Chinese Trains

I had the chance to take the train to Suzhou, 90 minutes away from Shanghai. My last time on a Chinese Train was nearly 20 years ago and many things have changed (though not everything).

Chinese trains have two classes - upper class and "hard seat," which unlike the name sounds, is just more economical and does indeed have padded seats (though it used to be a hard chair or plank, I guess).

We rode upper class on the 90 minute trip to Suzhou and it was pleasurable, sort of like being on an old, but serviceable Amtrak train. The train was fairly high speed, except when it wasn't, with numerous bouts of walking pace in various places, but still we arrived within a few minutes of our schedule time. One way fare was about $5.

The trip back was in hard seat, for a little under $3, and a bit more cozy. The most amusing part was the sock seller, who for about 10 minutes tried to sell packs of socks to the train car, tossing them around as demos, etc. I think one woman bought some, but it was otherwise just humorous.