Overview of Long - distance Travel in China
Recent years witness the fast development of transportation in China, which makes wide-ranging travels easy and convenient for both domestic and overseas tourists. There are many choices in China for long-distance travel. For example, you can have a cruise tour, travelling all the way from Shanghai to Chongqing to enjoy the scenery of Yangtze River—the longest river in China. However, the dominating traffic tools for long-distance travel include airplanes, trains and long-distance buses.
Air Travel: Swift and Convenient
Once you’re in China, domestic flights are recommended for simple, convenient longer distance travel, especially to western China and parts of central China, since these places may have not developed completely in railways. A recent development is that China’s new CRH trains which are fast, convenient and economical, allow travel to many cities in the central, eastern and northeastern areas.
China’s Airlines have witnessed dramatic improvements year by year. In 2015, 436 million air passengers were ferried. This almost doubled the number of passengers who flew in 2009. The hubs of China’s air travel are Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. These four cities were in the world’s top 20 busiest airports in 2015. International flights go to major cities around the world, and domestic flights go to all major cities within the country. There are two cities in China that have two airports: Beijing (Capital International Airport and Nanyuan Airport) and Shanghai (Pudong International Airport and Hongqiao International Airport).
Air travel in China is simple and convenient. It will definitely save considerable time and energy for you. You can go to the official website or use Apps of these airline companies, such as China Airlines, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines and Hainan Airlines, etc. It is also quite prevalent now in China that many people choose to book tickes through agency companies as well, such as Qunar (https://www. qunar.com/), Ctrip (https://www.ctrip.com/) and many other similar websites.
Train Travel: Cost - effective and Efficient
Traveling by train is one of the cheapest ways to travel on some of the long- distance routes in China, and it is popular with the local population. In general, we recommend that tourists benefit from taking bullet trains where possible and only taking the slower regular trains to save money if you have the time to travel. China’s CRH trains are unique in the whole world concerning its size and speed. You can arrive in Guangzhou from Beijing within 10 hours, and you can also take the morning train in Shanghai to catch the lunch with your friends in Beijing, if you take Fuxing bullet train.
It is important to know what to expect if you decide to travel by train in China. Although the bullet train stations have more extensive English signage and the staff speak more English, English might not generally be spoken by any of the staff on the regular trains or in the regular railway stations, and there are limited English signs on the regular railway stations. At the same time, you can check the schedule, book and change your tickets instantly on the official website of 12306 China Railway (https://12306.cn) instead of waiting in a long queue in ticket office.
Long - distance Bus: Budget - friendly and Accessible
By the end of 2018, the total mileage of the highways in China had reached 4,846,500 km. Almost all towns, counties, and cities are accessible by highway, and buses can take you almost anywhere. The highway construction has actually intensified since.
With the development of the construction and development of highways and related infrastructures, the bus could be one of the choices for long distance travel in China, especially those intercity trains which connect cities and towns nearby with sufficient and flexible choices. It is also convenient to go to places without trains.
If you are travelling on a budget, then the bus might be a proper option. The frequent departures available for buses make the tickets easier to get than train tickets. Buses are also often more economical than trains for the same distance. Sleeper buses are available for longer trips.
