Updated 2025/08/30

Created by YenKid

My Advice

Most of China’s major cities are now connected by high speed rail. So I don’t think you should choose a flight over high speed rail solely based on the duration of the flight. I have been shouting this fact at friends for years whenever they tell me that they picked a flight because “it is definitely much quicker than high speed rail”. For most flights that take 2.5 hours or less, it may not be true! (Facepalm)🤦🏻

A lot of people think they definitely saved time by taking a flight. But they have overlooked factors such as door-to-door journey time, comfort, health, Internet connectivity, and price flexibility. You can be the smart one.

If you must absolutely have the rock-bottom cheapest price for every journey, then you should be aware that high speed rail is not always the cheapest. This is especially true for longer distances. But chances are you are only saving a little bit of money for an inferior experience. Whether it’s worth it is for you to decide, I do appreciate that some people have tight budgets.

If you want to read more about my reasoning, please read my article 21 Reasons Why I Choose High Speed Rail Over Flights For Most Journeys In China

Otherwise, here are my personal picks on some of the most popular routes in China.