing bloggers, but you could have mentioned that you met me as well! :)
BTW, I really was amazed that in so many years in China you had never been to BJ. Then I read today on Sinosplice that J.Pasden has never been to the North in winter… after 9+ years here! And somehow I am starting to connect the dots and I am getting to a conclusion: real bloggers don’t really get out that much. Scary//
Julen, you impatient bastard, your character just hasn’t made his surprise entrance yet in my little navel-gazing story! If you must know, you’re the last minute surprise guest in the whole dinner party, evening up the odds 3vs3!
And hey, just because I haven’t gone to Beijing doesn’t mean I don’t get out much. As I said, I’ve been to many other places in China, just mostly in the south I guess. I think I instinctively fear the Dongbei ren and keep my distance from those brawlers.
Once the REAL high speed train (Jinghu High-Speed Railway) is in operation in 2012, the travel time between Shanghai and Beijing will be cut down to four hours…
And that will be completely awesome.
Fun hanging out in Beijing and glad you came. I enjoyed meeting ULN of Chinayouren blog as well!
My experience taking the Beijing-Shanghai overnight train in the past was as follows:
1. lots of options departing Beijing Railway Station in the evening, but many of them leave in the early evening. I recall leaving around 7 pm and arriving around 6 am.
2. one of the most difficult aspects of overnight train is that you can’t get into town and take a morning shower. This isn’t a problem for most Chinese who shower in the evening, but for foreigners used to taking showers in the morning (maybe its just us North Americans) this is a bit irksome.
3. 4 people to one berth can result in not a good night’s sleep. Also I worry about stuff like my computer, camera and valuables so I end up lugging that stuff around the train with me which is a bit of a pain…especially when you have to go to the bathroom.
4. ok, an embarrassing confession. I’m not really used to squat toilets…it was pretty clean and well maintained during the trip…I suppose I should get used to it but…one downside of the train.
It is indeed a great feeling to be traveling with The People and it is well worth experiencing but in practice I just have few opportunities where the following day is not so important to me that I don’t mind not sleeping well, and not getting a morning shower.
OK, I’ll stop whining like a typical American and take the abuse that I deserve from the rest of the commenter community here!
Foreigners used to taking showers in the morning (but not in the evening)? Are you serious? No wonder Chinese people are so different:)
No. 3 is a valid point for typical Chinese as well. My wife recently took an overnight train from Guangzhou to Nanchang and she complained about bad sleep due to a baby crying nearby. I do have a similar concern regarding to the safety of valuables. Another difficulty for taking a train is that it will be a real hassle if you carry large luggage. Most of the train stations (not the train itself) are not really luggage friendly.
The upcoming high-speed railway network will have a great impact on the life of ordinary Chinese and the Chinese domestic travel industry. As a large portion of traditional travel agancies, OTAs and search engines rely heavily on the sale of domestic flight tickets, it will be interesting to see how they deal with this change.
“I’m not really used to squat toilets…it was pretty clean and well maintained during the trip…I suppose I should get used to it but…one downside of the train.”
Squats are OK as long as they’re clean – otherwise you’ve got to be a little concerned about backsplash. At least on the train in China I’ve noticed that people are more inclined to flush.
My fear with squat toilets is that my leg muscles aren’t trained to keep myself up should my doodie of the day be one that requires a bit more time to flush out o’ me pipes.
Whoa, maybe that was TMI.
@Elliott – “I just have few opportunities where the following day is not so important to me that…”
But that is precisely the reason why many Shanghaiers prefer the train: it is the only way you can go to BJ for a day and get there early in the morning to make the most of it. By plane it is difficult to make it to central BJ before 10am, and most of the times even much later because there are lots of delays in that line.
Regarding the “travel with the People” thing: not so sure. If you go soft sleepers, the price is really the same as the plane, and the service is IMO much better. Of course the fact that Chinese don’t need toilet-seats/cappuccino/morning showers/privacy helps a lot, and I see why an American calls this “an experience with the People”. But believe me, many of us travel to BJ like this for convenience, not for experience!
At least I speak for Europeans, I guess USA is less used to trains nowadays..
Julen, I think Elliott was saying that the train is appealing to him because it gives him an opportunity to hang out with the locals, but for the Shanghai-Beijing overnight route, he usually has important stuff the next day so he really needs to get his sleep and can’t indulge in staying up and chatting with his local Chinese berth-mates.
Otherwise, you’re entirely correct on the point of the overnight train between the cities, they’re scheduled precisely for business travelers.
Are you saying the soft sleeper train service is better or the plane’s service? I agree the price on the train for a soft sleeper can rival that of a plane ticket, so which you choose ends up being what time you want to arrive in Beijing and whether or not you want to arrive after sleeping on the train or after waking up early to catch the plane in either city.
Regarding the shower thing, as someone who has done both regularly in various points of my life, I can understand. If I only take one a day, it’d be at night so I can go to sleep clean and my bed remains likewise. When I used to work on the clock and the commute meant waking up at an ungodly early hour, I’d need a nice hot shower in the morning to wake me up.
As for hanging out with the People on the train, it really depends on who you end up with. For example, my berth-mates were pretty old and quiet, so they didn’t look particularly interesting to chat with. That said, they also didn’t look shady and I didn’t mind leaving my luggage up in the bunk by itself whenever I had to go use the potty or stretch my legs. One day, however, I definitely need to find myself in a berth full of smoking hot and friendly ladies.
John Pasden has never been up north, either? Man, you guys are missing all the fun! And by “all the fun”, I mean Harbin! It’s great, as long as you’re wearing like 12 sets of clothes!
Actually, it’s not bad at all, 干冷 isn’t so bad anyway, so consider going to the ice and snow festival this year! It looks awesome, and will give you the opportunity to eat some great 东北菜！
Sorry, I have an intense fondness for northeastern China (and northeastern US, the north and east part of places generally I guess). After mandarin, my next language is going to be 东北话！
Woo!
I probably should just end this rambling comment before I really look insane, but yeah, trains are awesome. I have to agree soft sleeper on the bullet train isn’t really traveling with “the people” though. Hard seat is “the people”, but hard sleep is the perfect foreigner compromise, I think!
Agree, if you want to travel with “The People”, that means “Chun Yun” during Chinese New Year. Bonus points if you get a standing ticket only. 2x multiplier if the trip lasts over at least 12 hours.
Outside of “Chun Yun” though, Custer’s right, it’s gotta be the hard seat tickets. Soft-seats are okay too, but hard sleepers are a great compromise. Soft sleepers are too froo-froo and I think overpriced, but you do get a softer mattress and more personal space if that’s what you need. As is evident, the cheaper the ticket, the more “people-lier” people you surround yourself with.
Custer, we’re waiting for you to come back to China to be our personal tour guide of the great Northeast. You better get us into some fights too…and have our back.
Well if time tells us anything, it is that fights tend to erupt around me, though they rarely include me.
The most recent was a cab driver who got attacked by some Chinese guys outside a KTV late at night because he picked us (foreigners) up instead of them (Chinese). He was parked right outside the entrance, and they were standing like 300 feet away when we came out though, so if he was just going to pick up whoever was closer, that would have been us.
That said, the northeast is not as Wild West-y and crime ridden as you crazy southerners think. I will show you when I get back.
“Kai Pan is a Shanghai-based entrepreneur with over ten years of marketing experience in the legal, investment, and internet social media industries. He graduated from University of California Berkeley with a Bachelor’s Degree in Legal Studies.”
and he’s never been to Beijing, the capital city. How entreprenuerial. How louche. How very “Shanghai”. In ten years mate you could have walked there and back one hundred times.
Take a bus my dueee.