Hi there. In this travel post our travel group takes the high speed train from Beijing to Xi`an. The original plan was to go from Beijing to Chongqing. Chongqing's weather was like 40 degrees in the summer which was very similar to Dubai's summer weather. After our experience with Dubai's super hot weather it was best for us to not do Chongqing. It was a shame to not do Chongqing and Chengdu due to weather.
Beijing West Station
The Trip.com mobile application was used again for booking train tickets. For our departure we had to go to Beijing West Railway station. My plan was to get the railway station by metro but one guy in our group wanted to go by taxi. I think he did not want to carry luggage.
Here are some pictures of the outside of the Beijing West Railway Station.
From Beijing West To Xi'an
At this railway station you go through the two stages of security and then find your waiting room area to board your train. Trip.com does help you a lot with notifying you on which waiting room you go to.
All of us took a train with second class seats. Second class is the cheapest with first class being above it and business class being the highest. Check here for more information.
The train departure time was at 11:41 and arrives at Xi`an at 4:59PM China time. This is a five hour 18 minute train ride plus waiting time.
At this station the staff starts letting people board the train 30 minutes before departure time. Most stations allow train entry 15 minutes before departure time.
I do show a screenshot picture of cost. For the five of us the cost of 5 second class seats for this ride is just under 570 CAD. I did receive Trip.com coins from the past train rides and hotel bookings. The coins from Trip.com helps with savings. It is not much but it does help. For one adult a second class train ride from Beijing to Xi`an is around 114 CAD.
Train Ride
This five hour and a half train ride was not too bad if I recall correctly. As the departure time was before noon, it was a very good idea to buy instant cup noodles for the train ride. Have lunch on the train at around 1PM so I don't starve and to pass the time. Every G class train has hot water available for instant noodles, tea or just to consume hot water. Hot water was needed for me as I fighting a cold since the Hangzhou trip a week before this.
It was interesting to see a few stations in not so famous places have train barriers.
I took some pictures again of the train's washrooms. This one has a western style toilet. They also have washrooms with squat toilets.
Arriving At Xi`An
We arrive in Xi`an at around 5PM. Leaving the station does take time as many people are waiting for the downwards escalator then you have to go through security as you leave the station. (They check that you exit at the correct station.)
The design of the inside of the Xi`an station is interesting and different compared to Hangzhou, Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. It looks modern and traditional with their use of patterns and the brown colour.
I did manage to take a few pictures of the road and surrounding area of the outside of the Xi`an railway station. It felt like I was in a different country and in a desert like region.
Pictures taken from my Samsung A50 phone at the time.
Thank you for reading.