Image credit: Baycrest – http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Baycrest – ?????? License: CC-BY-SA-2.5

Following successful high-speed test runs on 24 December, the latest extension to China’s high-speed network opened to passengers on 26 December 2012.  The average speed over the route is 300 km per hour, with peak speeds of up to 350 km per hour.

The 2298 km line runs from Beijing down to Guangzhou in the south and cuts the travel time from 22 hours (see our article An Epic Rail Journey Across China) down to just eight hours.  While this takes more than twice as long as the same journey by air, the train is cheaper (even if you move up a class) and you get to experience the countryside close-up.

Investment in China’s train service slowed after the Wenzhou accident in July 2011 but has picked up again after the introduction of new safety measures.  More than half of the projected 16,000 km modern rail network has now already been built.

It is planned to extend the line to Hong Kong by 2012 and the underpinnings of the underground West Kowloon Terminus have already been completed.  This is intended to increase competition with the regional airlines.  Despite the large area of the country, there is considerable air traffic congestion over China as the airlines are restricted to narrow flight corridors.  Weather conditions also result in frequent flight delays.

A first-class ticket on the Beijing/Guangzhou high speed line costs 1388 Yuan.  (By comparison, an economy class ticket over the slightly longer Hong-Kong/Beijing route on China Southern Airlines costs 1620 Yuan.)

We bought the tickets prior to leaving home, through a tour operator in our home-country who in turn obtained the ticket from one of their agents in Beijing.  A full itinerary was emailed through to us and we were advised that we would get the actual tickets once in China.

Image attribution: ?? Kim S, 2 May 2005

The tickets arrived at our Beijing hotel before we did.  (We checked in very late owing to 45 minutes spent taxiing around the airport before deplaning, and a delayed transfer to the hotel.  Our tickets were waiting for us.)

On our arrival at 2am the hotel was in darkness and the security men were all but asleep.  Not to mention the thick smog enveloping the city which added a certain spookiness to the city streets in the early hours of the morning.

Getting to the station

Our rail journey really began around 8am with the taxi ride from the hotel to Beijing West Train Station.  The driver’s car had a unfortunate tendency to conk out in the middle of heavy traffic every few kilometres, resulting in raised fists and voices from other motorists and a great deal of apprehension on our part.  Our driver took it all in his stride, as though it were commonplace, which in his case it probably was.  Once we got to the station, which is designed to look like a gate, we realised that even finding the entrance was going to be a mammoth task by ourselves.  We therefore offered him extra cash to show us the entrance.  As he had parked in the underground parking, which looked like a modern version of the Hampton Court maze, this was a good idea.

Our driver parted company with us at the entrance with a toothy smile and a wave.  A long line snaked its way to the entrance gate, where an official was checking everyone’s train tickets.  If you didn’t have a train ticket, you could not get into the building, simple as that.

The station

Being Westerners, our documents were simply glanced at and handed back.  None of the questioning we’d seen fellow queue members go through.  We were in the station at last – an hour after setting out from the hotel!  To the left and right were shops selling all kinds of food that one might require on the journey.  Above was a confusing display board, advising departure times in Chinese.  We did not know where to go, as the train terminal is as big as an airport terminal inside, with limited signage in English. 

Looking around for anyone that might help, we spotted a gentleman in a red and black uniform with a leaning-tower-of-Pisa contraption that housed bags on top of it.  I went up to him and enquired if he knew where we needed to go, showing him my ticket.  His response was to hoist my luggage onto the Pisa tower and hold out his hand, indicating two Yuan with his fingers. 

I told my sister that the luggage guy would know where we needed to go, but we had to carry her luggage as his rackety contraption was now too heavy to take any more items.  By now, there were a dozen other folks gathered around whose luggage had also been loaded atop the leaning tower of luggage.  Soon we headed off.  It felt as if we walked miles down corridors.  We passed through two further sets of security, where our tickets were again checked.  Finally, we went down a staircase and on to the platform.  Here, voices were raised between the luggage carrying man and his customers.  It turned out that the argument was because my luggage was taken to our carriage first as we were in soft-sleeper and the rest were in hard-sleeper. 

On the train

The carriage we were ushered into had its own friendly stewardess and was spotlessly clean.  We were in a four berth compartment, sharing with two others.  It was a great relief to find that we had the bottom berths.  Why?  Because the upper berths were not just high being at head height, but only had one step to help one accomplish the acrobatic feat of swinging yourself up and on. 

The toilets were very clean when we first boarded.  However, they had to be cleaned regularly by the stewardess throughout the trip as the floor inexplicably got wet every hour or so. 

Surprise of surprises, the lady sharing with us could speak a little English and we learnt that she was heading to Cambodia.  We chatted and played cards, waiting for the train to depart.  We couldn’t wait to be out of the city perimeter so that we could really see China from the ground.  Pollution blankets the city and one often cannot  see the sun clearly.  Once we were about two hours out of Beijing, we did see some rice paddies and a few trees.  The scenery proved to be a disappointment because it rained from one end of the country to the other.  Along the route we encountered towns with buildings that sported peeling paint or no paint and gaping holes for windows.  It was not the view that we had expected, but did give us an insight into the daily lives of the ordinary Chinese that we would not otherwise have had.

The dining car was quite an experience.  All the tables were crowded even though we went early.  The menu consisted of frozen non-descript pre-packed meals.  Meals are not included in the price and after having a look at what was on offer, we decided to raid our chocolate supply instead.

Slippers are provided free to all soft-sleeper travellers.  This is not just a nice touch, it’s a necessity in a place where throat-clearing, followed by spitting is done every few minutes by one of the passing males in the corridor.  It is a very bad idea to go barefoot.  This aspect, although distressing at times, is practiced in most parts of China, especially up North, and one either becomes paranoid about it, or you stop noticing it after a while. 

A landslide had derailed a train of this very route just two weeks before our arrival, so we slept fitfully.  The rain came down steadily throughout the entire trip.  Also, the lady and gent we were sharing with struck up an impromptu date and chatted way into the night with the light on.

We arrived in Guangzhou the next morning, two hours later than the scheduled arrival time.  There was a great sense of camaraderie as the passengers eagerly lined the windows along the corridor to watch our approach into the city.  All in all, it had been a great adventure, our cross country rail trip from Beijing to China’s pearl delta.

Total duration of journey: 24 hours.

bye-bye plane

One way that a journey can go wrong is when you have connecting flights.  One of the most frustrating of these can be when you end up running from one terminal to another to make a connecting flight, only to discover that the flight has already closed!  This can easily happen to you when you make DIY flight bookings with multiple sectors.

Each airline has its own rules but the industry norm is that you must allow two hours for international connections.  An hour is usually enough for domestic and regional connections.  But as we discuss below, sometimes you need to allow even longer.

Here are some of the connecting time factors that are taken account of and that you should take into consideration if doing your own booking:

• Are you arriving and departing out of the same terminal?
• Will your luggage be checked through?  (Must be the same airline or an alliance partner)
• Will you have to pass through customs before connecting?
• Is the departure terminal in a different airport?  (Such as in Mumbai and Beijing)
• Will you be connecting between two specific airports such as Heathrow and Gatwick in London.

The airport that you are at can make a big difference too.  Some bookings that look fine on paper are also going to result in missed flights.

Mumbai has a minimum connecting time of 3 hours for international flights connecting with domestic flights.  You need to travel from one airport to a completely separate airport that shares some infrastructure and the same airport code.

If you are flying in from certain cities and then connecting domestically, the delay can be even longer.  For example, connections from Abu Dhabi, Doha, Jeddah and Dubai into Mumbai, all require a minimum of four hours if you are flying onwards in India.

We have specifically mentioned Mumbai and Beijing as both of these have the unusual situation of having two airports that fall under the same airport code.  If you didn’t do your homework on these two prior to your trip with just a two hour connection, there could be a nasty surprise on the other end.

When will the airline not pay for a missed connection?

• If you have violated the minimum connecting time for your booking.

The airlines call it “MCT” – Minimum Connecting Time.  It is the minimum permissible time between the scheduled arrival of one flight and the departure time of another.

• If you are not booked on a “through ticket”.

A through ticket is where all the sectors of the booking are on one ticket.  If you are making the booking yourself then you can usually only do this with a single airline but a travel agent can create a through ticket combining different airlines.  This offers certain protections.

Potential for double trouble

If the Minimum Connecting Time is not honoured (and you are not on a through ticket) then you can end up missing the flight, not being compensated, and still having to pay penalties!

Here is how it works: Let’s suppose the first leg of your journey is with British Airways and your connecting booking is on say, Emirates.  If the British Airways flight is late and you miss the Emirates connection, Emirates (who had nothing at all to do with carrying you on the first leg) will not compensate you for missing the flight.  You will also have to pay penalties to get on the next flight because from their perspective, it was your problem that you missed the connection, not theirs.

Even if you have used a travel agent you should always check the minimum connecting times yourself, and whether you have a through-ticket.  Just because you get one confirmation does not mean that it is a through ticket.  Examine the confirmation and check the ticket numbers.  If there is one number, then its one ticket and it is a through-ticket.  If its more than one number, you may not be on a through ticket and that is when would be a good idea to check directly with the agent.

Here are some of the must-sees that we suggest if you’re stopping over in China’s capital.  And if you treat people respectfully you will find that you leave as friends.

Great Wall

The wall of China is without a doubt a Great wall.  It is justifiably a source of national pride in Chinese citizens.  If you want to be able to tell your grandchildren that you have seen one of the world’s most amazing feats of engineering then you must clearly visit the wall.  Plus, you must get grandchildren.  Borrow some if necessary!

Standing on so much history – literally, gives one a feeling of awe.  Many of us suppose the wall to be one continuous wall across China.  This is not the case.  Different sections of the wall and different walls were built at various points in history and in some instances old walls were given a new look and reinforced.  The sections are not joined up.  The Great Wall is made up of many walls.  In Beijing, there are six sections that can be visited, the most popular being Badaling.

My surprise was how steep the stepped sections are, and how dizzyingly tall the wall is.  When you have climbed the wall you can pose for a commemorative photograph and get a certificate indicating you have ascended the wall.  If you are a Westerner you may likely be badgered to be photographed along with locals.  There is nothing ominous about it – they just welcome strangers.

The Forbidden City

At the heart of Beijing is an ancient walled city consisting of 980 wooden buildings, showcasing Chinese architecture that has influenced many other Asian countries. The complex boasts 600 years of Chinese Imperial history as the political seat of the country.  The Forbidden City continued in this role until 1912 with the abdication of the last Chinese emperor, Puyi.  If you visit the City as part of a guided tour, you will find it to be quite rushed and you will get through the main parts in about an hour.  Should you wish to read the stories of each artefact up on display and wander around at leisure, you will need half a day at the least and do it as an independent traveller.  This is a definite must-see.

It is easy to imagine oneself in a different era when wandering through the Forbidden City and indeed a friend of mine doctored a photo that I took to make it look like it had been taken a century ago.

Summer Palace

The man-made Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake make for a tranquil setting.  Except that is, if you happen to be visiting on a national holiday as we did.  Then it is a colourful chaos: very busy with little children running amuck, hawkers trying their best to sell postcards at inflated prices, tour guides waving their coloured flags in the air to keep their groups together and a general babble of lots of people talking at once.  Amongst the hubbub you may find it interesting to wander down the Long Corridor or take a scenic ride on one of the dragon boats that operates on the Lake.  The marble boat, the zenith of ostentation can also be visited.

The above three well-known sights can be done on a tour that almost always includes a visit to the ‘Jade Factory’.  The reason for our quotes is that this is really a small tour of a jade factory rather than the jade factory.  Obviously the intention is to get you to buy the jade goods on sale, including jewellery and sculptures.  Another frequent inclusion is the ‘Silk Factory’.  Same story as the jade factory.  In saying that, we did buy a fabulous silk cushion that folds out to serve as a blanket.  It has a beautiful Chinese design on it.

Beijing is a good value-for-money city with lots of clean and affordable accommodation.  Getting around the city is fairly easy, although we strongly suggest you carry a English-Chinese phrase book.  This proved invaluable in aiding communication when our toilet flooded the first night.  (Some of the toilet designs are predisposed to overflowing and even upmarket accommodation does not necessarily have western-style plumbing fixtures.)

As far as language is concerned, you will find that (despite the efforts made to train people in the service industries around the time of the Beijing Olympics) only the rudiments of English are spoken, and by few people .  That said, the official signage in English is generally quite good.

Look out for our upcoming article on Guangzhou, gateway to China’s pearl delta.

Ultra Luxury Aircraft seats Picture credit: © 2011 by BBDC Berra Blanquer Design Consultants, Paris

Often, the armrests on these seats cannot be moved, as the tray tables are stored on the side of them. If you have skinny hips, then that’s cool. If not…

They almost always are in much closer proximity to a lavatory than anywhere else on board. For some of us, this is not a detraction. For others of us, however, having a queue at every feeding time, blocking our way out of our seat, could cause some excitement.

Bulkhead seats attract travellers with babies. Why? Because that is where most of the bassinet [a "basket" used to hold a baby] seats are. Hence, it won’t be the quietest part of the jet.

The legroom, though, is often good, and therefore a compensation worth considering.

On a flight from Dubai to Beijing in May 2010, my sister and I witnessed an unusual scene. We were sitting three rows back from a bulkhead row, where a lively conversation was under-way between a young couple and three stewardesses. What had caused the commotion? The fact that the couple, who had four babies with them, had managed the feat of boarding, and going through all the security points, whilst not having tickets for two of the babies, nor enough laps to house all four. The result? Two passengers volunteered to hold the extra two for the seven-hour flight!

Our conclusion? Very generous. But most of us would probably not want to have to be in the situation of having to do the same, hey? But, if you are wanting sympathy, travel with an infant. Any baby will do, it doesn’t have to be your own!