Welcome back to your guide for traveling in China. In the first part of this post we talked about the importance of getting a SIM card for your phone as soon as you arrive to China. We discussed the power of VPN and the best ways to get cash.
Todays post will give you several practical tips for using various means of transportation in China. You will learn interesting facts about Chinese metro systems, speed trains and a few tips on traveling by bus.
Subway
If you’re coming to China for the first time with no Chinese SIM card and nobody to meet you at the airport, most likely the best way to get to your hotel or a rented apartment is by taxi. It might take awhile due to horrible traffic jams and may cost you quite a bit, but it’s worth it. Believe me, you don’t want to drag your suitcases into the crowded metro when you’re on jet lag and haven’t figured out their subway system yet.
Thankfully, when I first came to China, my friend had arranged a taxi for me. It cost about $40 to get from Pudong airport to her apartment in the center of Shanghai and took me about an hour and a half.
As soon as you settle in your hotel or wherever you’re staying, and need to explore the city by all means use subway. It’s very easy, clear and cheap. I visited 5 different cities in China and all of them impressed me with their pretty efficient metro system.
The first thing you do when enter the subway station is find ticket machines. If you’re staying in the same city for a long time it makes sense to get a Metro card and put money on it for further use. It works kind of like in NYC – every time you enter or exit the station, swipe your card and a certain amount will be charged. It’s very convenient because you don’t have to buy tokens each time.
If you’re just in a city for a few days, definitely get a token or a single-trip card (depending on the city). Here’s how you do it. The screen will look like this.
Find a button to change the language to English. It may be in the different corners of the screen. Then you will be able to see the metro map and read all the names. Choose the station of your final destination. It’s important! Even if you’ll have to change lines, choose the very last stop. The amount you’ll have to pay will depend on the length of your trip.
So, as soon as you click on the station, the names will become bigger and you can make sure you’re choosing the right one. You don’t want to overpay and also to pay less. If you don’t pay enough, the token won’t work and you won’t enter the station.
When you got your ticket, you’ll need to go through security to have your belongings scanned. Yes! At every station! It’s a bit annoying and sometimes time-consuming, but what can we do?
Of course every metro is different depending on which city you’re in, but most principles are the same.
- All major signs have English versions underneath the Chinese ones.
- The signs are easy to follow whether you need to enter, exit stations or change lines.
- All train stops have platform screen doors installed to prevent people from falling onto the tracks. The train doors are lined up with the platform screen doors, so you don’t have to wonder where the doors will open.
- Above the doors outside and inside the car there’s a list of stations. You can easily keep track of all stops. In some trains they light up. Red lights indicate the stops already covered by the train and green lights indicate the stops it’s still about to cover.
A few words about exits. It amazed me how easy it was to find the right one. Some stations have from 10 to 20 exits and you could easily get lost in that underground maze if not for the smart way they are organised. Each exit is marked by a number or a letter. When you’re still underground, search for signs on the wall which look something like this.
If you know the landmark or the street you’re looking for, simply find it on the chart and remember the number (or the letter) of the right exit. Very easy!
High-Speed Trains
While traveling in China I only used bullet (or high-speed) trains and didn’t get to try regular or overnight trains. They are less expensive, but are also much slower.
Just like the subway system, Chinese high-speed trains left a positive impression in my memory. After riding in 6 trains I can say they were all clean, spacey, air-conditioned and with English announcements. Ok, only one of them didn’t have English announcements, but the rest of them did. And I have to say that one of my friends told me a horrible story of riding in a train to Beijing with no AC. That couldn’t have been fun!
Here’re a few facts and tips for you:
- If you want to buy train tickets online and beforehand, you can use Ctrip. They have recently bought Trip.com and use it as their English language agency. This service will charge you 20 yuan fee per ticket (it’s about $3), but I think it’s worth it. You can, of course, go to a ticket office at any train station to buy your ticket, but practically nobody speaks English there and it’s safer to get your tickets ahead of time.
- When buying your ticket online, make sure you put in the number of the passport you’ll be using to travel. I made a mistake putting in my old passport’s number and then ended up taking my new one. It created a few inconveniences. Thankfully, I had a copy of my old passport and it solved the issue.
- Getting your train ticket online is not enough. As soon as you arrive to China, find time to go to ANY train station in any city and get a physical ticket from the ticket office. Remember, there’re usually long lines there, so you’ll have to allocate more time for that. And automatic machines won’t work with your passport, only Chinese ID cards.
- When you get through security upon entering the train station, you’ll be able to see the display with the time-table. Everything, most likely, will be in Chinese. At least it was my experience in 5 different cities. Look for the number of your train, it should be the first or the second column. Then, next to it, in the next column you will see Chinese characters and one or two numbers from 1 to about 20. Those will be the numbers of your waiting lounge. That’s what you’re looking for! Remember this number and go find the lounge at the train station. If you see the number of your train listed on the display next to the lounge, you found the right place.
- People will start lining up at the ticket check-up about 30 min before the train leaves. Make sure you have enough time to wait in line and then find your car. Remember, there are A LOT of people in China! Also, if you end up at the wrong car when you get to the platform, it may easily take you 10 min to run from one end of the train to another. Once I got into the train 2 min before it took off because it took me awhile to get to my car.
- Most Chinese public bathrooms have squat toilets. However, bullet trains are equipped with both kinds – squat and regular ones. Sometimes you might have to go look for one in the next car. Don’t give up! You’ll find it.
Buses
If you decide to travel by bus, make sure you remember one important fact. Internet won’t always show you the exact schedules and the right bus stops. Let me tell you a story.
When I googled directions to the Longjing village near Hangzhou (I wanted to buy Longjing tea and see how it grows), there were three variants. Of course, I chose the easiest option with just one bus ride. The bus stop seemed to be very close to my hotel, so I went there in the morning and started waiting. In a few minutes the right bus #27 turned from around the corner and started moving towards me. You can imagine my surprise when it drove by without stopping. I started running after it but, of course, it was too fast! The good news is that while running I saw another big bus stop and several buses there. So, eventually, I had to take two different buses to get to my destination.
One more small tip. Always have coins for your bus rides. It costs 2 yuan. I had only big bills, and the driver didn’t have any change. Thankfully, a nice Chinese girl paid for me.
All right! This is all for today! I’m proud of you guys for getting all the way to the end of this post. It means you really want to go to China and be prepared for your trip. Next time we’ll talk about food, tea and other interesting aspects of Chinese culture.
Let me know in the comments what means of transportation you used in China or plan to use in the future.
