SUZHOU TRIP: GETTING INTO THE BULLET TRAIN

The original plan was to go to Hangzhou but according to the forecast, the weather was not good so we decided to reroute to another small city by the name of Suzhou. First of all, we had to get to Shanghai Railway Station to get the tickets for the bullet train.

This was a very big terminal with a lot of people and the biggest problem was everything was in Chinese. We could not find any information counter or booths for tourists, so it was just a matter of going here and there, and trying to converse with the police officer asking where the ticket booth was, using minimal Mandarin and sign language. I really felt like I was in the "Amazing Race".

Muslim store selling halal food

in front of the ticket counter

the ticket

We finally managed to get our tickets. And we were lucky when two travel agents approached us, asking whether we would be interested to get a guided tour in Suzhou which we quickly agreed. Not only the price was reasonable, but we would not face any problem going from one place to another later.

getting information from the agents

going down to the platform

the slow train

the fast train

To get into the train one must have a pair of strong feet. The time to board was really short so we had to run a bit as we were worried we would be left behind, especially when our coach was right at the other end of the track.

This was actually my second ride on the bullet train. I had experienced this when I was in Beijing when the train took us to Tianjin. In Beijing, the staff were more tourists-friendly, or most probably we were travelling in a bigger group at that time with a local tour guide.

The journey from Shanghai to Suzhou took only 30 minutes - it was too fast, we could not even catch our forty winks.

Another tour agent was waiting for us once we arrived at Suzhou station. He was holding a placard with my name on it. Although it was wrongly spelled, it was alright. We were then ushered into a van waiting for us in the parking lot. 

T O   B E   C O N T I N U E D . .

[MY SHANGHAI TRIP MAIN PAGE]

BEIJING LAST DAY - BULLET TRAIN TRIP

Finally, we had come to the last day of our stay in Beijing and it was time to say "goodbye". The journey home started real early in the morning as all the luggage had to be in the coaster before 7:30 a.m. Initially, the coaster would take all our things to Tianjin while the tourists would be taken on a bullet train ride without the luggage to bother. Unfortunately, that morning, there was a very heavy fog so the highway was closed and the original plan had to be cancelled. We had to travel on the bullet train with our big and bulky bags but the main worry was how to do that with many bags and small children tagging along at the same time.

So off we went to this impressive and modern bullet train terminal. Even the staff who were on duty were dressed like air-stewardess. The train just started its service by the end of June this year so everything was still brand new.

A park in the station

And the best part of it was when suddenly the chief staff (I supposed) approached us and to our relief, all the luggage was then taken by other station crew members on trolleys and sent to the train. Not only that, before departure time while the local passengers had to queue up to bard the train, our group was given special treatment to go down to the platform first like VIPs. With this kind of service given to tourists, I would not hesitate to come again next time.

free mineral water for everybody

all the bags in the background belonged to our group

the fastest speed of the train recorded

a souvenir bought on the train

The Beijing-Tianjin which supposedly took 1 hour and a half on a normal road was cut short to only 45 minutes. Oh how we wished the train ride could be longer. Another life's memorable moment had happened but it happened too fast, just too fast.

TO BE CONTINUED...