Best Cities To Experience High Speed Rail In China (2026)
SHORT DISTANCE (100-300km) | price range: <100rmb
Gives a quick taster of the fastest passenger trains in the world. This really makes day trips possible. Make sure you take a train number beginning with the letter G, which travel mostly at top speeds of 300-350km/h.
Journey| Distance | Time taken
Shenzhen-Guangzhou | ~100km | ~30 min
Beijing-Tianjin | ~120km | ~30 min
Shanghai-Hangzhou | ~160km | ~50 min
Chengdu-Chongqing | ~300km | ~1h 10 min
My favourite: Shenzhen-Guangzhou since I’ve taken it close to 50 times!
👉 Start looking at prices, departure times, and availability HERE
MEDIUM DISTANCE (500km-1300km) | price range: 200-600rmb
You can see how competitive it is with flights once you consider total door to door journey times.
In countries without high speed rail, only flights are a realistic option. In China, I always take high speed rail for these distances.
Journey| Distance | Time taken
Beijing-Shanghai | ~1300km | ~4h 30 min (journey with the fastest average operating speed in the world)
Beijing-Xi’an | ~1000km | ~4h 15 min
Chengdu-Xi’an | ~700km | ~3h 20 min
Chongqing-Zhangjiajie | ~500km | ~2hr 30 min
My favourite: Beijing-Shanghai. It’s mindblowing when you consider that it takes 12 hours to drive it! That’s without rest stops or traffic jams!
👉 Start looking at prices, departure times, and availability HERE
LONG DISTANCE (1300km-2200km) | price range: 800-1000rmb
Not that much slower than flights honestly, when you consider the total door to door journey time.
Including the time it takes to get to/from the airport, pre-departure arrival time, buffer time.
Any train journey approaching 6-7 hours is a pretty feasible option.
Compare journey times against flights and cars in this article I wrote.
Yes, it can feel a bit tedious to sit on a train for over 5 hours.
But you have internet access and normal atmosphere throughout the journey and it stops at multiple cities along the way. I also think it is superior from a health perspective.
Even food delivery at the next station. A great way to get a glance of China’s cities and countryside. You don’t really get that on a plane.
Take a look at my article 21 Reasons Why I Choose High Speed Rail Over Flights For Most Journeys In China
Journey | Distance | Time taken
Beijing-Guangzhou | ~2100km | ~7h 30 min
Shanghai-Guangzhou | ~1800km | - 6h 30 min
Guangzhou-Chongqing | ~1200km | ~6h
My favourite: Beijing-Shenzhen on my way to Hong Kong. It took nearly 9 hours back in 2015. It was definitely worth it for me. I really enjoyed seeing all of the giant cities along the way.
👉 Start looking at prices, departure times, and availability HERE
Note: All price ranges are for economy 2nd class seats only.
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