It seems that a person cannot do without comparisons. I've seen it so many times in myself and others. As soon as we encounter some new phenomenon, we begin to search in memory, and not whether we have met something similar. And if we find, then we immediately begin to look for differences between similar objects.
Apparently that is why, sitting in the reserved seat car of the Chinese train taking me from Manchuria to Beijing, I involuntarily noted to myself its similarities and differences from the Russian reserved seat, in which I happened to travel many kilometers through my native country.
First of all, it must be said that in China there are two types of trains: high-speed (in which there are basically no sleeping places, only chairs) and ordinary ones. IN regular train the carriages are divided into three classes: soft sleeping (in our compartment), hard sleeping (in our reserved seat) and a carriage with seats. Ordinary trains are three times slower than high-speed ones: a regular train moves at an average speed of about 80 km / h, while a high-speed train accelerates to 300 km / h.
Before this trip to Beijing, I had already traveled on a Chinese regular train, but it was a seated car. Riding in a seated car on an ordinary Chinese train for 14 hours is a very difficult test. I hope never to repeat this. No wonder the places in such cars are called “hard seats”, because it is “tin”. Although for short distances the car will fit perfectly.
My past trips in an ordinary Chinese train have shaped my inner fear of traveling in them, but this time, going into a reserved seat car and seeing the usual rows of shelves, I felt calm. The car seemed to be quite acceptable.
The first difference that caught my eye is the lack of side seats. On my ticket, in the “seat” section, there was the number 10 and something was added with unfamiliar hieroglyphs. I found a compartment labeled 9/10. The bottom two shelves were already occupied by two Chinese, who completely filled the table with their food supplies, and the beds with their phones, tablets, chargers and jackets.
The men began to cackle and point their fingers up at the ceiling. Wow! That, it turns out, is why there are no side benches here, they have been turned into third shelves in the compartment, the same as luggage shelves on a Russian train.
The third shelf is the most uncomfortable in the car. The distance between the ceiling and the bench here is so small that it is impossible to sit on the shelf even with your head tilted. You can only crawl onto this shelf by climbing the ladder on the side, from the shelf you can only crawl out, but changing the position of the body while on it is quite difficult. I did not manage to sit down on the lower benches and use the table. The men made it clear that this was their territory. For the losers from the second and third shelves on the opposite side of the car there are folding chairs by the window and a narrow shelf - a miserable semblance of a table. Above them, a luggage rack stretched along the entire carriage.
Side chairs and table
Luggage rack
But I liked the bed: a neat pillow and a soft synthetic winterizer blanket. Everything is already laid out. There is no mattress, but even without it it is quite soft, even though the car is called hard.
There is boiling water in the carriage, as in the Russian train, but I did not find a socket for charging the phone. But the problem of toilets, which are always occupied in Russian trains, is quite well solved.
Here the toilet is always free. And all because there are two of them at one end of the car and washbasins are located in a separate room from them. But toilet paper is not allowed here.
Another nice difference from Russian trains is convenient transitions between cars. Here you can go from one car to another without even noticing it. In the Russian train, the passages between the cars are closed with doors and look creepy. Food vendors and all sorts of things also walk around the cars, only unlike Russians, Chinese sellers can put on a real show to sell some little thing.
At night, I noticed a significant inconvenience of the Chinese reserved seat: the shops here are a little narrower than ours. There are no shelves on the walls for essentials, they have to be kept right there on the bench, which makes it even cramped.
Weighing all the pros and cons of the Chinese reserved seat in comparison with ours, I did not come to the conclusion which one I like more. Probably, the one in which you are traveling in a pleasant company, with your friends or just with good fellow travelers is still better.
P.S. I was asked about ticket prices. Prices are about the same as ours.
What does an innovative reserved seat look like in China
In 2017, China launched trains with a new generation of second-class carriages on the route between Beijing and Shanghai. The two-story trains immediately fell in love with both the Chinese and the guests of the Celestial Empire for their comfort, smooth running and the availability of personal space for each passenger.
In order to realize all the conceived ideas, Chinese engineers had to increase the internal space of the train by almost 40%, as well as raise the upper shelves as high as possible.
The main distinguishing feature of the new train was the absence of vestibules and transitions between cars. In fact, the entire interior of the train is a long corridor with berths on the sides. The border between the cars in the new trains is purely nominal: toilets and vending machines with drinks are located here.
Unlike traditional second-class carriages with a longitudinal-transverse arrangement of sleeping berths, the seats in the new train are located in the direction of travel. Thanks to this, the corridor is noticeably wider, and passengers have much more personal space.
The ticket price includes a set of bed linen and even disposable slippers. The pillows in the new train are filled with environmentally friendly buckwheat material. On the wall in each compartment there is an orthopedic pillow to comfortably sit in a sitting position.
Thanks to the innovative organization of space, each passenger has a separate table and legroom. Due to the well-thought-out organization of the internal zones, the engineers managed to design a train with 880 seats.
In the new reserved seat train, you can easily isolate yourself from other passengers with the help of a corrugated curtain. Each compartment has individual lighting that does not blind other passengers, as well as USB connectors, clothes hangers and universal sockets with European, Chinese and American plugs. If necessary, the personal window is closed with an opaque curtain.
When designing the new train, engineers paid special attention to sound insulation and smooth running. By the way, the two-story train overcomes the 1,318-kilometer route between Beijing and Shanghai in just 11 hours. The maximum speed of the train is 250 km/h.
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On this journey through China, I moved a lot from place to place, choosing for this purpose the trains of the Chinese Railways. Thus, there were several segments: Beijing-Qinhuangdao, Qinhuangdao - Dandong, Dandong - Shenyang and the last Shenyang - Harbin. As a result, I traveled about 1660 km by trains, it's as if I was getting from Moscow to Grozny, for example. Thus, I spent a lot of time on the road and now I want to share my experience of what it is like to travel by rail in China…
At present, China is booming high-speed rail construction. With the support of the state and thanks to special measures, by the end of 2020 the total length of the high-speed rail network will reach 18,000 km. In technological terms, the organization of high-speed rail communication occurs through technology transfer agreements from reputable foreign manufacturers, such as the Canadian Bombardier, the French company Alstom, and the Japanese Kawasaki. By adopting foreign technology, China is seeking to make its own developments based on them, such as the development of the CRH-380A series trains, which set a record for China's high-speed roads, about 500 km / h. But I traveled by trains at a more modest speed - about 350 km / h, and I can say with confidence that if Chinese trains are not inferior in speed, for example, to the same Japanese shinkansen, then in terms of quality of service, cleanliness and comfort, of course, they still have some way to go...
Chinese trains vary in speed and class of service. To designate each train, a Latin letter is used (for example: D, T, K, C, Z) followed by the train number or, more rarely, just the train number. I took a picture of one of my tickets with instructions on how to figure out what is indicated on it.
Understanding the principle is not difficult, but it is very, very important to know - at which particular station of the city you need this train arrives !!! If there is a transfer ahead, then from which station the next train leaves. In Beijing, as it turned out, there are 5 railway stations !!!
I will give the Chinese designations of Beijing railway stations, in case anyone needs it, because I myself got confused:
- Beijing Central Station ( 北京站 )
- Beijing West Station ( 北京西站 )
- Beijing South Station ( 北京南站 )
- Beijing North Station ( 北京北站 )
- Beijing East Station ( 北京 东站 )
And when you buy tickets, you also need to find out which station it is better to choose the arrival of the train, so that it would be more convenient to get to your hotel, so as not to spend extra money on a taxi later.
If you are planning to travel in China by train, the following information about train categories and types of carriages in China may be useful.
If the train number contains the letter G, D or C, then we are talking about high high-speed trains and I advise you to use them when traveling, you don’t want to spend extra time moving between cities, because these types of trains are one of the fastest and most comfortable.
Category trains G: The fastest and best, reach speeds up to 350 km / h, daytime trains.
Category trains D: Second fastest. On some night trains long distance compartment cars are available.
Category trains C: High-speed trains. They travel between neighboring cities.
After you decide on the train, you need to select the class of your seat, there are only 4 of them in high-speed trains: 2nd class, 1st class, premium and business. All seats are installed with the direction exclusively in the direction of the train, when the train changes its direction (I had this), the chairs are turned over 180 degrees. In the night high-speed trains of category D, there are compartment cars and luxury class compartment cars.
Advice (of course, based on their financial capabilities) - take a premium or business class, there are seats for one or 2 people similar to business class seats on an airplane, in other classes for 3 people, and you yourself understand which flavors you will have to be all the road and it will obviously be fragrances not from CHANEL. In addition, you will be given a bottle of water and a bag of snacks, and for a trip over 4 hours, a lunch with a choice of dishes is offered.
Safety!
Get ready to be safe in the zone railway station the relevant authorities are treated with maniacal responsibility. All things will be examined as when boarding an airplane, people are also examined with special care, tickets and passports - EVERYTHING is checked, and at some stations this check is carried out twice! In addition, seeing off and meeting people are not allowed on the territory of the station, so you will have to navigate the schedule, the train boarding area, etc. on your own.
Here comes the most interesting part of the "Marleson ballet"J As I would put it in China, everything is oriented for the Chinese, so the scoreboard will look like this.
Those. in the best case, you will be able to identify your train number with a Latin letter (if it is present, sometimes the train number consists only of numbers). Next is the number of the platform and platform - a guessing game in the Chinese style. However, for experienced travelers like us, even such a scoreboard has been deciphered, so now we can safely go to Mars!
They begin to let the train onto the platform no earlier than 15 minutes in advance, so you can orient yourself in advance on your own or try to find out from the non-English speaking station staff where to run with your clothes by pointing your finger at your ticket with a dumb question in your eyes (practice at home on just in case for a dumb question).
Keep your ticket all the way until you arrive at your final destination, because you will need to put it in the turnstile, and it will also be checked on the train itself.
They want trains exactly on schedule, minute by minute, parking at the stations is only 1-2 minutes, so I do not recommend smoking lovers to leave the car for this need. There were cases when tourists remain in this way at the closed doors of the train without anything at all, but with a pack of cigarettes.
And lastly, it is quite difficult to buy a train ticket without being in China. Therefore, either rely on "maybe" and buy tickets already in China at the box office of the station, but not for Chinese New Year- this is generally an impossible mission for any money, or use the services of a travel agency in your region, which will help you in advance with this issue.
Thinking out loud, opus no. 6.
Trains are sometimes interesting to travel not only in terms of convenience. When you look out the window, you can see something that you don’t pay attention to when you are in the place of stay ...
Firstly, I was surprised by the perfect cleanliness throughout the long train journey, no garbage on the sides of the tracks at all. By the way, the cleanliness in China this time shocked me in general, not a speck, not a cigarette butt, not a piece of paper - ANYWHERE. It was interesting to know that since recently all janitors have been made civil servants, and this has always been extremely honorable in China. And after a year of such work, all the doors of other state institutions of the country are open before you, so people are extremely holding on to such a prestigious job, scrupulously cleaning everything around.
Secondly, the agricultural fields are ideally sown up to the railway, sometimes it even seemed that everything looked so perfect that you were driving through Japan.
Thirdly, there are a lot of completely futuristic-looking industrial facilities, I was directly staring at them. In a word, you will not be bored on the road, and this experience will definitely complement your knowledge of a traveler.
Greetings, dear readers!
How many times have you traveled by train? Surely, many went to the resorts of the Black Sea, overcoming thousands of kilometers of railway tracks in a comfortable reserved seat car. And the smell of boiled eggs and fresh cucumber will undoubtedly take you to fabulous memories of a long-awaited vacation.
In our case, the rest was just as long-awaited, but the destination was Harbin, and the scene was . But on the way back we were already waiting for a reserved seat car, with its own unique surroundings. About everything in order. Our train departs in the direction of Manchuria-Harbin. Tuu-tuuuu, let's go!
Let's start with the fact that in the north of China they have not yet laid a high-speed railway. But all the trains following this direction are very worthy, clean and comfortable.
At the railway station, you are offered three categories of seats:
- seated car;
- Recumbent solid wagon;
- Recumbent soft car.
Since the path is not close at about 13:00, and upon arrival, not one free minute. We decided to take it there to rest and sleep. And on the way back “was not there” they took a reserved seat car.
The price varies greatly depending on the category. A sit-down car is very cheap even for long-distance destinations. Later we learned that the seats are soft chairs without reclining backs. So if you are used to moving long distances while sitting, this option is for you. I think we will try this “economy class” on our next trip.
Chinese compartment car
Here we are right there! We go in, looking for our compartment. I was so staring at everything around that I just flew the whole car and did not notice our seats. But it's not scary, tickets are on hand, so we'll all go to places. We open the door, places 7 and 5 (lower), go in and .... I can't believe my eyes, everything is very good! Clean linen is already made, a wonderful fresh smell, not a drop of tobacco smoke (this is unique in China), spacious and the sleeping place is much wider than in Russian carriages.
On the table is a liter thermos, still empty. The table is very small, of course you can’t eat chicken on this! The maximum that fits on it is two cups of tea and two plates of instant noodles, such a “china-style”.
Also in the compartment there are hangers, a bunch of hooks for anything, disposable slippers, wi-fi and a Chinese radio. But this is a pleasure for amateurs, we had enough for 2 minutes of listening.
Having settled in, putting on white slippers, we set off to explore the expanses of the car. Visited the washroom for three persons. Not a very clean room, cold water, but a bonus - a huge mirror. This is a note to selfie lovers in unusual places.
The toilet room was pleased with the relative cleanliness and lack of smell inherent in this place.
Opposite the toilet room is another washbasin in which, next to it, there is a tank of boiling water. By the way, in China there is boiling water in all public places. Therefore, they always have a thermos of tea with them. Such a culture!
Along the corridor of the compartment car, near the windows, there are comfortable folding seats where you can sit and think about everything, because there is more than a lot of time. And of course, there are 220 V sockets.
We traveled to Hailar alone, in a romantic atmosphere. But this is China, there are still not enough people to enjoy loneliness. In Hailar, the sweetest adult Chinese couple sat down with us. A very pleasant woman and an interesting talkative man.
Here the most interesting began! As you already know, we have been living in Manchuria for quite a long time and this city borders on Russia. Many Chinese know Russian to one degree or another, so it is extremely difficult to put their knowledge of the language into practice. Since, if you start speaking Chinese, and the Chinese do not understand the first time, then it is easier for them to switch to Russian. This is where the whole practice of the language ends. But here is another matter, our neighbors in the compartment absolutely do not understand Russian. And this is in our favor - a great opportunity in an emergency to activate all our knowledge. It was incredibly interesting for us, because if the first time we did not understand, then we were repeated again and again until we fully understood. We also had the opportunity to repeat everything in several interpretations, pronouncing the correct tone, observing all the rules for pronouncing sounds, and we were understood. It's amazing to know that your training was not in vain, and you can speak and understand what is being said.
In the course of the conversation, it turned out that our fellow travelers had been to Russia and they liked our country (all Chinese like Russian open spaces). This wonderful married couple owns 4 hotels that are scattered all over China, from Hailar and Beijing to the Chinese coast. The hotels have the style of such nice cozy villas, with lots of parks and fountains in oriental style. They promoted us these havens of travelers in all their glory.
Probably, you, like us then, are wondering: what do such wealthy gentlemen do on the train? After all, the plane is a much more comfortable way to travel.
Despite financial well-being and accessibility to all the benefits of civilization, people may have problems that are not so easy to solve. A talkative man has two ailments: fear of heights (acrophobia) and fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia). So they travel thousands of miles by train, monitoring their hotels as needed. Now it became clear to us why the man often went out into the corridor without the addiction of smoking.
The night came unnoticed. The voices subsided, the corridor was empty, everyone dispersed to their shelves, the lights went out. Only the rhythmic clatter of the wheels lulled me to sleep, but prevented Artyom from falling asleep. The stoker fired up the train's stove. Dry air entered the lungs with a whistle and came out of them with a heavy pressure. Lounging on a spacious bunk like a starfish, wrapped in a light padding blanket like the foam of salty waves, I peacefully plunged into the deepest sleep.
Chinese reserved seat car
After a fast-flying journey, we again went to the station. But now we had to spend the evening and night in a spacious six-seater section. Yes, yes, that's right. In each section of the reserved seat car there are three sleeping shelves on each side, for a total of six seats. Where there is a luggage rack in Russian trains, here is the third level. But a free corridor, the same as in the compartment car. And instead of side shelves, folding seats.
Having flown first into the car, we found our seats, or rather the number of sections 3 - 4. And we were pleasantly surprised that the section was closed. Now I will explain. Everything looks the same as in an ordinary compartment, with the only difference that there is no door, but there are walls that isolate from the corridor. It's brilliant! Moving around the car, you do not need to hold your breath passing by the "fragrant" legs of passengers who, like zombies from horror films, pounce on you from every corner. The same wide berths, a made bed and the same table as in the compartment.
The restroom is made in the traditional railway style, it seems to me that for public places this is the perfect “hole in the floor”. Washrooms are ascetic and spacious.
The corridor is just as spacious and lively, because the necessary energy resources are located in the walls in the form of 220 V sockets.
Of course, we are incredibly lucky with our neighbors. It was a young tall Asian in aristocratic glasses. A middle-aged woman who sat in the corridor until late at night. And a man who slept quietly all the way.
After busy days in Harbin, the train ride turned out to be a less useless pastime. As soon as I had the opportunity to lie down, I pulled the mask over my face and instantly passed out. I woke up only the next day in the morning, when we were already approaching Manchuria. I have never had to spend 13 hours so quickly and unconsciously.
I can summarize the following chinese wagon a decent way to travel at a minimal cost.
Travel on different vehicles, to different places, try new food, study the features of the territories you visit, always look at the world with a smile and joy.
All the best and happiness, your Alena A.
There is such a cool blogger Kim Korshunov, he is also a columnist for the program "Miracle of Technology" on NTV, he is also the editor-in-chief of the website and channel of the same name onyoutube . He decided to travel from Shanghai to Beijing by train.
There were three options: either a super-fast train, which everyone probably saw in some programs. Either a regular reserved seat, like ours, or a luxury version of a reserved seat (these are the newest trains, there are about a dozen of them for the whole of China).
Ticket price
The fastest option travels 1,500 km from Shanghai to Beijing in 4.3 hours. But a ticket costs about the same as a plane ticket. The most budget option costs about 2000 rubles. The cars there are almost exactly the same as ours. Well, the price, in fact, too.
The intermediate option, which Kim called "the coolest reserved seat in the world," costs about 6,000 rubles at the rate. Expensive, but there are a few points. Firstly, this is a suite (more on that below), and secondly, a ticket was bought on the day of departure, one can say an hour before departure (if you take it in advance, it will be cheaper, and if you use some benefits, even cheaper). Thirdly, such the train is coming just 11 hours. In our country, for comparison, the train would travel this distance in 16 or even 20 hours.
Separately, I want to say about the purchase of tickets. RZD is much more convenient. I went into the application, bought a ticket in 5 clicks and that's it. No paperwork, no lines, no cash.
Train
Outside, the train is very similar to our Sapsan. Well, in terms of speed, in fact, it is also about the same. Normal cruising speed is 120-160 km/h. There were 3 stops along the way.
From the side, the train seems to be double-decker, because the windows are in two rows, but in size it is about the same as a regular Russian single-decker car. There is no second floor, just the lower and upper passengers have their own small windows. With your own curtains. And in general, despite the fact that this is a reserved seat, personal space is separated as much as possible - more on that later.
In the wagon
As such, there are no carriages on the train. The whole train is a long "gut" without doors and vestibules, like ours. On the one hand, this is good, you can move around on the ride.
On the other hand, there is nowhere to smoke. If someone snores loudly or some child throws a tantrum, then it will be heard not only in one car. Also, the whole train will have to listen to the knocking of the doors to the toilet. And they knock. But it is noteworthy that they do not clap and, despite good sound insulation, there is silence in the whole train.
Guides and tea
When boarding the train, no one checks any documents, although then the conductor still passes through the train. I don’t know how many conductors for the whole train, but it seems that there is only one. That is, one conductor and 2 cleaners (yes, in China, a conductor and a cleaner are different people).
In addition to the fact that the absence a large number conductors - this is a reduction in costs, in principle they are not needed. But there is no one to order the other side of the seagulls, no one gives out cups for free. You also need to bring chess with you. No one sells cookies and newspapers, souvenirs and lottery tickets Same.
The restaurant car is just a counter where you can buy a local "Doshirak" and some garbage. But no tea, by the way.
The car has free drinking water. But it does not surprise us, we also have it.
Toilet
A toilet is like a toilet. Nothing special. There is no soul, if anyone is interested. Toilets are located in pairs, opposite each other. Toilets, of course, bio. Everything is clean, it smells nice (there is a hanging flavor like "Christmas tree").
A distinctive feature - in addition to small sinks in the toilet room itself, there are also sinks nearby. That is, if you just need a sink to wash yourself or wash something, you don’t need to occupy the toilet.
Space organization
As I said, the car is reserved seat, but all the time I want to call the seats compartments, because everyone has their own place. I would even say that this reserved seat provides much more privacy and convenience than our compartments.
Each place has its own curtain. You can close and no one will disturb you.
Normal ladders lead to the second floor and no one will step on your bed, on your table and so on. And if the curtain is closed, then you won’t even notice that someone climbs or descends.
I am very pleased that all the seats are located along the car, and not across (hello, Russian Railways), so no one's legs stick out in the aisle. This is a really huge plus. Moreover, the seats are arranged in such a way that you can stretch out to your full height, more on that later. In general, you walk calmly, you don’t dodge your legs, you don’t smell other people’s socks, the passage turns out to be wide.
Personal space
Your place in the Chinese reserved seat is not just a place on a bench and a bunk - it's just a small room, albeit with a curtain instead of a door. The curtain, by the way, is very high quality and with magnets so that it does not open. In general, I must say that everything is done efficiently, reliably, powerfully. At least that's the impression.
Everyone has a table at their disposal (and on the second floor too!), everyone has personal lighting (German by the way from Schneider Electric), a spotlight for reading, a universal socket (American plug, European and USB), a mesh pocket and three hooks for clothes.
With hooks, however, a small embarrassment. Since all the hooks are above the bed, it will not work to hang a long coat or a fur coat - the floors will somehow lie on the bed and interfere.
As I said at the beginning, everyone has their own window. And each window has its own personal curtain. It's cool actually. Such a small corner. No need to fight with anyone and argue about whether to open the curtain or close it.
Bed
Let's start with the fact that all the places have already been filled (both above and below), there are slippers of different colors nearby (apparently, so that the neighbors do not confuse). The bag can be removed under the bed - half an elephant will fit there.
On the bed you can sit at the table. You can sit with your legs stretched out on the bed, leaning your head against the wall, on which a soft headrest is prudently made.
There are no mattresses in Chinese trains, instead of them something like a soft blanket, then a sheet, a blanket, a pillow. The pillow, by the way, is buckwheat.
The length of the bed is approximately 2.0 meters. And this, by the way, is surprising, because the average height of the Chinese is 165 cm for men and 155 for women (it seems that the new Russian Railways cars were made just according to Chinese standards, because an ordinary European does not fit there in any way).
In general, as you can see, Chinese new trains have both pluses and minuses. I like Russian Railways more in some things, but in terms of organizing personal space, Chinese cars are definitely better. Something like capsule hotels, only cooler. And one more thing: in some surprising way, the cars have a very smooth ride. No jerks, pitching, jerking and quiet.
How are you? Which wagons do you think are better: ours or Chinese?
