Editing China (section)

== Getting Around ==

===Flights and hotels===
For booking flights and hotels, there is a very convenient English website: [http://www.ctrip.com www.ctrip.com]. Here you'll find competitive rates for flights and accommodations of your choice. (although this is promoting a specific commercial company, it is a good site widely used by the Chinese themselves!). However, it does not have info on backpacker or youth hostels. 

For those who know a little Chinese, also try [http://www.qunar.com www.qunar.com] to find cheap flights in China. This is just a search website that will direct you to other, independent agencies. Investigate payment methods since foreign credit cards are usually not accepted.

These are some of the hostels recommended by our group members: [http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=111&post=7140537 Discussion]

===Train===

[[File:China_Railway_High-Speed_-1-.png|400px|thumb|left| China National Rail Map]]

China has one of the best train networks in the world. Taking the train in China is a convenient way to travel the country. Distances from one big city to another can be quite long. Some provinces are bigger than the state of Texas or France! An expanding network of high speed trains is adding both comfort and speed to the otherwise fairly slow pace of the trains. 

====Buying a train ticket====
Buying yourself a train ticket is not the easiest task. If possible, buy your ticket one or two days in advance. If you go to the train station, the bigger the city, the more you have to be careful of pickpockets, harassers and stalkers who want to sell you all kinds of business (train tickets, hotels, transport, even maybe mei-mei (prostitutes!)). To overcome the problem of train tickets being mass purchased and traded on the black market, when buying tickets you must present a national id card or passport for each person travelling.  
 
At the train station the tickets counters are usually located in a special 'ticket sales hall' or 'center', it is usually just a big hall that's not the departure nor the arrival hall with lots of people queueing.  Also you can buy tickets at official train tickets counters in specific shops in the city.

'''Holiday season:''' If you are travelling around the month of the Chinese New Year, the week of May 1st or the week of October 1st, do book your tickets as many days in advance as is allowed. That's when the entire population of China seems to be taking the train and public transportation to go on holidays, tourism, go home to visit family...etc

'''Online ticket purchase?'''The National Rail Department does not sell train tickets online. There are travel agents who claim that they can assist you to purchase train tickets if you transfer money to them online. However, in our CS-ers experience, there are plenty of online scams that we have heard of - do watch out.  We do not recommend that you purchase train ticket through an online agent unless you do not have any other option.

====Around China by Train====

[http://www.johomaps.com/as/china/chinarail.jpg National Rail Map]

You can search trains schedules and fares on these websites:
http://www.tielu.org/

http://www.seat61.com

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/china-trains/ 

More train trip advice:
[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=111&post=8863667 Discussion]

====The 4 train seat options====

NOTES:  
Check your ticket: if there is no seat number on it you will have to stand though you will sometimes be lucky and get an unused seat.  If you don't want to stand, the ticket office will refund your money. 

If you miss your train, find the special ticket office and get a refund (2 hour limit).

On 'bullet trains' the classifications are first and second class seats which are equivalent to soft and hard seats (se below) in their configuration but of a modern international standard.

Hard Seat (yìngzuò, 硬坐) - the cheapest
There are 3 seats on one side of the aisle and two on the other which makes this the most crowded choice. The seats are not truly hard (this a historic name for this class)but the upholstery is not as comfortable as in the soft seats class. They are also not as consistently clean.  These days there are not many of these without aircon, but any which are, are by far the cheapest means of travel.

Soft Seat (ruǎnzuò, 软坐)
This is a fairly comfortable seat. There are 2 seats on each side of the aisle. Getting a soft seat ticket will usually get you into a “soft seat lounge” at the departure station as well. The soft seat lounges have sofas and are not as crowded as the hard seat lounges.

Hard sleeper (yìngwò, 硬卧)
Hard sleepers, (which like the hard seats, are not actually hard) are usually arranged in a triple bunk bed type set up with two triple bunk beds in a berth (a small door-less room). That is, there is one bed on the bottom, one on the middle and one on the top. On each side of the berth there are triple bunk beds arranged across the width of the train, but not into the corridor. Sheets, blankets and pillows are included.  Opposite each berth is one or two seats and a very small table. 

Soft Sleeper (ruǎnwò, 软卧) - most expensive
There are both 2-bed berth and 4-bed berth soft sleepers. 4-bed berths are the standard. Due to the higher price, it is easier to book a ticket for a soft sleeper than it is for a hard sleeper. The beds are more comfortable and it’s a quieter environment inside. The berths are lockable.

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=111&post=3709942 Group Post]

====Travelling by Train During The Peak Seasons - Chinese New Year (Jan/Feb) and National Day Holiday (Oct)====

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=111&post=6973246 Discussion 1]

[http://www.couchsurfing.org/group_read.html?gid=111&post=8380092#post8409484 Discussion 2]