Railway timetables are published in English and Chinese. The English version can be bought in Hong Kong and at the ticket office for foreigners in Beijing.
Beijing-Shanghai: 17 hrs; Beijing-Hangzhou 28 hrs; Beijing-Harbin 17 hrs; Beijing Qiqihar 17 hrs; Beijing-Hohhot 14 hrs; Beijing Tianjin 2 hrs; Beijing-Jilin 22hrs Canton-Beijing 35 hrs; Canton-Shijiazhuang 32 hrs; Canton-Zhengzhou 30 hrs; Canton-Wuhan 22 hrs; Canton-Wuchang 21 hrs; Canton-Shang-hai 32 hrs; Canton-Hangzhou 36 hrs; Canton-Fuzhou 35 hrs; Canton-Guilin 18 hrs; Canton-Liuzhou 22 hrs; Canton-Nanning 26 hrs; Canton-Xi’an 43 hrs; Canton-Changsha 14 hrs Shanghai-Qingdao 24 hrs; Shanghai-Nanjing 4to 5 hrs; Shanghai-Hang-zhou 3 hrs
Xi’an-Xining 21 hrs; Xi’an-Grumqi 62 hrs
Passengers making the rail journey from Hong Kong to Beijing currently have to change trains at Canton but it is planned to have a direct rail link in place covering the 2200km/1367 miles between the two cities by 1996.
The luxury tourist train the Silk Road Express, with air-conditioned coaches, sleeping cars and dining car serving Chinese and European food, runs at irregular intervals on the over 3000km/1864 mile stretch between Xi’an and AlatawShankou. Information can be obtained from the rail travel office in Lanzhou. For further information about rail travel such as the Trans-Siberian railway see Getting to China.
