The nation has just one levitating train in service, and it’s in Shanghai. A monstrously powerful set of magnets will have you literally floating across the city at a normal operating speed of 431 kph (268 mph).

I’ve been to too many countries where the natives tell me, “Oh and just so you know, we have the fastest trains in the world.”

Factually, the Shanghai Maglev is the fastest commercial-service train in the world. It’s nearly 30kph faster than the runner up, which is also a Chinese train.

Enjoy it once. You won’t need more.

Your classic silent and serious bullet train experience. Cleaner toilets, reclinable seats, far less cigarette fumes, higher prices. Train code on tickets usually begins with a ‘G,’ ‘D,’ or ‘C.’

In China, you may hear high-speed trains be referred to as 高铁 (gāo tiě) or 动车 (dòng chē).

The boisterous regular trains are a mixed bag of smells, laughter, and seating arrangements. Train codes begin with a ‘Z,’ ’T,’ or ‘K.’

With cheap tickets come the crux of China’s working class. Passengers are noticeably more tanned, and often in for the long haul, riding tens of hours. Generous baggage allowance means it’s always a Tetris game of suitcases and the bursting cram-in-all-life-belongings sacks of migrant workers.

These trains are also called 绿皮车 (lǜ pí chē). While all trains I encountered used AC, the Pleco Chinese-English Dictionary defines 绿皮车 as “slow, noisy, unairconditioned train with forest green livery and yellow trim that ran on the Chinese railway system from the 1950s.”

A common choice on long distance journeys, hard sleeper cabins have three-bed bunks and two fold-out seats flanking the windows.

Lower bunks are generally a trifle pricier than higher bunks.

Wake-up calls provided by railcar attendants when your stop is approaching.

The cabins are not closed off from one another, so riding here may turn into quite the social affair.

Cabins are closed off and, well, softer. Some say the two-bed bunks are even too soft.

The most budget-friendly. Keep in mind that the passengers are constantly shuffling among seats, because not everyone in this seating zone has a seat. The faces next to you will regularly change, and if someone has taken your seat during your toilet run, kindly let them know and they will get up. You may decide to let them have your seat for a while, giving him/her a welcome break from standing.

Foreigners are less likely to snag a train seat during high season because buying tickets in advance is inconvenient without a Chinese ID card.

Regardless of train type, I found myself standing my afternoon away, on more than one occasion.

Sometimes the best seatless spot is also the where the cigarette smoke is thickest. Sometimes the whole aisle of a slow train cart is just people. Standing, leaning, stretched out and fast asleep, I’ve seen it all.

The convenience store inside the train station may carry foldable stools at 10 yuan ($1.42) a pop.

Fun fact: younger generations often end up in the hard sleeper carts, because they are more tech-savvy and better at booking tickets with mobile apps. Older generations are more willing to tough it out for a day or night, in a zero-recline, lest they take up one of the postures shown below.

Snoozing un-perpendicular in a hard seat, three ways:

 

Tickets become available for purchase about a month before the day of travel, both at the station and online.

 

Station Ticket Booth

Train tickets for any route can be purchased at any train station. You’ll need to show your passport and pay with cash. Be prepared to wait in line (ask around for which one), and have the pinyin or train station codes for your departure and arrival stations, as well as your desired travel date, written down and ready to show.

 

Online

I usually use mobile applications to look available trains, despite being unable to purchase anything without a Chinese bank account. My favorite app for looking up available trains is Qunar, which unfortunately lacks English configuration. Others like Ctrip or using WeChat.

Prices tend to be slightly higher when using search engines on English settings, so I recommend making a a trustworthy friend or asking your hostel owner for assistance. The best case would be that he/she helps you purchase the ticket using mobile payments, and you give them the cash for it.

When filling in your personal info in the name field, he/she can write it as LASTNAMEFIRSTNAME. No spaces. Once purchased, save the ticket pickup number, which usually begins with an E.

For popular destinations and during national holidays, certain routes may feel impossible to reserve. When seats are sold out, the general verdict on paying more online for “high-probability high-speed ticket snatching” is that it’s vague and sketchy and probably not gonna work. In this case, I’d recommend checking other route combinations and available flights, as well as considering hitchhiking.

 

From the time a ticket has been purchased, it can be picked up at the sales window at any station. You can retrieve your ticket(s) days or even weeks ahead of the travel day. Once you show your passport and pickup number, the vendor prints your ticket.

 

Tickets are easily changed or returned for a small fee (usually a few dollars) via internet, phone apps, or in person at the ticket window. The fee increases as the time of travel gets closer, but even if your train leaves that same day, chances are a return can be arranged. Most of the ticket cost will be refunded back to the original payment method.

To reach the ticket window may involve a test of your deepest patience. While I have had line-free experiences in rural parts of China, most ticketing zones are filled with stressed passengers competing to be heard and attended to. The lines can take a good 20 minutes to get through. Once in a while, you’ll be jostled or cut. It’s normal. Close to window, few individuals respect the yellow wait-behind-here line. It’s normal.

The ticket vendor may be rude, pouty, or just outright cold-hearted as they inform people that they are at the wrong train station (the other would be across town, an hour away). Normal.

Hot water dispensers can be found at train stations and at the end of every cart on the trains. These are excessively useful for making instant noodles, tea, or if you’re me, a camping Tupperware full oats, dried fruits, and nuts and seeds.

I’m still not entirely sure what the different lights on the boiling machines represent, mainly because one light says “add heat” in Chinese and “ready” in English, which to me are two meanings that rather contradict each other. Usually I ask someone, I am told by someone else that the water is still heating, or if everyone is using it I join the crowd. It has never made me sick.

Steel trays provided at every train table serve a noble cause. They collected the heaps of fruit peels that passengers generate at an astounding pace, and must be repeatedly emptied.

 

 

Aside from the option of ordering fresh dishes in the dining car of the train, trolleys are pushed through all carriages selling hot box meals at meal times, 10 yuan ($1.42). Other trolleys sell fresh fruits (10 yuan during the day, half price at night), and still others are responsible for salty snacks and beverages (warm beer alert).

There’s also pushcarts promoting regional sweets, dried fruits, and simple toys. Bullet trains may offer a la carte ice cream.

 

 

The train stations themselves are generally outfitted with fast food stalls, convenience stores, and drink shops. High-speed train stations often have McDonald’s or the likes.

I recommend looking for crowded small diners on the outskirts of the station, before entering the main building.