HOW TO TRAVEL ON CHINA’S HIGH-SPEED RAIL NETWORK

CLASSES OF TRAVEL There are three classes of seat: business, first and second. Announcements are made in Mandarin and English, both verbally and on screens above the carriage doors. Trains have a buffet kiosk and a trolley service for food and drink. RESERVATIONS Advance booking usually opens 60 days ahead of travel. First-class tickets can sell out within hours on popular routes at peak times. Make an advance reservation with an online agent who will snap up the seats the moment booking opens. I recommend China Highlights (chinahighlights.com), which answers email enquiries and sends instant confirmation with the vouchers needed to collect the tickets from any railway station in China (there’s an small fee if it’s not the departure station). It will post the tickets to your hotel for a fee. At short notice, ask your hotel or guesthouse to buy you tickets online to be picked up at the station. STATIONS The new high-speed stations are often a long way from the centre. There may not yet be a metro stop or bus service, so be prepared to pay for a taxi. At most stations you must show your passport and ticket at the main entrance. Station concourses are laid out like airports. Passengers sit near the relevant gate until the train number lights up in green and you proceed through the barrier on to the platform. The gate closes about 10 minutes before departure. RAIL TOURS China Less Travelled (chinalesstravelled.com) can design offbeat train-based itineraries countrywide on a bespoke basis, staying in boutique hotels and lodges such as the Li’An in Ping’an and the Indigo in Zhaoxing. FURTHER INFORMATION seat61.com has good background information on all aspects of rail travel in China.