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FAQ page for visitors to Hong Kong/China
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We have categorise our FAQ page into 3 main sections:
Q: Is there any one-day pass or tickets for travelling public transport in Hong Kong? A: MTR (underground) sells one day pass for $50 (US$6.50). This ticket entitles a passenger of one day unlimited number of rides on the MTR excluding the Airport Express Line. The easiest way is to buy an Octopus Card, this card enables you to travel on MTR network, KCR East Rail and light rails, trams, peak trams, ferries, all buses and you may even make phone calls and buy soft drinks at railway stations. This card can be purchased at Airport Express service counters at the arrival hall or any other MTR and KCR station ticket counters. It costs HK$150 (US$19) and consists of $100 value (and $50 deposit). You can top us the card once the card balance running low or below 0. Full refund can be made at any point of time.
Q: What kinds of trains can be seen in Hong Kong? Where are the best places to watch trains? A: In Hong Kong, there are 5 types of railway: MTR (underground), KCR (East and West Rail), Light Rail, Trams and Peak Trams. Although most of the urban line MTR tracks are built underground, part of the tracks are built on bridges which are good places for watching trains. These include the Kwai Hing-Lai King section (Tsuen Wan line), Kowloon Bay-Kwun Tong section (Kwun Tong line), Heng Fa Chuen-Chai Wan section (Island line). The depots at Tsuen Wan, Kowloon Bay and Heng Fa Chuen are built on the ground. However, visitors are NOT allowed to visit the depots without prior approval. The Olympic-Tung Chung / Airport section is built on the ground or on bridges. It is not difficult to find a place to watch trains at the Tung Chung / Airport Express line. For the KCR East Rail, the best places for watching trains are: 1. over the bridge at Cheong Wan Road at Kowloon Station. This is the
best place to watch the diesel locomotives of East Rail. The Light Rail runs between Tuen Mun, Tin Shui Wai and Yuen Long. Visitors can take any buses to these areas. Here is one of the suggested route: Take bus 68M from Tsuen Wan MTR Station to Yuen Long. You can see the Light Rail when you arrive at Yuen Long. Trams operate from Kenedy Town to Sau Kei Wan on the busy streets of Hong Kong Island while Peak Trams run from Garden Road to the Peak. Visitors can watch these vehicles elsewhere along the line.
2. Going from Hong Kong into the mainland China and beyond top Q: Is there any train service running between Hong Kong and Mainland China? How much does it cost? A: Yes. There are intercity services running from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, Dongguan, Foshan, Zhaoqing and stations to Beijing and Shanghai. Timetables and fare tables can be found at KCRC Website . You can also travel on KCR East Rail's EMU to Lo Wu and cross the boundary there.
A: I believe the answer is no at that stage. There is no official website that you can book a train tickets. However, you can try to contact C.I.T.S. (China International Travel Service) at their overseas offices.
A: Yes. Try the following itinerary:
A: No. However, there are some international services operating at other Chinese cities such as:
3. Travelling around mainland China top Q: Can I buy ticket in advance and pay other than cash? A: You can purchase tickets usually up to 6-12 days in advance. However, they do not accept any payment other than cash.
A: China's MOR (Mini provides a train schedule (in Chinese GB code). Guangzhou Railway Corporation also operates their own timetable. As for this site, a summary of train services (extracted from People's Daily) is published.
A: For most short distance train services, it composes of Hard Seats (Yingzuo, 2nd Class) and Soft Seats (Ruanzuo, 1st Class) and for long distance train, it usually comprise of Hard Seats, Hard Sleeper (open compartment and 3 berths per row) and Soft Sleepers (4 berths per room). For some premium routes (such as Beijing - Shanghai/Guangzhou/Hong Kong), it also consists of de-luxe soft berth (2 per room) with shower facilities. Most of the trains are air-conditions. Non-airconditioned (green trains) can be found occassionally. Q: How does the Chinese trains classify their route numbers? A: The route numbers can be classified into: Special Express Trains (the T series), Express Trains (the K series), Regular Trains (nos. 1xxx-5xxx) and Slow Trains (nos. 6xxx - 9xxx). Odd numbered trains are those leaving Beijing / Shanghai while even numbered trains are those heading towards Beijing / Shanghai. A rule of thumb is that the higher the route number, the slower the train, the more stations the train will stop, the higher chance that the train is non-air-conditioned and the cheaper the tickets are.Q : Is it difficult to buy train tickets in China? A: Except from the peak season in the Chinese New Year (from late Jan. to mid-Feb.), the short distance train tickets are easy to buy. You can buy "No Seat" tickets if you are very urgent. However, the long distance train tickets (both hard or soft sleepers) are difficult to buy, expecially during the date of departure. It would be easier if you buy the tickets 3 days or more in advance. If, unluckily, you cannot buy such tickets, you can buy hard seat tickets first. Then you can try to contact the Train Officer on board (usually he/she is in the 5th coach). After around 1 hour, the Officer will know whether there are vacant sleeper tickets and will sell to passengers. If you are still unlucky, you can pay around RMB 30 to sit in the dinning coach overnight. The environment there should be much better than that in the hard seat coach!
From 2000 onwards, all the steam locomotives at the mainline have been replaced by diesel or electric locomotives. However, some of the local railway (such as the famous Jitong line at Inner Mongolia), quarry railway and industrial lines still use steam locomotives. The nearest place where steam locomotives are used is inside Guangzhou Steelwork (Information up to 4/2002). There are some internet websites (for example, Rob Dickinson's International Steam homepage) have regular reports. For steam train information about Guangdong Province. Visit our Railways in Guangdong Page.
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