booking trains

is there anywhere that I can book sleeper trains in advance. Most of the info seems to indiacte doing from the hotel but we would prefer to book in advance and be sure of getting the soft sleeper and a deluxe 2 berth sleeper if we can.Seems abit scary leaving it until we get there.

booking trains

What route are you asking about?

If Shanghai -- Beijing, the only train that has a possibility of deluxe soft sleeper is T110. I asked recently at the train station and this possibility is not fixed, and the availability will only be known 1 day before departure date. That%26#39;s coming from the horses%26#39; mouth.

booking trains

thanks for the prompt reply. The route will actually be Beijing to xian. if the deluxe soft sleeper is not available on this route ,do you know if we can book 2 x soft sleepers which will sleep 8. There are only 6 of us but we are happy to pay for 8 people and just have the extra space for us. Its also the pre booking that worries us. Us foreigners arent used to booking things just a few days before travelling.

Eh if you%26#39;re asking about Beijing -- Xi%26#39;an, why is this thread in the Shanghai forum?!

Not sure of the possibilities on that route for deluxe soft sleeper. However there should be no problems buying 8 soft sleeper bunks, make sure they%26#39;re 2 complete compartments or else it%26#39;d be a bad joke. Remember to ';check-in'; all 8 tickets when the attendant comes around, or else they%26#39;ll think that the extra 2 bunks are no-shows and they%26#39;re entitled to sell them on to other passengers who might want to upgrade.

Ok, wrong forum %26amp;c as noted, but Z-class Beijing to Xi%26#39;an should not be a problem. When we were planning to take this train last year I found

http://www.seat61.com/China.htm

which includes a couple of links about buying in advance. I have heard rumours that some agencies will put someone in the queue early to be sure you get a ticket, but I have not used the services on these links nor others, so I can%26#39;t advise.

china train are not that clean, please consider to book those sleep train, it would not be good experience.

is there are different train company that provides the same services? I would like to compare prices and such. I have heard/read something about a bullet train? where can i find more info?

thank you :)

Currently all bullet trains only provide short distance service, from shanghai to nanjing or from shanghai to hangzhou. Those are good train but even though, the restroom in 2rd class is not clean, not even in Europe standard not to say compared with US. Try the 1st class since it is not that expensive.

';china train are not that clean, please consider to book those sleep train, it would not be good experience.'; What exactly are you trying to say? Confusing.

No, all trains in China are run by the China Railway.

The ';bullet'; trains are the D trains. These only operate in the daytime, no overnight services nor do they have sleepers. However they cost as much as, or even more than, soft sleepers for the same route! As a comparison, for Beijing -- Shanghai overnight Z train soft sleeper is 478/499 RMB (11.5 hours); daytime D train 2nd/1st-class seat is 452/542 RMB (10.5 hours).

They%26#39;re better off used for short distances eg Shanghai -- Suzhou/Wuxi/Nanjing/Hangzhou.

If you want European style trains then go to Europe, the whole point of going to China and parts east is to experience the difference in culture and living.

If it was the same as home, why go ?

frankspurs: Some travellers have a smaller comfort zone.