China tours by high-speed train
Forty years ago, the acclaimed travel writer Paul Theroux spent a year travelling around China by train. He wrote a book about his experience, which became a bestseller. Titled Riding the Iron Rooster, the book ends with a chapter named “The Train to Tibet”. Theroux predicted in the book that it would be impossible for the Chinese to build a railway to Tibet due to insurmountable climatic and geological challenges including permafrost. Twenty years later the Chinese achieved what he thought to be impossible.
Not only that, the Chinese for the past 20 years have been on a building spree expanding the country’s rail network and upgrading existing railways. The world’s longest high-speed rail line opened in China on December 25, 2012, running 2,298 kilometers (1,428 miles) between Beijing and Guangzhou. The total length of China’s high speed rail network has reached 48,000 km by early 2025. This is more than the rest of the world’s high-speed rail tracks combined.
China Travel by Train – the New Way to Explore China
The new developments make it possible for tour operators like Laurus Travel to design new tours incorporating inter-city travel by train. We no longer have to worry about smelly bathrooms and other discomforts associated with train travel of the old days. The passengers won’t have to drag their suitcase up and down long flights of stairs. That’s because all the train stations serving high-speed rail are brand new, equipped with facilities commonly found at major international airports.
Travel in China by high-speed train is not only more affordable than by air, but also more enjoyable and efficient when the distance is within 1,000 kilometres. And it’s good for one’s conscience, too: train travel causes far less damage to the environment than air travel.
Chinese high-speed trains labeled with the letter G in front (G111, for example) travel at an average speed of 300 km per hour while train numbers starting with the letter D indicate a speed between 200 km and 250 km per hour. If you travel between Beijing and Shanghai and are willing to pay a bit more, you can get on a train that travels at 350km/h! That’s the fastest high-speed train in the world in commercial operation.
China Travel by Train – Customer Feedback
Feedback from our travellers who have tried China’s high-speed train has been overwhelmingly positive. Here is one example:
We loved the small travel group, the additional local guides, no “forced” shopping, and the optional evening activities that highlighted the cultural aspects of each province. The hotels were luxurious, the morning breakfast buffets were delicious,, and the high-speed trains were the perfect way to travel between cities. We avoided the long lines at each venue which allowed us to fully enjoy our visits to the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, Rice Fields, the Tea Farm, the Panda Preserve, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Guilin. In addition, we enjoyed cruises down the Yangtze and Li Rivers.
We had never heard of Laurus Travel before last year, but we haven’t stopped bragging about them since our return!
Thank you for providing us with such a memorable experience!
Jack and Carol M
N. Venice, Florida
Featured China tours by high-speed train
- 26-day Classic China
- 21-day Highlights of China
- 19-day China Odyssey
- 14-day Essential China
- 13-day China Experience
