Traveling between cities is an interesting discovery process from one country to another, or even one region to another in the same country. For example, in the United States, it's much more convenient to take a train or bus on the North East Coast between cities that are 4 hours apart rather than dealing with airport distance and security clearance hassles that would likely take the same amount of time. However, on the West Coast, there may not be a train or bus option between cities, so you may have to take a plane or a car.
Planes, Trains, but no Automobiles
In China, renting a car is not a possibility without a Chinese drivers license, which is different than several European countries honoring a United States drivers license. For foreigners in China, the options are hiring a private driver, taking a bus, taking a train, or taking a plane. Trip.com has options to book train and plane travel across China with an English interface and a foreign credit card. It is possible to take busses, and they are the most affordable option, and in some cases the only option to smaller cities, but they are also often the least comfortable.
Time & Cost Differences
The trip to Beijing from Shanghai is 2.5 hours by plane, and tickets can be found a few days in advance for $80 - $160 USD for coach class. The issue with air travel is of course the time getting to and from the airport from inside the city as well as arriving early to make sure you've cleared security and line waiting times. By train, the trip to Beijing from Shanghai is about 4-6 hours on the high speed train for about $80-$160, or half that price for the slow train which takes 12 hours or more, and is often run as an overnight sleeper train with shared cabins. For all these reasons, the fast train is a highly desirable option for travelers going between the two cities.
Passport Necessary
All travel between cities on public transport requires a passport. Most first time travelers to China have the easiest experience by booking a tour package which includes a tour guide or escort to quickly and easily help navigate public transport options. However, if you're coming to China to teach English, and want a little more independence on your days off, your school may hold your passport (I've heard this happens at some schools), and you would need to make sure you have your passport in hand when booking and traveling. Even if you book your ticket online, you'll still need your passport to redeem a printed ticket at the station when you arrive.
Train Stations
The train stations have a basic and fast moving airport-level security before entering the station. Arriving 30min early should be enough time to get through the line, get your ticket from a booth agent, and make it to the train, but sometimes the ticket agents move slowly. Arriving earlier means more time to explore the station offerings itself. The train stations in Beijing and Shanghai have plenty of waiting area and seating, fast food options, restrooms, and convenience stores to browse. This year I noticed that they installed some drinking water stations that I don't remember being there last year, which should help more travelers reduce water bottle waste. (Almost everyone in China travels with their own bottle that holds water or hot tea.) Gates are numbered with an A side and B side for boarding. Each train has train cars listed by number, and seat rows listed by number with seats listed by alphabetical character- just as you'd find on a plane.
Train Amenities
Each train car has one or two bathrooms and a washing sink - our train cars had a regular toilet and a squat toilet. I imagine that future generations will only have European style toilets, as the squat toilets are becoming increasingly rare. There's a drinking water station with hot water for refilling tea bottles, and there are usually some cups there as well which eventually run out during the ride. All drinks and food offered in coach are an additional fee, but they do offer some hot prepared meals with meat, rice, and veggies, as well as instant noodles or ramen that you add hot water too. They also offer plenty of juices, waters, sodas, and dry good snacks. At one point an attendant went through selling toy trains that light up and make noise. You can either catch an attendant as they go by, or head to the dining car listed on the pamphlet in your seat back pocket.
Differences Between Beijing & Shanghai
Beijing is a much more conservative and traditional city that seeks to preserve its antiquities and unique heritage of China's long past. This is reflected in the buildings, the hutong districts, the museums, the performances, the antique markets, and more traditional mentalities in the city. Whereas, Shanghai is cutting edge modern to the point that there's little to no room for history to survive, unless it appeals to modern aesthetic and taste. It seeks to be nearly the opposite of Beijing, as it's more liberal about combining cultural influences, open to the world at large, and always working toward a better, faster, more luxurious and fashionable lifestyle. If you have significant time in either of these cities, a vision of China would be limited without visiting both cities to see how different they can be.
Since I've shared a few posts from Shanghai so far, here's a small glimpse into some of Beijing - both old and new:
Planes, Trains, but no Automobiles
In China, renting a car is not a possibility without a Chinese drivers license, which is different than several European countries honoring a United States drivers license. For foreigners in China, the options are hiring a private driver, taking a bus, taking a train, or taking a plane. Trip.com has options to book train and plane travel across China with an English interface and a foreign credit card. It is possible to take busses, and they are the most affordable option, and in some cases the only option to smaller cities, but they are also often the least comfortable.
Time & Cost Differences
The trip to Beijing from Shanghai is 2.5 hours by plane, and tickets can be found a few days in advance for $80 - $160 USD for coach class. The issue with air travel is of course the time getting to and from the airport from inside the city as well as arriving early to make sure you've cleared security and line waiting times. By train, the trip to Beijing from Shanghai is about 4-6 hours on the high speed train for about $80-$160, or half that price for the slow train which takes 12 hours or more, and is often run as an overnight sleeper train with shared cabins. For all these reasons, the fast train is a highly desirable option for travelers going between the two cities.
Passport Necessary
All travel between cities on public transport requires a passport. Most first time travelers to China have the easiest experience by booking a tour package which includes a tour guide or escort to quickly and easily help navigate public transport options. However, if you're coming to China to teach English, and want a little more independence on your days off, your school may hold your passport (I've heard this happens at some schools), and you would need to make sure you have your passport in hand when booking and traveling. Even if you book your ticket online, you'll still need your passport to redeem a printed ticket at the station when you arrive.
Train Stations
The train stations have a basic and fast moving airport-level security before entering the station. Arriving 30min early should be enough time to get through the line, get your ticket from a booth agent, and make it to the train, but sometimes the ticket agents move slowly. Arriving earlier means more time to explore the station offerings itself. The train stations in Beijing and Shanghai have plenty of waiting area and seating, fast food options, restrooms, and convenience stores to browse. This year I noticed that they installed some drinking water stations that I don't remember being there last year, which should help more travelers reduce water bottle waste. (Almost everyone in China travels with their own bottle that holds water or hot tea.) Gates are numbered with an A side and B side for boarding. Each train has train cars listed by number, and seat rows listed by number with seats listed by alphabetical character- just as you'd find on a plane.
Train Seats
First class seats offer a little more room and privacy, but the most luxurious seats are the business class seats which offer a much roomier and more comfortable train seat experience at 3x the price of a regular ticket or 2x the price of a first class ticket. Our coach seats were booked online a few days in advance and people may have still been buying any seats that were exchanged at the last minute because the train left the station completely full. I say that to expect every seat to be full. We didn't end up with seats next to each other on our first ride into Beijing, but were able to get seats together on our ride out of Beijing back to Shanghai. I'm sure a single traveler may have been willing to swap seats with one of us so we could sit together, but we were only a couple rows away from each other and didn't mind. The booking system gives you a mild preference for seats, but doesn't guarantee seats together. In the future, I may express preference for the two seat side of the train rather than the three seat side of the train, so that the two of us can feel like we have our own little row together, which would likely be more comfortable for our midwestern bodies than sharing a middle seat with our long arms and elbows. If you have four people together, you can actually turn one set of seats around on many trains and face each other if you're in the row directly behind each other.Train Amenities
Each train car has one or two bathrooms and a washing sink - our train cars had a regular toilet and a squat toilet. I imagine that future generations will only have European style toilets, as the squat toilets are becoming increasingly rare. There's a drinking water station with hot water for refilling tea bottles, and there are usually some cups there as well which eventually run out during the ride. All drinks and food offered in coach are an additional fee, but they do offer some hot prepared meals with meat, rice, and veggies, as well as instant noodles or ramen that you add hot water too. They also offer plenty of juices, waters, sodas, and dry good snacks. At one point an attendant went through selling toy trains that light up and make noise. You can either catch an attendant as they go by, or head to the dining car listed on the pamphlet in your seat back pocket.
Differences Between Beijing & Shanghai
Beijing is a much more conservative and traditional city that seeks to preserve its antiquities and unique heritage of China's long past. This is reflected in the buildings, the hutong districts, the museums, the performances, the antique markets, and more traditional mentalities in the city. Whereas, Shanghai is cutting edge modern to the point that there's little to no room for history to survive, unless it appeals to modern aesthetic and taste. It seeks to be nearly the opposite of Beijing, as it's more liberal about combining cultural influences, open to the world at large, and always working toward a better, faster, more luxurious and fashionable lifestyle. If you have significant time in either of these cities, a vision of China would be limited without visiting both cities to see how different they can be.
Since I've shared a few posts from Shanghai so far, here's a small glimpse into some of Beijing - both old and new:
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