Dave Daily

My journey really started in Chang'an, the southernmost township of Dongguan in Guangdong province. A 2 hour bus ride from the bus station next to the Chang'an Hotel drops you off at the Guangzhou East Railway Station. The station is in the busy commercial district of Tianhe, and flanked by IKEA, McDonalds, Pizza Hut and many upmarket hotels, restaurants and a shopping mall. There's plenty to do before you get on the train!

Follow up:

In the station itself (which is also the place for the train to Kowloon, Hong Kong) there's KFC, 711 and a small Starbucks (with WiFi).

As you arrive at the front of the station the long-distance ticket purchase hall is located on the far right of the ground floor. To get to the departure area you need to go up to the next level. There's a pretty good western restaurant and bar just inside, next to the ticket inspection gate, which most people probably don't realize is there until its too late, but which is pretty comfortable if you need to wait a while before boarding the train.

After getting your ticket punched there's a security checkpoint to X-Ray all the bags then up another floor are the train waiting rooms.

The waiting rooms have good signs in Chinese and English and at least a few of the Railway staff are likely to be able to answer basic questions in English and make sure you are in the right place to get on the right train.

I opted for a "Soft-sleeper" class ticket and there's a special waiting room for this class of ticket holder. It's a nice big room with soft, large leather sofas and is not usually very busy. It's a great alternative to the usually overcrowded and bustling general waiting room. There's a similar room available for families traveling with babies. One of the railway staff will check your ticket when you arrive in the soft-sleeper waiting room and make sure you know when the train is ready to board. The class of ticket also allows you to board the train much earlier than the other ticket holders, so there's no rush and it can be quite enjoyable. These kinds of benefits make the extra cost of the soft-sleeper ticket much more worthwhile, in my opinion.

We boarded at 5.45pm and the train departed on time at 6.25pm.

The train ticket clearly indicates which car you should board and your bed number.

After you're on-board and the train is underway one of the staff will come and exchange your ticket for a plastic card, which is again exchanged for your ticket just prior to arriving at your destination. You'll also be asked to show your passport. There are quite a few announcements over the P.A. system, in both Chinese & English.

The soft-sleeper compartment contains 4 bunk beds, 2 up, 2 down - and the lower beds have a premium price, though both have the same amount of room. The extra storage space in the compartment is also a big plus. There's a recesses storage shelf above the door at the end of the top bunk which has lots of room for suitcases and bags.

Each compartment has a lockable sliding door, and individual lamps over each bed. A pillow and blanket are provided and the carriage is well heated. There's also a small table between the two bottom bunks with a frequently-replenished hot water jug. There's also a 220V power outlet - but be ready in case it only accepts a vertical 2-pin plug - I've been on trains with these as well and the 3-pin types.

After stowing the luggage you can settle back onto your bed and relax...

No-one would make the mistake of describing the beds as soft or comfortable, but they are a lot better than the hard-sleeper alternatives.

For the nightowls, there's a dining car at one end of the soft sleeper which is open 24 hours and is a popular place for playing cards, drinking beer and swapping stories. You may not find anyone there who speaks English but you'll still have a good time!

The regular passing of the food cart's gives ample opportunity to buy noodles, beer, water and lots of other edible stuff. During the daylight hours, when the train stops at a station, there's also hot food and fruit vendors lining the platform.

Another important benefit to the soft-sleeper carriage is the western toilet. There are 2 toilets in the carriage, one at each end and one is sure to be a western style sit-don loo, the other will be a squatter.

The people who share your room and carriage will invariably be interested to talk to you either in broke English or Chinese with sign language.

There's technically no smoking allowed in the carriages - and this may be rigorously enforced - so the smokers tend to congregate in the vestibules joining the carriages, which are equipped with ashtrays.

So what to do to while away the time? I spent a lot of time reading and writing, a little time wandering the carriage and meeting people, a few hours in the early morning of the first night on-board in the dining car drinking & chatting with some young university guys on their way home and the rest of the time sleeping or staring out the window at the landscape as it changed from bleak and sunny to bleak and snowy.

Early on the second morning, with the cold just starting to seep into the carriage, I changed into my long underwear and cold weather gear, gathered my bags and stepped out onto the the Harbin platform. 7.40am and absolutely bloody freezing!!

It's nice to be back in Harbin - even thought I can't feel my nose or fingers.