How to travel China by bus and by train?

When you’re traveling, especially when you’re embarking on a long-term adventure, you’ll inevitably spend a lot of time using public transportation – and China is certainly no exception to this rule! With an area of 9.6 million km², I can guarantee there’s potential for some seriously long journeys! In this article, we’re giving you a little overview of the main ways to get around China. Bonus: a survival guide through the jungle of tickets, categories, and options available to you. Happy reading!

Flying in China

As you can imagine, it’s very easy to travel by plane in China! The country has over 250 airports all by itself, so yes, there really are airports everywhere! Even in Kangding in western Sichuan, you’ll find an airport located at an altitude of 4,280 meters! To get to China, most major European airlines serve big cities like Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai, Chengdu, and Kunming, among others. However, for domestic flights, you’d be better off turning to local companies like Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, or Hainan Airlines, for example. To find a flight, we recommend comparing airline tickets on Skyscanner.

Alright, enough about air travel. To be honest, we deliberately decided not to take planes within China. Yes indeed, we preferred to travel overland!

Taking the bus in China

An option that certainly takes more time, but allows you to see the landscape evolve along the route – that’s the bus! For example, during our bus journey between Chengdu and Kangding, we went from a tropical zone with palm trees and monkeys to a dry area with rocks and cacti, all to finally arrive at green plains with fir trees – and all this in less than 12 hours by bus!

Want to go somewhere but there’s no train station in that city? No problem, there’s definitely a bus that can take you there! China’s bus network is ultra-developed; there are even long-distance buses that cover up to 900 km!

Generally speaking, Chinese buses are basic but modern enough to meet acceptable safety standards. The seats are usually relatively comfortable, but hey, they’re still buses! Fifteen hours with your legs cramped behind a seat is never great!

Road safety concerns

Traffic accidents are the leading cause of daily deaths in China, but don’t worry – it’s the same in France! Compared to other countries around the world, taking a bus in China still seems like a good option to us. The buses are in good condition, the main roads are good, the drivers are sober (well, we started from that assumption), and drivers take regular breaks (about every 2-2.5 hours).

After that, there are of course regions where things get a bit rougher – western Sichuan, for example. On this route called the South Tibetan Highway, we spent 15 hours on a bus traveling on a dirt track with rocks the size of footballs scattered along the path. Then the fog rolled in… There, we preferred to close our eyes, to be honest! Let me tell you, we had aches and pains all over our bodies the next day from being shaken around like prunes!

But hey, that’s the game, my dear! You want to see beautiful landscapes in off-track mode? Yeah, well, you take the off-road paths and forget that your butt hurts!

Sleeper buses in Asia

Another means of transport besides regular buses that works very well and that we really appreciate are sleeper buses! These are actually real little hotels on wheels! Here too, they come in all categories – some with flat screens and toilets, and others, well… windows and 4 wheels is already pretty good, right? In these buses, you won’t find reclining seats, but real beds. There are generally thirty or forty beds per bus: 3 rows of 6 or 7 beds, all on 2 levels. Very practical, they allow you to travel at night and generally arrive (almost fresh) around 7 a.m. at your destination.

Little tip: NEVER take the seats at the back! With regular seats, that’s obviously where it shakes the most, but with sleepers, it’s worse! Instead of having 3 beds across the width, the back uses the space normally reserved for the 2 aisles to put 5 beds! Unless you want to create VERY close bonds with your fellow unfortunate neighbors, we therefore advise you to take another spot if available! Oh yes, and if you’re over 1.80m tall, the sleepers will be a bit short. But it’ll still be better than seated buses, where even we, with our measly 1.73m, already had our legs cramped!

Minibuses

As you’ve understood, in China, you’ll never (or rarely) be stranded when it comes to transportation. Buses already serve a very large part of the territory, but for shorter trips or journeys on less frequented roads, there will always be minibuses waiting for you! Be careful though – these minibuses aren’t often official; they’re locals who invested in a vehicle and shuttle between different villages. I won’t explain how to find them – they’ll find you at bus stations before you’ve even had time to look for them!

However, a word of advice: don’t be in a hurry! It’s always a good plan to wait a bit and let the competition play out a little! And ALWAYS negotiate the price before getting on! Sometimes, they’ll offer to take you in “private” mode. Know that drivers generally have a fixed price for a certain destination, and given the competition, it’s often quite consistent between drivers. However, the price will be the same whether you’re alone or the bus is full. So it’s better to wait a bit and share the costs with other travelers!

Do you see locals taking the bus? That’s a good sign – it means the price is fair! Just make sure to glance at how much a local pays, then simply hand the same amount to the driver without arguing. That’s a significant advantage of China compared to Southeast Asia: tourists don’t get (too) ripped off!

Traveling by train in China

Taking the train is definitely an excellent option in China. The trains are modern and reliable, and thanks to an impressive railway network, they serve all provinces and all major stations in the country.

Differences between trains

There are several types of trains – some are extremely fast (bullet trains) and others VERY slow (regular trains)! For example, a Beijing-Shanghai journey can take 20 hours 10 minutes or just 4 hours 18 minutes, depending on the type of train.

However, this mode of transport seems safer and especially more comfortable to us. You’re better seated; it shakes much less than the bus, and you avoid traffic jams! Moreover, on a long journey, it’s nice to be able to walk around in the corridors when you want, go to the bathroom, wash up a bit, or simply meet people! Indeed, the train has a much more friendly side – it won’t be rare for a Chinese person to invite you to share their meal or offer you tea to start a conversation!

Regular trains

Contrary to what you might think, regular trains aren’t faster than buses – they’re sometimes even slower! To spot them, these Chinese trains have a number that starts with the letter K, T, or Z.

High-speed trains

If we’re talking about high-speed trains (bullet trains), they’re much faster than buses, but also much more expensive than regular trains! On your ticket, these Chinese TGVs are indicated by the letters C, D, or G.

Understanding the different categories of Chinese train tickets

When you want to buy a ticket to take a regular train, you’ll most likely be asked which category you’d like to travel in. So, in China, forget the terms business, first class, and second class – those are reserved for high-speed lines. No, no, for regular trains, they call a spade a spade! There are hard seats, soft seats (more comfortable and reclining seats), hard sleepers, and soft sleepers (cozy little beds).

Available categories vary depending on the trains. It won’t be rare for sleepers to be the only available option, even for a daytime journey! During our trip, we only used sleepers. It’s therefore difficult to tell you about the seats, which we saw but didn’t test. At the same time, given the distances we cover and the hours spent on the train, being able to lie down is a little luxury we’d be foolish to deprive ourselves of ;).

Standing

Although standing tickets are quite rare, you might see these types of tickets on long or short journeys! It’s definitely an ultra-economical way to travel, but are you ready to travel 12 hours standing up ;)?

Hard seats

Hard seats are the cheapest seats on regular trains. It’s not uncommon for these seats to be full! But comfort-wise, as their name suggests, they’re hard and straight seats – sometimes padded, sometimes not. In short, for 1 or 2 hours, it’s fine, but for 15 hours by train, we don’t recommend these benches!

Soft seats

We can compare soft seats to second-class seats that we know on European TGVs. More comfortable than hard seats, they’re perfect for short and medium distances.

Hards sleepers

In our opinion, hard sleepers are the best category of train tickets in China! They cost much less than soft ones – it’s an excellent quality-price ratio. The beds aren’t as soft as you’d wish, but I can guarantee we’ve had much worse in some hostels!

In this category, the wagons are divided into 6-bed compartments, with 3 bunks on each side. The compartments open directly onto the central corridor, and there’s no possibility of isolating yourself from the rest of the wagon. Clean pillows and blankets are provided!

The places at the very bottom allow you to sit comfortably. But they’re also a tiny bit more expensive than those at the top. For those in the middle and at the top, you’ll be forced to stay lying down, given the space above your head. But don’t worry – tradition has it that as long as people are awake, those at the bottom share their bunk with other travelers wanting to sit! Having tested all the levels, we recommend taking the middle ones. They’re not the most comfortable, but at least no one will come squat in your space, and your belongings will be a bit more protected from prying eyes.

Soft sleepers

Now that’s definitely better than many youth hostels! The cabins only have 4 beds and can be closed. This means you can cut yourself off from the corridor hubbub if you want! Soft sleepers are super comfortable, and each bed has its own little personal light. And since there are only 4 beds, you can sit comfortably regardless of whether you’re on top or bottom, due to the ceiling height. Moreover, the temperature can be adjusted for each cabin, as well as the volume of the ambient music! Believe me, Chinese pop is nice, but it can drive you crazy listening to it for 22 hours!

Obviously, this category is much more expensive than hard sleepers. In our opinion, the comfort gain doesn’t compensate for the price difference. But sometimes you won’t have a choice: hard sleepers are often the first seats sold!

Things to know before taking the train

To take the train, there are a few things you need to know. Here are the general steps of your journey:

• Trains are ON TIME in China! So don’t count on delays when you go to the station, or you might well miss it! We’re not in France here ;)! Taking the train in China is almost like taking a plane – you need to anticipate your arrival at the station! To be safe, plan to arrive at the station 1 hour before the train departs. In large stations, it’s not uncommon for them to have you board 40 minutes before the scheduled departure time! By arriving early, you’ll have a better chance of storing your luggage on the luggage racks rather than having it at your feet during the journey.
• Upon arrival at the station, you’ll first need to show your ticket and passport. (Below, we provide you with the different methods for purchasing your ticket. LINK) Then your luggage will be X-rayed and you’ll go through a security gate. You’ll notice that everyone beeps at the gate and no one looks at the X-ray control screens, but you still have to go through!

• After this security check (worthy of a comedy sketch), you’ll need to find your waiting room. Are you used to waiting for your train on a platform? In China, that won’t happen! You’ll always be in a waiting room, and once the train is at the station, they’ll let you go to the platform after checking your ticket one last time. Like at the airport, as we told you!
• To know which train to take, large screens show train numbers. We’ll show you how to spot yours on your ticket LINK.
• Once on the train, the car conductor will come collect your ticket and exchange it for a plastic card. Surprising at first, but it turns out to be very practical because this way, they know exactly where you’re getting off. They’ll therefore come to warn you about 30 minutes before you reach your destination! If you’re not going all the way to the terminal station, this can help you sleep peacefully :).
• Last note: bring a roll of toilet paper! You’ll mostly find squat toilets, and they probably won’t be very clean (especially on regular trains).

How to buy public transport tickets

To buy tickets in China, whether train tickets or bus tickets, there’s clearly a language barrier!

Do you speak Chinese? Then, easy peasy, it shouldn’t be more of a problem than in your own country! Where it gets complicated is when you don’t speak Chinese. And believe us, buying a ticket doesn’t just consist of being able to say the name of your destination! Oh no! You still need to know how to pronounce it correctly. For example, the city of Xi’an – how do you pronounce it? I’m almost sure you read it with an ‘x’ like in “xylophone.” Yeah, well, WRONG! It’s pronounced “Chee-ahn”! And then you still need to put the right intonation… Good luck, as they say!

Anyway, let’s get back to business. To buy a transport ticket, there are therefore three schools of thought!

Note: you’ll need your passport to buy train tickets – make sure to have it with you! It won’t be asked for bus tickets.

Easy options

Book through your hotel or youth hostel

Buy your bus or train tickets directly from your hostel or hotel, or go to a ticket agency with English-speaking staff! Being able to order your ticket in English is the safe option: you’ll be sure to have the right ticket! However, you’ll pay a commission in most cases. Sometimes it’s negligible (5 to 10 yuan), but sometimes it can go up to 50 yuan. For a 60-yuan ticket, that starts to get expensive.

Unfortunately, this option isn’t always possible. Either your hotel doesn’t offer this service, or you’re leaving it to the last minute for it to be done. In those cases, you have to move to plan B…

Book online

Even simpler, you buy your tickets (bus and train) online on the 12go or Bookaway website. Almost all routes are covered – there’s a good chance you’ll find what you’re looking for!

Go to the station and play it kamikaze

For this, you need to go to the ticket counter at the train station or bus station where you are. Have the name of your destination in Mandarin with you and cross your fingers! Yes, the probability that the person in front of you knows 3 words of English is low.

In the best case, you won’t understand anything but will leave with a ticket in an unknown class for the right destination on the next train or bus. In the worst case, they’ll tell you something like “meyo meyo,” which roughly equals “there’s no more” or “not possible.” There, you’ll leave looking sheepish, a bit bewildered… Don’t worry, we’ve experienced this famous station counter rejection more than once!

Over time, we found the right technique. Come on, we’ll reveal it to you!

Anticipate and socialize

Yes, yes, nothing simpler! Take paper and a pen and find yourself a person who looks nice (and patient preferably) and speaks Chinese AND English. Then ask them to write IN CHINESE on paper your destination, desired departure time, and date (and train category if you’re taking the rails).

Since trains can be full for certain days or certain classes, you need to anticipate. The best thing is to have a message like: “I would like a hard sleeper seat (bottom bunk if possible) for Guilin on dd.mm.yyyy at 1:00 p.m., or if that’s not possible, the next train that has hard sleeper seats available for Guilin.”

Once you have this little note in hand, you calmly go to the ticket counter at the bus or train station and hand over your key while smiling stupidly. I promise, it works every time!

Understanding your bus or train ticket in China

The first time you receive a Chinese transport ticket, it’s a bit of a general mystery. Here are some explanations that will help you:

As you’ll have understood, the essential thing is to have the departure time and especially the train number! You’ll probably be unable to read the destinations on the display boards in Chinese stations. However, you can always rely on the departure time and/or train number!

For bus tickets, the logic is similar, except the ticket won’t mention your passport number. You’ll generally find a 2-letter code followed by 4 digits. If this information is present, it’s your bus’s registration number! Nothing better to find your vehicle when you’re wandering around looking dubious in the bus station parking lot! That’s also from experience ;)!

Transportation budget

If we compare to Europe and the time spent in transportation, then China is definitely not an expensive country! However, these amounts cannot be omitted from a travel budget! Moreover, compared to the rest of Asia (except Japan), China is one of the most expensive countries in this sector.

For example, we spent nearly 350 euros per person on transportation (all trains, long-distance buses, and local buses) in 2 months of travel in China. That comes to 5.2 euros per person per day. Note: these figures date from 2013. Today, keep in mind a daily budget of 9 euros per person instead. To go further, we have detailed the budget for our trip to China.

To help you get oriented, those 350 euros are what we spent mainly on taking night buses or trains in the hard sleeper category. We never traveled in hard seats. However, we had to take soft sleepers for the Beijing-Xi’an route since there were no more hard sleeper seats available.

Train ticket prices

Know that train ticket prices vary greatly depending on the type of train: regular or high-speed? The faster it is, the more expensive it is! The rate also depends on the class chosen.

Thus, a Beijing-Xi’an journey costs 220 yuan in hard seats, 360 yuan in hard sleepers, and 515 yuan in soft sleepers. It’s up to you to make the right choice for 12 hours by train! On bullet train, a second-class ticket costs 690 yuan, 1065 yuan in first class, and over 2000 yuan in business class. In short, it’s expensive, but you make the journey in 4 hours instead of 12!

Bus ticket prices

To tell the truth, these differences only exist for train travel. On buses, it’s the same price for everyone! Only in sleeper buses do top bunks cost slightly less than bottom ones. Honestly, it often comes down to a few euro cents.

For buses, prices vary depending on distance, travel time, and bus comfort. To give you an idea, a journey of about 6-7 hours costs between 120 and 160 yuan. Generally, for the same route, sleeper buses aren’t more expensive, but they’ll save you a night in a hotel!

Well, I think you now know everything about public transport! If you have questions about getting around China, don’t hesitate to leave a comment! In other practical guides, find all our tips for taking the metro in Beijing, as well as the 10 commandments of Chinese cuisine (to prepare you ;)).

P.S.: Find our complete guide to preparing your trip to China with all our practical tips for visiting the country and our advice for creating your itinerary.

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