New to the site

[Peter Arnold]

Hi guys, thanks for your warm welcome to the site. I have been writing to the two ladies in Shenyang since early July. So not that long, but long enough to earn some trust and get to know them. Call me crazy, but I am also corresponding with one in Changsha, so I am going to catch a train to Beijing, then fly to Changsha. I hope I can get the assistance I need to book my train trips and flights when I get over there. I have a BBK 103 translator and am learning some basic phrases. Should be enough to get me into trouble! What is the best process for booking train tickets? One of the ladies is meeting me at the airport at Shenyang and she is from the BeijingOUI Culture and Information Centre, so I think she will be on her own, which I am okay with. She is very keen to spend time with me and knows she is not the only woman I am meeting in Shenyang. I will probably put a message up on this site when I get settled in Shenyang.

[Paul Todd]

Good advice Mike,

The train tickets do indeed sell out in advance so book early if you can. If you can't they will still pack you into the train "standing only" on the day you want to travel. I did this from Beijing to Baoding one night, luckily it's only an hours travel but "sardines in a tin" come to mind We where all in the same situation so it turned out to be an enjoyable shared experience. Best advice I can give for buying your train tickets is....get some one else to do it for you 

[RobertBfrom aust]

Peter , just a thought , airfares over there are like elcheapo's here so unless you want to spend hours on the train you can always fly Shenyang to Changsha and always have your lady negioate the price for anything as whities have a different price , usually 50% more , regards Robert .

[Willy The Londoner]

Dont Forget 24th Sept is the last day of the Autumn festival so a lot of people will be travelling that following two days.  It is also an important day in the Irish calendar but ' begore' the reason why escapes me!

Willy

[Scottish_Rob]

Peter welcome to the site mate, sorry been too wrapped up in my own affairs.. ...But welcome anyway...

[ttwjr32]

i would personally stay away from the trains if you could the long journeys are brutal  you need
to bring your own food unless you want to buy instant noodles. the bathrooms are just disgusting
after 6 or 7 hours and the plane flights are not that much more. the only trians i take now are the
high speed ones as they have a bar  lol!!! food cab

[Willy The Londoner]

the only trians i take now are the
high speed ones as they have a bar  lol!!!

I take the bar is not on flowered shirts then!

Willy