The joys of night trains continues. I love them. When you are backpacking in Guangdong province you can use the major cities like Guangzhou and Shenzhen to sort out night trains across the borders into other provinces. We arrived in Shenzhen after crossing the border into China from Hong Kong and were booked on the 21.23 pm night train north east to Yongding in China.
K636 – our departure.
Busy waiting lounge for K636. The joy of being the only foreigner/Gwhy Low in the train station.
Welcome to Shenzhen and goodbye to Shenzhen.
Last call for our night train north east to Yongding.
Basic and blue and white – our night train before leaving Shenzhen.
We boarded the train and found our beds. Chinese trains are open plan yet still well organised and easy to find your way around. Even for foreigners – the staff will help you. China isn’t a place to be scared of people in!
There were 3 bunks on this train. I always prefer one of the top bunks.
The top two bunks. I was the middle bunk. My girlfriend Panny down below.
It’s the life – relaxing travel lifestyle. Being served by a trolley. Food and drinks delivered. Having said that, Panny and I are true budgeters. I already had a COLD Guinness and Polar Ice beer in my bag as well as biscuits and chocolate. We also had water and orange juice with us, so no need to buy anything. So my advice is actually buy elsewhere and bring your own food and drink in with you.
The corridor – spacious for the Chinese – can be difficult to manoevre for taller and bigger folk (i.e. foreigners).
Enjoying my cold Polar Ice beer as our train headed out of Shenzhen. As I said – bring your own!
Our plastic berth tickets for our beds. Not everyone pays for a bed as you can pay less for a seat – it’s not much more expensive for the “luxury” of a bed. When you exit the train you swap these for your ticket again.
Panny and I on the night train. We left Shenzhen just after 21.23, so almost on time.
The couple relaxing across from us – they enjoyed the view of Shenzhen, itself a massive city housing about 12 million apparently!
Just before bed I had a Guinness and enjoyed the bright lights of Shenzhen from my window. The bottom two bunks have a window view, the top one doesn’t. It’s dark anyway.
Our train tickets which say Shen Zhen to Long Yan – you can buy them in advance or on the day – you do not book stuff like this online in China. That was the route we were on in full, but we were due to get off around 5am in Yong Ding, just south of Long Yan.
I was in bed and I fell asleep before midnight and awoke a few times as we had 3 or 4 night time stops, took this photo at one of them, but it was so dark I have no idea what station that is.
We both slept pretty well for a Chinese train journey but we needed to get off around 5am in Yongding. It was a bit of a rush but we made it – you also have to hand back your “bed card” and swap it back for your train ticket before you get off – find one of the staff to do this. It was time to explore Yongding and Fujian Province.
From – Shenzhen
To – Yongding
Via – Meizhou
Price of Train Ticket – 185 RMB (Yuan)
Some of my Videos from backpacking in Guangdong and getting this nighttrain –
IN SHENZHEN BY THE TRAIN STATION:
ABOUT TO BOARD THE TRAIN FROM SHENZHEN TO YONGDING:
PANNY AND I ON OUR NIGHT TRAIN:
LEAVING SHENZHEN STATION ON THE NIGHT TRAIN:
SHENZHEN SUBURBS AT NIGHT FROM THE NIGHT TRAIN:
CHINESE COUNTRYSIDE FROM NIGHT TRAIN:
ARRIVAL IN YONGDING AT 4.50 AM, FUJIAN, CHINA:
CAR RIDE FROM YONGDING TRAIN STATION TO QING DE LOU HOSTEL IN TAXIA VILLAGE, FUJIAN, CHINA:
