| Just got back from china and took the 2 person soft sleeper beijing-shanghai and back on the z13/14. Highly recommend the 2 person just for a peace of mind to get away from the masses, but it sounds like the 4 person isn't too bad if you're a little more adventurous. the cabins had a funky smell, probably because the bathroom is right next to the sleeping area. it is interesting to read that yes, they dump the toilet waste right onto the tracks. i thought i saw daylight down there! i bought our tickets on www.chinatripadvisor.com, for $134 usd one-way each. so, basically, they add a $30 service charge to buy the tickets and then deliver them to your hotel a day or two before you leave. on our shanghai-beijing return, we were just coming through shanghai from suzhou, so we didn't have a hotel where they could deliver the tickets. we were told to pick them up at their delivery office, and that was no problem, as it's an easy 15 minute cab from the main bus station in a main area of shanghai near the shanghai center. felt a little like amazing race. they also had great follow-up when i had questions regarding purchasing the ticket via paypal. since all beds are assigned (i didn't know this until we got on the train since i couldn't read the ticket), there's no reason to join the insane mass of people trying to go through the line when they open up the train in beijing or shanghai. just wait till it clears out as your bed is reserved. in beijing, on the ground floor to the right is a soft-class only waiting area which is a little less crowded than the humid/hot general hard-class waiting area up by the pllatforms. and yes, arriving in beijing, there is a giant mass of people all at once, so perhaps, wait a little when you arrive for everyone to get through. sorry for a long reply. the previous comments were so helpful for me, i thought i'd share some more. |
Train from Beijing to Shanghai