China 1

Big Place many entries.

Good Guide

Good, informative blog

Tricky search for timetables

The rail system appears to be as large as most of Europe. It is hard to imagine how it works when looking at it as a whole. Breaking it down, the entire system is broken into 14 regions. All regions operate services out of 1 or 2 centers. There are also quite a few national lines crossing the country.

The official web site of the chinese rail system is impressive and very different to what we are used to. The host their own forums, mostly unmoderated comparitive to Australian forums. The impression is that there isnt much political commentary given the warning notices. But this is far from the truth, the discussion about corruption, union politics and even opinion pieces on Taiwan and eurpean systems would have lawyers running to court and forum moderators deleting content in the west. Their concern seems to be aimed a criticisms on a national or international level and comments designed to incite people. Although if you look down a couple of levels you can find plenty of criticisms leveled at national priorities.

Another interesting thing is that you can get all sorts of very detailed technical data, most of which would be classified commercial-in-confidence or not availble because of the threat of terrorism in the west, is free for anyone to view, comment on and use, you dont even have to register or pay $10 a month for the priveledge.

To get to Hong Kong is relatively simple. Get to Nanning, then Guangzhou (2 direct trains a day), from here there are direct trains to Hong Kong Hourly.

While not as fast as most of Europe, the trains cover around 250-275km in 3hrs so they are alot faster than most of Asia with its meter gauge. Hong Kong is around 800km, that works out to roughly 10-12 hours travel.

2 Direct Trains.

K366/K363 (KUNMING) – NANNING – GUANGZHU 0015 – 1150

2572/2573 NANNING – HUANGZU 1913 – 0702

1 Connection to see the line in daylight…

5502/5503 Nanning – Zhanjiang 1438 – 2045

K408 Zhanjiang West – Guangzhou 0808-1456

There is also a longer trip to the north via Hengyang

T6 NANNING-HENGYANG 0900-1921 or #1558 1901-0900

L65 HENGYANG-GUANGZHOU 0906-1520

The train classes,

For a good summary

D Class | Fastest and Newest class of train | 200-350kmh | 2+3 Seating | Also known as CHR, closest European equivalent is the German ICE 3

Z Class | Expresses with very limited stops (Zhida means non-stop) | ~120-200kmh | Sleepers | Overnight only, transit times between 9-12 hours, similar to CityNightLine trains

T Class | Express trains stopping at major cities| 120kmh | All Types of Carriage | Long distance trains (usually +1000km +12hrs), often very long and varied in composition,

K Class | Express stoping at major and regional cities | 120kmh | All Types of Carriage | Shorter distances than T Class, stopping more often

N Class | Travels within local bureau area | 120kmh | Usually seating | Similar to K class, travel within boundaries of a railway district

Numbered | All Stops | 100kmh | Usually seating only | All or most stops

Vietnam – China

To get to China from Vietnam you can get a bus west or train north. As I want to get to Hong Kong the northern train is best.

M1.T876.T6 Hanoi – Beijing Hanoi 1830, Nan Ning 0700, Qui Lin 1400

DD3 Hanoi – Dong Dang (Border) 0540 – 1130

At the border there is a change of guage, although dual guage runs to Hanoi, the DD3 train runs narrow guage to the border and connects with a Chinese Std guage train onwards.