[Train Review] High Speed Train G58 Xi-an to Beijing – Business

On By Satu KosongIn China, Holiday, Train, Xi'an

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This certainly was not part of my plans before the trip but I will try my best to document this unexpected but exciting adventure!

  • Train type: Type G
  • Time: departs 14:26 from Xi-an / arrives in Beijing West 18:37
  • Duration: 4hr 10mins
  • Seat: 1F (Carriage 1)
  • Cost: SGD350

So, my Air China domestic flight from Xi-an to Beijing got cancelled on the morning of the flight (apparently due to sandstorm stuff) and I had to scramble to secure a high speed train ticket to get me back to Beijing in time for my SQ flight back to Singapore.

Thankfully, I was somewhat familiar with the train option when researching for my trip but eventually went with domestic flight due to less cost and less time required. I guess the travel gods wanted me to experience this after all!

BUYING THE TICKET

I booked this on Trip.com’s app (website here) which was an interface I was familiar with (thank goodness) but took a bit of time to decide on the cabin as the prices can be very different. But given the circumstances, I decided to go for the best possible so this alternative journey is as stress-free as possible.

It is also useful to note that for high speed trains in China, the 3 classes of cabin is categorized into:

  • 2nd class: the most economical and least fancy cabin
  • 1st class: the middle tier and better-than-base cabin, with prices slightly higher than the previous.
  • Business Class: the best cabin and double the price from the previous.

Sample screenshot appended for reference – 1st class tends to get sold out pretty fast I can imagine so and some trains do not have business class cabins so choose carefully and get your tickets early especially during peak seasons!

Tickets were issued within 15mins after making my booking on Trip.com’s app and so my morning scramble turned much more peaceful and I was able to enjoy my breakfast properly. I was also impressed that there is no ticket as per se – your ID is your ticket / access.

I was however unable to select a specific seat – the booking process only asked for my preference in the 2-1 configuration. I picked the solo seat of course and upon ticket issuance, I was able to see that my seat is 1F. Yay.

The ticket inclusion also mentioned a 1x 20kg luggage limit and I was worried as I had 2 pieces with total weight slightly over) but the RC club lounge staff mentioned typically they don’t really check as long as the passenger is able to manage the luggage by themselves.

GETTING THERE

For a start, there are sometimes multiple railway stations in one city so it’s critical that one gets the departing point correct – my G58 train was departing from Xi-an North Railway Station at 14:26 so the plan was to leave the hotel at 12nn to arrive at 1:00pm latest with some allowance for traffic.

I ended up leaving the hotel earlier and arrived bright and early at 12nn at the station. I was initially worried about getting lost in the station but turns out, I didn’t have to worry at all as business class passengers have a dedicated entrance which comes with private security screening which leads into the business class waiting lounge.

BUSINESS CLASS WAITING LOUNGE

Once inside, the reception validated my eligibility using my passport ID and I was issued a tag number – the number is tagged to my name + train number which is easier for boarding arrangements later.

The lounge itself is not much to speak of as its merely clusters of seats to chill in, a screen showing train departure trains and timings etc. It is no any fancy airport lounge but it does beat having to find a chair to park myself in the public areas outside. There is also no washroom in this facility – I had to head out into the main train station for that but it was thankfully quite clean.

Crowd wise, it was a busy place as far as I could see but the traffic was also very transient – people were coming and leaving all the time. I think only noobs like me arrive 2.5hrs earlier haha – most people I see dropped in 30-45mins prior before leaving for their train thereafter. I was struggling to wait out the hours to be honest.

There is a small counter set up with basic non-alcoholic beverages and packaged snacks.

BOARDING PROCESS

The boarding call for my train was made 20mins before departure time – the page included calling for the tag number as well just in case so keep a hear-out for that. We were asked to gather at the reception area with our luggage and follow the 1-2 staff to be escorted to the train platform directly via a fast track route. In theory, this would mean so bypassing the mad queues and should be seamless but that day, the escorts got the route wrong and the entire group ended up weaving through the queues which resulted in some shouting from the other passengers as they thought we were cutting their queues. Opps.

I was so relieved to finally see my train after getting pass the angry crowd! The escorts also assisted with luggage and made sure you are well settled in before they left.

THE CABIN

The G trains are supposed to be the fastest and newest of the lot – it is also derived form its Chinese Name: Gaotie, simplified Chinese: 高铁, or “high speed rail”). Based on my research, I was expecting this when I stepped in:

Grabbed from China Discovery

But to my utter delight, I saw this:

I also later realized that I got the latest Business Class seats which are only available on selected key routes so I thanked the travel gods for blessing me.

I was in carriage 1 and seat 1F, which meant I was in the first carriage of the train (a mirror cabin holding 6 seats is located at the back of train in carriage 8). The intimate cabin only has 6 seats in a staggered configuration between the seats closer to the window or the aisle. I was lucky enough as 1F was a seat where the seat was closer to the window. Yay!

Seat 1F is located at the back of the cabin which meant the luggage storage space is right behind me – I didn’t mind as I actually prefer to know where my luggage are and prefers it in a spot where I could keep an eye on.

The seat itself is actually so nice as it offers such privacy and I was able to completely relax knowing that this is my seat for the next 4hrs.

The seat itself is in a nice beigey color and plushy enough, accompanied by a brown pillow for your comfort, and a foldable arm rest on the right for your comfort if need be. It was also wide enough for me to put my small travel bag beside me while I was seated and it didn’t feel cramped. I only minded the fact that my headrest was drooping and the cover seemed to be carelessly put in place and almost falling off – I made peace with it after failing to adjust it properly.

Seat controls located on the console allowed me to adjust the recline and leg rest according to preferences, or if not, there are 3 pre-sets to choose from: upright, loungey recline, or lie flat which I think would be more useful during night rides.

My seat was sheltered from the aisle by the brown glossy console which holds the amenities: a bottled water, a snack pack, a wireless charging pad (with very slow charging speeds), a reading light, and stuff for comfort eg eye mask, wet towel, earphones, and even a D&D sign. There were also charging ports built in here – both USB and proper power points which

The tray table opened up from the console – it slides out towards the seat and could be half or fully opened. At full, it was a little snug between me and the tray and even at half, I was not able to get out to the aisle due to the design.

The seat accorded plenty of legroom for the 1.6m me and when stretched out, I was facing the in-train entertainment screen (which did not work on this flight), an open compartment which contained what seemed like blankets and slippers (did not use them), and a large seat pocket which contained safety booklet I think (did not touch them). There is also a hook above the seat pocket which I think would be useful if you have a coat to hang.

For maximum privacy, the seat’ also

SERVICE

Shortly after boarding and the train moved off from the platform, a crew came by and introduced herself, and summarized today’s train arrival time and ride time. She also offered 2 choices of main course for the meal and asked if there was any specific time I would like to be served.

She introduced that service can be called for anytime using the button located alongside the seat controls, or via WeChat by scanning a QR code located on the left armrest. I tried the WeChat option and it was easy to navigate but its in Mandarin of course.

  • Screenshot
  • Screenshot

This interface also contained info about the train type as well as cabin introductions

  • Screenshot
  • Screenshot
  • Screenshot

The crew also ask if I needed a guidance service when alighting at Beijing which I wasn’t expecting but certainly very welcomed! The service will help you get out of the station to your designated exit which in my case I didn’t have one but happy to just get out enough to grab a car to Beijing Capital Airport. Do note that this is not a 1-to-1 service but rather its one guide for everyone in the cabin.

One thing to note is that the crew was not fluent in English so she used a translation tool on her mobile to attend to non-Chinese speaking passengers.

MEAL SERVICE

My choice of meal was served at 4:30pm as promised -it was a microwaved bento rice set but actually quite tasty and enough to tide me over. It was also served with a soup but that was just bland.

LAVATAORY

There is only 1 designated lavatory for the cabin of 6pax and it was pretty bare basic but kept relatively clean for the duration of the ride. It was though weirdly not separated from the 1st class cabin passengers but they did have a crew seated in the section which I think is meant to reject non eligible passengers who try to use that space.

DISEMBARKING

The same crew member was standing by with the guide at the platform and I was handed over to him. He assisted me with one of my two luggage and we tried our best to weave though the madness – there was sadly no dedicated exit track for business class passengers so everyone was clamoring to use those one or two escalators. There was another chap from the cabin who needed to get to his exit so he left us shortly after which the guide stayed with me to make sure I got a car via a ride-hailing service. He even offered to communicate with the driver to ensure there was no miscomm about the pick up spot which I thought was super nice of him.

In Summary,

I don’t think I could have gotten to Beijing in a better way than this given the last minute arrangements and I was super glad I decided to splurge because the experience completely changed my mind about high speed train travel in China. I was super impressed by the service standards and honestly, paying the premium for the inclusions were totally worth it in my opinion.

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