China Travel Forum

[bright]

Hello
I'd be coming from Macau going to either Yangshuo or Guilin, What would be the best land travel option? I checked the train and found the Guangzhou-Guilin train route...about 13 hours travel. Do you guys know any other option? What would be the cost and how to get the tickets?
Thanks,

[kamal]

The Guangzhou-Guilin railway is a very beautiful line.
I took Hard Seat from Guangzhou to Guilin, departure late afternoon, arrival early morning. Costs: 116 Yuan (line was called K 36)
You can get tickets right at the trainstation, at your hostel or hotel in Guangzhou
Better get your tickets in advance, as soon as you arrive in Guangzhou...
Have a great tour

[sami]

Your assurance is well appreciated..really want to make this short trip memorable for my parents. I visited your pages and the tips there are helpful...thank you.
For me, there's no such thing as ugly especially when visiting other places. But your point was well taken...maybe the olders will not like the busy city life after all.

[bright]

I heard that there's not much difference between hard and softsleeper. Maybe I'd book for that. I checked travelchina and they only have the 17:45 departure arriving to Guilin at 6:37 the following day. I couldn't make an earlier reservation as I'd be coming from Macau on a free and easy tour. Do you think I would have difficulty getting the tickets if I'd be buying those on the same day?
I can't wait to see part of China. It is at the top of my dream destination list.

[Guest]

Oh yes, there is a big difference between Yingwoche ("hardsleeper") and Ruanwoche ("softsleeper"). The Ruanwochhes are four-berth couchette compartments, 2+2. In the Yingwoches you have six berths, 3+3, but the most important thing is that there is no wall between the berths and the corridor, so it's not real compartments. Criminality is higher in yingwoche.
Yes, same day tickets are a gamble. I always recommend to get the tickets as early as possible. But you have no other choice but trying on the day you arrive in Guangzhou. When I did this route in springtime the train was not too crowded, so maybe you are lucky. If not take the next day - by the way, spending some time in Guangzhou is not too bad.
Forget same day tickets for main routes like Beij-Sha or Xian-Sha....
About Hard SEAT: I felt quite comfortable with that. It is not as bad as the name might suggest. As far as I know there are no wood seats anymore!
About Hard SLEEPER: For my size the beds were just too short. But I had that experience on boats, too;-)
About theft and stuff, I heard the weirdest stories, like dont take seats, they come with razors and open your pockets and so on....I dont know, maybe I was just lucky on all my trips - never experiences anything like that. Sometimes I think people make a hype out of it. If you are just as careful as you are at home - you will be fine.