China's high speed train from Chengdu to Xi'an

We had our last breakfast at the hotel in Chengdu. By the fourth day, it was getting a little repetitive, but we're still glad we had the "breakfast included" plan. 

Our high speed train from Chengdu to Xi'an was departing at 10:16am, and when they say 10:16am, they mean it!

So we planned to leave the hotel around 8:15am. We're using a Chinese mapping app called Amap because Google Maps doesn't work very well here. Amap works great, although there's a bit of a learning curve. 

After two metro (subway) lines, we arrived at Chengdu Railway Station at 9:05am.

Lots of time to spare, but we had read that is sometimes necessary. High speed rail travel in China is similar to flying... you have to pass through security, have your bags scanned, and then find your boarding gate. If it's really busy, you need to allow extra time.

And it was fairly busy, but we still had lots of time.

For Canadians, you can still pick up your Timmy's double double!

We found a seat and waited for our boarding gate to open. A young woman sat down beside Ruth and initiated a conversation in quite good English. Tong Wen Jin is 18 years old and a university student. 

She was fun to talk to, and taught us a couple of useful Chinese words. 

Ten minutes before departure, they opened the boarding gates. Locals have to scan their ID card, but tourists scan their passport. There are no tickets as such because when you purchase the fare, it's linked to your identification, so your ID essentially becomes your ticket.

On the high speed train.

China rail is very efficient transportation. The train departed at exactly 10:16am. 

All seating is assigned. We bought 2nd Class seats for this journey. 2nd Class has five seats in a row... two on one side of the aisle, and three on the other. 1st Class has larger, more comfortable seating with only two seats on each side of the aisle. And Business Class is almost like flying 1st class on an airplane with lie flat seating, meals and beverages included. 1st Class is still reasonably priced, but Business Class is out of reach for most people.

The cost for the 3:48 train ride was 308 yuan ($64 CAD, $45 USD) per person in 2nd class. Distance was 725 kms (450 miles). The top speed was 243 km/h (151 mph), and we traveled at that speed quite consistently.

The seating was fine, but starts to get a bit uncomfortable after a couple of hours. Our next high speed rail trip is over 7 hours and I have booked us the 1st class seats for that one!

Arrived at Xi'an North Railway Station and had to take another metro (subway) ride, but only on one line. The Xi'an metro doesn't do tap and pay with credit card like the Chengdu one did, so we had to buy single pass tickets using the machine, but it was all done in English, and quite easy to figure out. Then you pay by scanning a code into the Alipay app on your phone.

Arrived at the H Crystal Hotel and checked in. Our room wasn't ready despite the fact that it was after 3:00pm. At first, they tried to get us to pay a little more for an upgrade, but we weren't biting. We had to wait almost a half an hour, but they really bent over backwards to look after us, and upgraded us to a room with an outside window for free. We had originally booked an interior room.

The concierge came up with us, and said something about the floor not being clean enough. We were fine with it, but the next thing you know there's a knock on the door and she and another woman were on their hands and knees wiping the floor down! Ruth and I were looking at each other trying not to laugh. We're not very high maintenance when it comes to stuff like that!

Very nice room.

The facilities.

We are paying 187 yuan ($38 CAD, $27 USD) per night for a five night stay with breakfast and laundry included.

We went out and found a place for a meal. It was actually kind of funny because we were walking along the street and a woman was going back into her restaurant and she had a big grin as she said hello in English. I noticed that she had food pictures inside, and suggested we try there since she was so cheery. She ended up making us a rice and chicken dish to share.

Then we found a place to buy a bottle of wine...

Quite drinkable, for 29 yuan ($6 CAD, $4.25 USD) per bottle.

And I had my first Chinese beer. 

Also quite drinkable, at 3.9 yuan ($0.82 CAD, $0.58 USD) for a 1/2 liter can.

Around 8pm I get a message on my phone from the concierge lady. She tells me that if there's anything we need, I can just send her a message. She also says that the free evening "snack" is ready. Of course we have no idea how these things work, so I asked if we were supposed to go downstairs, or is it typical to bring it up to our room. She said she would bring it up, and ten minutes later there was a knock on the door with our free evening "snack".

One dish was tangyuan soup. Essentially, rice balls. They have a really weird consistency, but they were edible. She said that tangyuan soup represents reunion and completeness in Chinese culture. The other dish was tremella soup. We ate it, but would not ask for it again. She sent me a note afterwards asking how we like it. I explained that tremella soup is not our thing!

By the way, there is no tipping involved in China. Good service is viewed as part of the job, not something you do to earn extra payment. But we have to say that the staff at this hotel really do go overboard. 

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