Xian - Getting there

I caught the train to and from Xian. Sunny, a Chinese teacher, helped me to buy my ticket from Tai'an. The train trip is 13 Hours and 37 minutes.

When I left Tai'an I was told that the trip was 12 hours and 20 minutes. The lights went out at 10 pm. Which I thought - 'what for I have to get off in a little over an hour.' Anyway I fell asleep. When I woke my clock said 12.05 am. I figured that they forgot to wake me, couldn't wake me or the train was delayed. I went back to sleep.

I was then woken up at 1.30 am. The train arrived at 1.45 am. Yuk!

I knew the next day I needed to find the Advance Train Ticket Booking Office to buy my return ticket as sleepers are hard to come by. So I went to get my ticket and successfully got a ticket home. The lady spoke good English!

One thing that I fail to understand is why the same trip costs differ. My ticket to Xian was Y293. My ticket home was Y268. Go figure!

On the return leg the train was delayed for 3 hours. I was up at 5.30 am and didn't get back to Tai'an until midnight. Made for a very long day. And I ran out of books to read and things to do!