david_dawei Posted December 17, 2011 Report Share Posted December 17, 2011 It may be that your husband is looking out for western prejudice against such conditions on a train or he follows a 'high road' about such conditions. I have taken numerous 20-30 hour trips on a train without hesitation and just go with the flow of whatever the conditions are. My wife is much more picky about restaurants; I would say that she tends to take a 'high road' on that. I usually follow her on this and don't push the issue but have a few times. She once let me pick some place to eat while we were in Shenyang and I choose a smaller place which seemed to serve Sichuan food (spicy). She was quite hesitant to do so but agreed. Afterwards she said, "I never would walk into that place... but I see that it was actually very good". And she thanked me for 'opening' her mind on this issue... until we got back to Fushun where she makes all decides on restaurants B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnxiaoying Posted December 18, 2011 Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 I don't recommend long trips on the old diesel trains. Guilin to Guangzhou was about 13 hours. The wc is no fun on these rocking and rolling old trains, particularly if you have come down with Maos revenge, filthy China squatters. In two years there will be a high speed train from Guilin to Guangzhou, travel time will be reduced to 2 hours. We recently rode the high speed train from Shanghai to Nanjing, smooth and 302 kph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honeybun Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Traveled on the day train from Guilin to Nanning during New Year a copuple of years ago.Taking a train during the "ChunYun" would be a special experience in and of itself! I thought Lhasa was one of the worst places I had ever been,Not to get too off topic, but can you elaborate on that? What were the bad aspects? One thing about trains is that if you can't get tickets that are together (if you're traveling with your significant other), it's usually very easy to find someone willing to switch seats or compartments for your convenience. I've had people move to entirely different train-cars with little question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhou Zhou Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 (edited) Not to get too off topic, but can you elaborate on that? What were the bad aspects? One thing about trains is that if you can't get tickets that are together (if you're traveling with your significant other), it's usually very easy to find someone willing to switch seats or compartments for your convenience. The train was packed and nobody in our compartment was willing to trade so my wife and I bunked together on the 20"x 75" board. Lhasa, was full of religious beggars...they would say for 10 rmb they would bless us, while in their other hand was 100 rmb. Kids came up and stuck their hands in our pockets. Rude people, hustlers, crappy foods and the hotel where we made reservations wouldn't allow any lao wei so after trying 4 others and help from a special friend we found a place to stay. Every where you went there was someone trying to exploit us. They probably get to many government handouts and don't care if they attract tourists or not. But the weather was beautiful, cool and blue skies. Edited December 19, 2011 by dnoblett Quote added to better follow who was being replied to. (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewDay2006 Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 I have taken the train 3 times in China, twice on the bullet train, A very ride and once on an overnighter from Beijing... I have nothing bad to say about either, I had a sleeper, shared with someone else. it was fine. I have seen some that don't look fun to be on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hankster Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 I made 2 trips by soft sleeper slow train. Kunming to Guangzhou (24 hours) and Shenzhen to Yongzhou. ( about 12 hours) I had ridden passenger trains (Not Amtrak) many times back in the fifties and sixties as a child and teenager, so I wanted to do it for nostalgic reasons. My wife's friends thought I was being "cheap", but wife understood and It was a great experience ....... Soft sleeper compartments were clean and the rest rooms had western toilet seats and were fairly clean. Saw the China countryside through a "picture window" while rolling along at 30-50 mph. They are old trains, but heated and air conditioned. They look like the USA passenger trains of years ago. (Southern Railways, L&N etc) The dining car served very good "hot" meals. It was a wonderful experience, and I would do it again if time permits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
honeybun Posted December 19, 2011 Report Share Posted December 19, 2011 Zhou Zhou, sounds thoroughly horrible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhou Zhou Posted December 22, 2011 Report Share Posted December 22, 2011 Zhou Zhou, sounds thoroughly horrible! Almost forgot...In Lhasa, the first morning after breakfast I got so sick I felt like I died but hell wouldn't have me. I went back to the room and slept 'til about noon and felt ok. Then my wife began to feel bad. She went back to bed 'til about 3 P.M....we think it was the high elevation got to us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF Posted December 22, 2011 Report Share Posted December 22, 2011 I made 2 trips by soft sleeper slow train. Kunming to Guangzhou (24 hours) and Shenzhen to Yongzhou. ( about 12 hours) I had ridden passenger trains (Not Amtrak) many times back in the fifties and sixties as a child and teenager, so I wanted to do it for nostalgic reasons. My wife's friends thought I was being "cheap", but wife understood and It was a great experience ....... Soft sleeper compartments were clean and the rest rooms had western toilet seats and were fairly clean. Saw the China countryside through a "picture window" while rolling along at 30-50 mph. They are old trains, but heated and air conditioned. They look like the USA passenger trains of years ago. (Southern Railways, L&N etc) The dining car served very good "hot" meals. It was a wonderful experience, and I would do it again if time permits. I think you and I would have a lot in common. Aside from similar experiences on the China trains I've always been a train freak. Rode the Cailfornia Zephyr, the Orange Blossom Special, and many of the other "classic trains" when I was young. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilton747 Posted December 22, 2011 Report Share Posted December 22, 2011 I made 2 trips by soft sleeper slow train. Kunming to Guangzhou (24 hours) and Shenzhen to Yongzhou. ( about 12 hours) I had ridden passenger trains (Not Amtrak) many times back in the fifties and sixties as a child and teenager, so I wanted to do it for nostalgic reasons. My wife's friends thought I was being "cheap", but wife understood and It was a great experience ....... Soft sleeper compartments were clean and the rest rooms had western toilet seats and were fairly clean. Saw the China countryside through a "picture window" while rolling along at 30-50 mph. They are old trains, but heated and air conditioned. They look like the USA passenger trains of years ago. (Southern Railways, L&N etc) The dining car served very good "hot" meals. It was a wonderful experience, and I would do it again if time permits. I think you and I would have a lot in common. Aside from similar experiences on the China trains I've always been a train freak. Rode the Cailfornia Zephyr, the Orange Blossom Special, and many of the other "classic trains" when I was young. Have you ridden the Durango/Silverton train? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnoblett Posted December 22, 2011 Report Share Posted December 22, 2011 Have you ridden the Durango/Silverton train?Oh YES! Fun stuff, back in 2000 we traveled the south west USA, that was one of the things we did. http://www.planetware.com/i/photo/durango-and-silverton-narrow-gauge-railroad-durango-codgrr2.jpg http://www.durangotrain.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhou Zhou Posted December 23, 2011 Report Share Posted December 23, 2011 I took lao po on the Durango Silverton last spring...she loved it and was amazed at the national parks we visited in Utah. Beautiful country... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickF Posted December 23, 2011 Report Share Posted December 23, 2011 (edited) I made 2 trips by soft sleeper slow train. Kunming to Guangzhou (24 hours) and Shenzhen to Yongzhou. ( about 12 hours) I had ridden passenger trains (Not Amtrak) many times back in the fifties and sixties as a child and teenager, so I wanted to do it for nostalgic reasons. My wife's friends thought I was being "cheap", but wife understood and It was a great experience ....... Soft sleeper compartments were clean and the rest rooms had western toilet seats and were fairly clean. Saw the China countryside through a "picture window" while rolling along at 30-50 mph. They are old trains, but heated and air conditioned. They look like the USA passenger trains of years ago. (Southern Railways, L&N etc) The dining car served very good "hot" meals. It was a wonderful experience, and I would do it again if time permits. I think you and I would have a lot in common. Aside from similar experiences on the China trains I've always been a train freak. Rode the Cailfornia Zephyr, the Orange Blossom Special, and many of the other "classic trains" when I was young. Have you ridden the Durango/Silverton train?Many times. Also the Cumbres & Toltec. Royal Gorge, Leadville, the Cripple Creek & Victor, and I'm a member of the Colorado Railroad Museum. Edited December 23, 2011 by NickF (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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