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Riding trains in China is (in our opinion) convenient, simple, relatively cheap, and a great way to travel.  We try to book overnight trains for our journeys making it a slightly cheaper trip by not requiring us to purchase a hotel/hostel room and travel.  China has one of the largest and busiest train systems in the world.  We have found that we can make it to almost every city in China by way of the train.  We feel they are safe, comfortable for us, and a pretty bang up way to travel.  There are a couple different classes: hard seat, soft seat, hard sleeper, and soft sleeper.  Price is also affected by whether you have chosen something soft or hard, seat or sleeper.  You can also buy a standing ticket.  Some students prefer to buy those because they are very cheap.

A soft sleeper cabin has four beds and a door to close your cabin to keep out any noise and give some privacy.  Most common for us is hard sleeper.  Hard sleepers have bunks in open-plan dormitory cars, usually arranged 6 to a berth.  Beds are designated as upper, middle or lower.  The lower the bunk the pricier it is. 

We took a picture, added some red boxes and labeled some things in blue on a ticket so that you could could have an idea what we give the ticket lady.

We have learned a couple things about trains in the years that we have lived here.  Two of those things:
*Avoid trains that only have a 4 number designation – these are peasant trains and unbearably slow.
*Trains designated by listing a letter first are good; the later the letter in the alphabet, the classier the train.

We have been on 3 trains this trip.  We anticipate we will have at least one more and possibly up to four train rides before making it back to our home in Yinchuan.

Another post is on its way.