Transportation

Railways

The total mileage of railways open to traffic in China amounts to 100,000km, which form an extensive network with Beijing as the hub.
Chinese railway service boasts domestic and international operations. The domestic service falls into such categories as quasi-high speed trains, fast trains, tourist trains, expresses, and through passenger trains.
Quassi-high speed trains run mainly from Guangzhou to Kowloon and from Guangzhou to Shenzhen.
Same-day fast trains shuttle between major cities.
Tourist trains make the journey pleasant for those bound for major tourist cities.

The sleeping carriages running on China's railways are partitioned into compartments each containing four cushioned berths arranged in upper and lower berths.
Int's Railway Through Transport
International railway through transport is available on the following routes:
Beijing-Ulan Bator-Moscow; Beijing Manzhouli-Moscow;
Beijing-Pyongyang; Urumqi-Alma Ata;
Beijing-Hanoi; Beijing-Ulan Bator.
On these routes express passenger trains run in both directions. Just to remind European passengers: it takes six to seven days for an express train to reach Beijing from Moscow by way of Ulan Bator or Manzhouli.

MAJOR CHINESE AIR COMPANIES

Valuable Tips for airline passengers

Confirmation: If you have reserved a seat to continue your flight in China, or for a return journey on an international or regional flight, you should reconfirm its reservation at least 72 hours before departure if you'll stop over at the boarding place for longer than 72 hours. Or else the seat shall be automatically cancelled. No confirmation is necessary if you stop over at the place for your continued flight or return flight for less than 72 hours.
Ticket Validity: The validity period of normal fare tickets, whether for single, return or circular trips, is one year. The validity periods of special fare tickets and discount normal fare tickets are calculated on the basis of related fares in accordance with relevant stipulations.
Airport Fee: A 90-yuan airport fee shall be collected from passengers departing from any international airports in the People's Republic of China. Passengers holding diplomatic passports, transit passengers who stop over for less than 24 hours, and children under the age of 12, are exempt from the airport fee.
Free Luggage Allowance by Weight:
The free luggage allowance by weight for every passenger holding a ticket with full fare or half fare for an international or regional flight is 40 kg for a first-class ticket, 30kg for a business class ticket, and 20kg for an economy class ticket. No free luggage allowance is granted to babies who pay 10 percent of the adult fare.
Carry-on Baggage: 2 pieces for a passenger holding a first-class ticket; and 1 piece for a passenger with a business or an economy-class ticket. The dimensions for each piece of luggage allowed should not exceed 20¡Á40¡Á55cm, and the maximum weight shall not exceed 5kg. You'll have to pay if you bring more luggage aboard than is allowed in terms of piece or weight.

Getting Around in a City

Taxi: Taxis are a convenient means of transportation in various cities in China, with fares ranging from 1 to 2 yuan per km. Simply raise your hand, and a taxi appears in no time. But you'd better choose a taxi with a business permit, and before you disembark from a taxi ride, ask the driver for a receipt.

Subway: Subways are another convenient means of transportation for those traveling in downtown. So far subways are available in four Chinese cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Tianjin.

Bicycle: There are bicycles for rent in some hotels in Beijing and some other tourist cities. Riding old-fashioned pedicabs for a tour of Beijing's hutongs and back alleys proves a unique tourist experience.

The Daren passenger and cargo liner owned by the Daren Steamboat Company of Dalian sails twice a week between Dalian and Inchon of the Republic of Korea, with a one-way trip taking 15 hours.
Operated by the Weihaiwei Eastern Shipping Company, two luxury passenger liners, the Xinjinqiao and Xiangxuelan, sail three times a week from Weihai and Qingdao respectively to Inchon. A one-way trip along either route lasts for 14 hours.
Domestic Ocean Line
China's port cities are linked to each other by a labyrinth of maritime shipping lines. The most important of these are the Shanghai-Dalian, Dalian-Tianjin, Dalian-Yantai, Shanghai-Qingdao, Shanghai-Guangzhou, Beihai-Guangzhou, Shenzhen-Zhuhai, and Zhuhai-Hong Kong lines.
Sailing along these well-arranged domestic maritime shipping lines are many luxury cruises and passenger liners.
Inland Waterway
The continent of China is crisscrossed by rivers 226,800km in aggregate length, and 136,000 km of these have been opened up for inland navigation.
Better-known inland waterways
(1) The 146.6km Suzhou-Hangzhou section of the Grand Canal, enabling the passenger to feast his eye on the natural beauty of this water-bound land south of the Yangtze River.
(2) The Grand Canal-Yangtze River-Lake Taihu route, providing a most idyllic traveling experience for the passenger, who is also able to savour freshwater delicacies right on board a ship.
(3) The 83km-long Guilin-Yangshuo route, which runs through the postcard perfect scenery along the major section of the celebrated Lijiang River.
(4) The Shanghai-Chongqing navigational line along the Yangtze River, extending for 2,399 kilometers. On a given day the waters of the Yangtze River Three Gorges are plied by more than 50 luxury tourist cruises sailing along this line. Star rated by the China National Tourism Administration, these pleasure cruises are operated by international travel services or cruise companies, responsible for oversea publicity and group reservations.
(5) The waterway from Guangzhou to Guiping (Guangxi) along the Xijiang River, offers regular passenger liners that shuttle between three national scenic resorts: Guilin, Lijiang and Zhaoqing.
(6) In northeast China, passenger ships sail from Harbin up the Songhuajiang River to Qiqihar or downstream to Jiamusi, Tongjiang, and Khabarovsk (Russia). Both lines meander their way through some of the most amazing scenic spots of the great northeast.

Highways

There are 1.18 million km of highways in China, including 68 national highways. The nation is going full steam ahead in the construction of expressways and first and second-grade motor roads. Construction of expressways and first-and second-class highways for the nation's tourism industry is in high swing. Several dozen expressways pivoted on such major cities as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenyang, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, Taiyuan and Xi'an have been completed and opened to traffic. Sections of the Lianyungang-Alataw (Xinjiang) Expressway, which runs across the Chinese continent from east to west, and the Beijing-Hong Kong Expressway, cutting through the country from south to north, will come under construction soon. Impressive improvement had been achieved in China's highway transportation by the end of the 20th century.
Provincial capital cities are highway passenger transport centers that operate regular bus services to and from various prefectures, cities, counties and towns in their respective provinces and autonomous regions. The numbers of tourist buses in large and medium-sized cities and sleeper-buses that run across provincial boundaries are on the increase. Expressway transport in China is characterized by top-notch and speedy services and simplified procedures, and express buses are dispatched in a streamlined fashion to guarantee prompt arrivals. Most vehicles running along these expressways are imported or joint venture products that are well equipped and designed and have durable functions. Service in these buses is on a par with airline service, and they run at an average speed of 100km per hour.