Trip to Nanjing (Part 1)

Beside Hangzhou, Wuxi and Suzhou, Nanjing is one of the bigger city near Shanghai. If you have been to Hangzhou for a weekend trip before (which is probably the most visited city from Shanghai), Nanjing is a city worth considering for the next trip.

I have been to Hangzhou, and since there was a lot publicity about the city in the media lately, primarily due the Nanking Massacre Anniversary, I decided to pay the city a visit, just for two days.

For those new to China, Nanjing is the capital of China's Jiangsu Province and a city with a prominent place in Chinese history and culture. The city also served as the capital of China during several historical periods, and is listed as one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China. The others being Beijing, Luoyang, and Chang'an. Plus, it is also the city that Kuo Min Tang (KMT), founding party of Republic China set up base from 1927 to 1937 (known as the Nanjing Decade).

Three most common ways to get there: Plane, bus, train. As Nanjing is only about 300km from the west of Shanghai, I picked the most sensible/cost efficient mode of transportation. I chose the train and its a high speed train. From Shanghai Train Station, the journey takes about only 1 hour and 30 mins to get to Nanjing. If you travel by the conventional electric train, the  journey duration is doubled to three hours. There is a train, either high speed or conventional departing every hour. Thus, no ticket reservation is usually necessary unless on busy weekends.

If you are really new to Shanghai, the Shanghai Train Station is reachable by metro too. I  bought a ticket at a counter with an English speaking ticketeer. I think we caught her in a really bad mood. She just threw the ticket at everyone that is buying a ticket from her. The two Russian ladies in front of me doesnt seems too impressed with her services of course. Service level aside,  I was glad I got my ticket for 112 RMB on the high speed train which departs in 15 minutes time.

The train station was as usual, crowded. It took me a while to find where I was suppose to board the train. I made it just in time. The train moved off just a few minutes after I found my seat.

On board the train, I was impressed by the cabin design, comfort and speed of the train. It was much like the high speed train I took from Taipei to Kaohsiung in Nov. At times, the train hit 200km/h. Useful touches like a power outlet to charge your laptops, mobile phones and other gadgets are available. The train company also provides a complimentary bottle of "exclusive" spring water from Tibet, reserved only for VIPs (I found it sold commonly in a convenience store a few days later :D).

Some pics :

Comments

[Glen]

I was impressed with the high speed train too. Very similar inside and out (perhaps a clone?) of Japanese bullet trains.

[Shopgirl's Shanghai]

WOW

amazing! We don't have those cool trains in Sweden :(

[Andrea]

I have been told that those are actually 2nd had Japanese trains...

[Stefan]

Trains are Chinese Build acording to nordic (northern-european) design.

[Michael]

Oct 13, 2010: Took the Shanghai to Nanjing high-speed train yesterday. Very cool, and only 1.5 hours (we took the express with no stops along the way). The Hong Qiao Station in Shanghai is a huge marble palace... Had to walk a few football field lengths to find English ticket vending machine, and then an escalator that was working to get upstairs to departure platform. The train itself was awesome. Once in Nanjing, it was a bit of a struggle to get a taxi driver who understood 'Ramada Hotel'... Make sure you know / have the Chinese name & address of your lodging in Nanjing... Safe travels!