Training From Beijing to Datong, Shanxi Province, China
Stephanie (a guide from Shanghai Fareast) joined us at the Novotel, Beijing to help us find the proper train and seats on the "soft seat" fast train from Beijing West Railway Station to Datong, a 6-hour ride. On the taxi ride, Stephanie gave us a few statistics:
- There are over 70,000+ taxis in Beijing.
- Beijing population is now 16 million (give or take a few)
West Station, Xi Zhan, is Asia's largest rail terminal. A huge, beautiful and what turned out to be, easy to navigate train station. Large displays showing train number, track, departure time, etc. A "soft seat" waiting room. The routine for West Station was:
- Go to soft seat waiting room. They will not allow you to even step one foot in this area without showing your soft seat train ticket.
- Put all bags, handbags, backpacks through x-ray and have a seat.
- Twenty to 30 minutes before departure, rail staff open the entrance to the tracks and off you go.
- Find your numbered car
- Surrender the train ticket to the employee at the train car entrance. She gives you a cardboard facsimile in return which you exchange for the real ticket before arriving at the destination.
- Find your "soft seat" and that's it.
We had never trained on our own in China before and it was worth the extra cost to have someone show us the ropes.
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