High Speed Rail Business Class - Shanghai to Beijing
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- čas přidán 29. 07. 2024
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On my way from Shanghai to Beijing, I decided to splurge for the business class experience on the China Railways high speed rail service.
In the past, I've only booked the cheapest "second class" seats on high speed rail when travelling throughout China, but I've always been curious about what it's like to sit in the fancy seats on the train.
Join me as we explore the cabin, lie-flat seat, facilities, and meal service on high speed rail business class - all with the incredible convenience of travelling by train at 350 km/h and making the journey from Shanghai to Beijing in only five hours' time.
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Chinese rail is very advanced, decreases noise by 8dB - a side effect of controlling vibration in the tract leading to an insanely smooth ride. You will see lots of people talking about Japanese trains. People just don't know how much more advanced that Chinese HSR has become.
High speed train in Canada??? You have a much better chance of winning the Lotto Max !!! Love from Canada.
Hahaha - a man can dream. 🙏🏼
I believe that China purchased railroad technologies from Bombardier 20 year back in order to develop the current HSR system. China also bought locomotives from GE.
@@productguru8323 he was exaggerating about Canada not getting hsr.
My wife and I used that train in 2011. Commissioned month and a half ahead of scheduled date - which is unheard of in the Western world. If you want to see how the infrastructure should be developed - forget about G7 countries, China is the example for entire world
Truth ☝🏼
China even give a name to their shoddy construction “Tofu Dregs” Chinese cut corners as paying bribes and officials siphoning off money leaves insufficient to build the structure properly. The quality of construction varies from extremely bad to acceptable. HS Rail is probably at the top end. But even the $1B new airport in Beijing badly flooded in the city flood event. This happened due to insufficient drainage built In construction. The worst is buildings caving in, sides of building falling off, new car tunnels under the sea that leak and are unusable, the story goes on and on .
My family is also from Beijing but we grew up in Shanghai, so during holidays, we used to take this exact route all the time. It used to be a sleeper car (2 bunk beds / 4 people in a room) and took around 11-12 hours to do the trip, but the most recent time I went back to Shanghai, I took the high speed rail and it was 5 hours! I rode it in "first class" and can confirm that it was comfortable enough for this trip. Thanks for the review; definitely brings a lot of nostalgia :) Have a safe trip in China!
Ah man I remember the days of the overnight trains in China. The triple bunks (cheap seats), the instant noodles... and the bathrooms 😂😂 Lots of nostalgia for sure - I hope you can make it back soon too!
Thanks for “unboxing” the business class meal box. Reminds me of my quarantine meal boxes too! 🤣
Right?! It was a real blast from the (not too distant) past.
CHINA IS IMPROVING TO E HIGHEST LEVEL ALL E XX FOREVER N EVER IN EVERYTHINGS TO SHOW THAT ITS PEACEFULL RISE. NOT WHAT USA TRYING TO DISCREDIT E BAD IMAGE OF WHAT E WHITE HEGEMONIES ALWAYS DO!!!!!
Do people still stand in the aisles during busy times on these high speed trains? Before the high speed trains, I once took a train from Xuzhou to Nanjing (along this Beijing-Shanghai line I believe) and it was that packed I was sitting/standing in the stairwell to the carriage! Haha so memorable, including the man I remember sitting on his 20kg bag of fertilizer! He was right next to the hot water dispenser and after moving aside multiple times, he simply took on the job of filling everyone's noodle cups and mugs! Love China!
High speed rail is one of the most fun things ever. I took Preferente class on Renfe in Spain between Barcelona and Madrid. So worth it for the upgrade
Very cool. Thanks for taking us along
Lots more videos to come from this trip! 🐼 For real-time updates, follow my personal page on Instagram: instagram.com/realricky
Next episode please increase the audio level. 🙂
Hi. Just letting you know that :
(1) If I'm not mistaken, there is a TV attached to each seat in the Business class. It's folded inside your left armrest (unless someone broke it and it's missing?)
(2) If you don't like train food, you can actually order takeaway from within the train!!
For the takeaway food from within the train I mentioned above, have a look at this :
czcams.com/video/Suj0wbkl4jw/video.html
So you can have any food you like on the train :)
i am glad to see your video. easy to understand how convenient to ride on train in china.
Very good, thank you for doing this video.
Great video marvelous.. I actually felt watching video that I am on board the train.. nice work captured... 👍
下次回来的时候可以坐坐看智能动车组了 商务座是一个小隔间 还有个人娱乐系统 和飞机两舱差不多了😆
this guy got style , good looks and swag, I like the way he explains things. I know he get a lot of girls
All the train enthusiast girls in the world
@@PrinceofTravel Lucky man are you traveling the world , I took the train route round-trip from Nanjing to Shanghai that was my first High -speed ride very good
toronto to montreal would definitely be a great option for highspeed rail. toronto to vancouver is just waaaay to long. and plus the rocky mountains are a pain
Yeah it will never happen. Van to Tor will always be an aircraft route.
Great info. Thx!
You bet!
Nice video Ricky! Took economy class few years ago, will try business class next time ;)
Give it a go, I thought it was well worth the experience (even though I’m good with second class usually)
Good luck on seeing Toronto and Montreal high speed rail
making sure Montreal pay off the Olympic debt first
You'll see Vancouver-Seattle LONG before Vancouver-Toronto.. and maybe before Toronto-Montreal as well.
@@TheNewGreenIsBlue Let's say Vanvouver-Toronto is too far for high speed rail. And I don't think we'll see any high speed rail projects in Canada any time soon - Canada added 30% of GDP to its national debt, as the result of all COVID lockdowns, and it will take a generation to bring the financial side of the house in order.
@@moneyness1 And Canada pays off all the COVID debt.
One can dream 😁Imagine though, 2 hours by train 😩
Next time, you should choose G2/G4/G6/G8/G10 etc, which stopped only two stations ( Nanjing Nan and Jinan Xi) between Shanghai Hongqiao and Beijing Nan Station, it takes only 4 hours and 28 mins, more than a hour faster than your current train G134. They are also using FuXing Train for 350 km/h.
Yeah I was gonna look for those but the business class seats sold out by the time I booked (fairly last minute). Great for when time is of the essence though.
I love taking that train between Shanghai and Beijing. I’m gonna take it in a month after my quarantine is done
Sounds good - welcome to China! Are you planning to splurge for business class?
@@PrinceofTravel I did before. Gonna see what the prices looks like.
Come visit nanjing haha. Currently teaching there
Ah, I don't think I've been there yet! Or maybe once before, but it was a pretty short stay. Next time, for sure.
Was it non -stop? I think there were few Jing-Hu HSR with stops.
I'll check with my friends in China for clarification.
Great job Travel HSR! - Detroit!
I wish I could find a shirt like that!
小哥哥好帅呀😂😂
Hi Ricky, I’m choosing between the CIBC Visa Infinite Aventura or Aéroplan card because I do my personal banking there but can’t seem to pick who’s the winner. Any thoughts?
hey there,
after finish all the quarantine in shangahi...
are there any restrictions to enter peijing??
Why was the train half empty? It was from/to 2 of the biggest cities in China and it was half empty ??
能做一期外滩华尔道夫的视频吗，挺感兴趣那栋老建筑的。
过一会儿我们开始发短视频的时候，会有一期这个酒店的 👌🏼
I found it difficult to buy high speed rail ticket as a foreigner. Without the Chinese ID card you can't book online, have to book in-person
You can book it through Alipay with your foreign passport, that’s what I did
你可以尝试下最新上线的智能复兴号，七月初刚上线，里面在商务舱内饰和功能以及列车的各个细节都有一定程度上的优化，甚至还有自动贩卖机，在12306上订的时候都有额外标注智能复兴号
外国人如何获得健康码呢
HI!
as foreigner, how do you get the Health QR codes in diff. provinces of china during covid?? each has their own, some ONLY ACCEPT CHINESE ID
It would be interesting if China Railway would make some seats available for frequent flier miles (e.g. Star Alliance via Air China or Skyteam via China Eastern), and let earn the miles on, say, business and first class tickets. Aware of any affiliations like this?
It would be a very useful next step in loyalty programs and travel. So far we’ve got select air & train affiliations here and there, but nothing too accessible. Aeroplan & Rocky Mountaineer recently announced on: princeoftravel.com/blog/aeroplan-launches-partnership-with-rocky-mountaineer/
So they use a different naming convention. The business class and first class is switched.
i have been to bejing before with high speed train
👋🏼👋🏼
Gratitude for sharing....🖤
Glad you enjoyed 🙏🏼
I don't think they need to have to make security as tight on trains as it is for aircraft. It would speed things up even more if they didn't have to scan all bags and stuff.
china became king of trains from one day to another
Great video 请问现在国内可以直接刷外国护照坐火车么 就像其它人刷身份证一样 ？ 谢谢
暂时不可以 得去人工窗口取票先
@@BtoZ403 谢谢 希望有一天可以 哈哈
这次我没需要去窗口取票，可以直接刷护照，但是只有一个走到可以刷，别的都是只刷身份证
@@PrinceofTravel 那也可以了 至少不用去排队取票 以后专门走那个可以刷护照的走倒就行了 谢谢😁
现在都不需要取票坐高铁的。取出来的票只能用来报销，不能过闸机的。护照要去检票口的人工通道验证就行了。
Which credit card you are using in China
IBC works well in my experience
I’ve used a few of my US cards (Chase Sapphire Preferred, Bonvoy Brilliant) and my HSBC World Elite too. However for the vast majority of purchases I use Wechat and Alipay, since the convenience outweighs the rewards.
Thinking I’ll do a video on this topic soon!
Curious how much of the trip is spent at 350km/h. It sounds like it's only the last leg to Beijing?
Nearly the whole duration. The line was purpose-built just for carrying massive amount of passengers between the 2 20 million cities. During peak times, trains can depart as frequently as every 3 min.
I saw us reach ~300 km/h the whole time, with the last stretch being at 347 km/h.
@@antonh1709 Yes, I realize that. The line was actually built for 380 km/h operation if I’m not mistaken but trains don’t instantly accelerate to top speed. It really depends on the train and operator... which is why I was asking. Many times operators will run a train at their max speed for a small portion of the line (to declare its max speed) but often it makes sense to run it at lower speeds as it doesn’t “gain” as much as you think.
For example, when the raised the speed on the original Tokaido line between Tokyo and Osaka from 270km/h to 285km/h (on certain services) even stopping only in Nagoya and Kyoto after leaving Tokyo-Yokohama). That cut the trip from 2:25 to 2:22... 3 minutes. The line, completed in 1964, was built with 2500m rail radius, with passive tilting trains and some of the fastest accelerating trains around... the law of diminishing returns.
Newer lines have all been at least 4000m which is why some run at 320km/h. This is partly why Japan has always favoured EMUs over locomotives. Faster acceleration for more closely spaced stations. This is also a huge advantage of Maglev. Acceleration (and just as important deceleration) can be MUCH faster meaning you’re actually travelling at your max speed for longer. That and lower maintenance and wear on the guideway.
On schedules I have seen, Beijing-Shanghai schedules generally run every 15 or 30 minutes... ...although there are one or two 5/10 minute intervals in there as well. I wonder if they do what Japan does and run an express and follow it with an all-stop service quickly after so the trains don’t bunch up. Although I’m sure if they have the trains, they’ll run more during holiday periods.
If you have seen New Year’s timetables I’d love to see them!
The reason I was asking was because I would be surprised if they actually ran the trains 350km/h everywhere. In most cases, if you’re making stops at stations, it doesn’t make sense to increase the speed that high... it’s uses a LOT of energy, take a long time to get to that speed and requires more maintenance. It’s usually more prudent to only run certain trains at that speed on certain straight sections ( much like the Shanghai Maglev doesn’t run at 430km/h on all trains... just a few per day).
The Tohoku Shinkansen E5 trainsets is rated to run at 360km/h but it found not to be practical or economical. At those higher speeds, you need more maintenance on rails and catenary wires, more maintenance on the rail, and more noise when entering or leaving tunnels for people living in those areas. So until they’ve solved the noise issues and it makes economic sense, they regulate the trains at 320km/h (and only once completely leaving Tokyo at that).
What many rail operators do is they’ll run at their top speed on a certain section more to publish its top speed. This makes sense and looks good on stat sheets, and likely allows them to sell more tickets as well.
I was curious if that was the case in reality and I’m glad to see that they’re being prudent and seem to be operating this way.
@@PrinceofTravel That’s awesome! In some videos I’ve seen they are super smooth as well. I’ve noticed that trains Japan and Korea that I’ve ridden on are much smoother than European trainsets ( likely due to French trainsets being able to be built on earth berms rather than elevated guideways). I’m so looking forward to trying these trains out in the future!
Five of us two years ago took the train from Beijing to Qingdao just to experience it for the first time, took about 4 hours hit the mid-high 200kms/h...and if I recall correctly you can flip those first class seats around and face each other, make your own booth..
US or Canada? Either way, I'll make a video about it soon.
@@PrinceofTravel Canada, GTA
Awesome. By the way you should check out the Maglev in Shanghai - 431 km/h!
@@PrinceofTravel last time we did Beijing, Qingdao, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong, next time Shanghai and Macau at the top of list...
Enjoy your trip, and keep posting the awesome content...
i love japani suohet koriya norhet koriya tayland vietnam china singapur butan relesinsep..
this is world best berdership...
Canada construction works takes forever. I dont see it happening anytime soon!
Uauuuuu 😍😍😍😍🚆
the food on the high-speed train taste like shh and expensive like hell. I usually eat something before getting on the train.
Yeah it was only OK - and probably because I was fairly hungry at the time. The food in the station was a lot better
You should have order food delivery to your seat from each station
It does not worth building such high Speed train in Canada still. Maybe there could be one built along west coast from LA to Vancouver? But won’t see that happen until 20 years later probably.
No more quarantine! I’m tired of them! It’s over!
First thanks
🙏🏼🙏🏼
dude I would just get lost in my thoughts looking outside the window at 350km/h
China HSR has to be different by ranking first class lower than business. Every time I use HSR for business travel, I usually just get the first class but our company accounting people always harass me about it. No one believe first class is ranked lower than business, or business is ranked higher than first class. Of all the trains and planes I have been on, I think China HSR is the only one does this.
I guess you have to start using business class then
@@walterwong9368 Can't. The booking system flags it because it's "most expensive". Most businesses want to make sure employees are comfortable and productive but also fiscally responsible. First Class on these HSR trains is a good balance with just enough space to get some work done. The issue is really the branding and classification of its service tiers.
NO YOU CANT JUST STOP PLUGGING AIRLINES
haha bullet train go vroom
What’s next - BC Ferries business class?
love those trains, just one worry as their new building collapses due to poor quality what will happen if such a railway network will start to fail at 350km/h?
Italian high speed railway is better but more expensive
How does a communist countries' train have classes? like...am i crazy?
It's not really communist
@@PrinceofTravel Clearly,...
Shhhhhhh
poor kid here. only able to afford second class. lol
"First Class" with THAT carpet??? Nope
Yep
@@PrinceofTravel other than that it looks amazing
@@PrinceofTravel my comment was "American." When we think a travel provider can do better, we comment on what needs improvement. That first class car could have could looked and felt 100x more luxurious with a few extra dollars/yen spent on higher quality carpeting. It matters.
@@PrinceofTravel This is a smart and classy use of luxurious carpeting for a train car czcams.com/video/PXvJNVT8BDE/video.html
@@Tatteddaddydc It's probably a misnomer.
In China, the so-called 'First class' and Second class carriages are basically exactly the same with the only difference being the seats are slightly wider (4 seats instead of 5 seats per row).
But the prices of 'First class' tickets and Second class tickets are ALSO almost the same. It's only a few dollars more.
If you want luxury, you'll need to go for the Business class. But you'll need to pay for that luxury.
(By the way, I think there is a TV attached to each seat that I think 'Prince of Travel' didn't uncover. It's folded inside the left armrest)
Lol at this fuerdai with nothing to do
Yo I wish dude
In 2028, don't forget to ride the high-speed train in Thailand