A Day of Waiting and Uncertainty

Yesterday, Saturday was the day we were to take the overnight train to Harbin but the lead-up to the journey wasn't as easy as we thought it was going to be. Saturday morning rolled around and we still didn't have our train tickets. We phoned our travel agent several times and were told that she had someone who was standing in line at the station trying to buy our tickets. She hoped they'd have them soon. Then we got a call that the person buying the tickets had managed to get three of them scattered all over the train and they were trying to get the fourth ticket. She kept expressing optimism that everything would work out. By this time Paul at least was beginning to have doubts. We checked the internet to see if flying was an option but all flights to Harbin were fully booked until after 10pm the next day so we were committed to the train.

Just before 12 noon, our check out time, we got a call that the person buying the tickets had finally got a fourth ticket. So we were all on the same train but all separated into different carriages and sleeping cabins--obviously not the result we had booked or were expecting. Still we were told by the agent that she and another staff member would meet us at the station and help us to exchange our tickets with other passengers so that we could all be together--or at least so that we could be two and two--one child with one parent. We checked out of the hostel and put our bags in storage. We had hoped to meet up with our friends the Turners again before we left Beijing but the uncertainty over our ticketing and Jarrah's illness made us decide to wait in the hostel's restaurant for the afternoon. It was a pretty boring and uncomfortable time. At 6:30 our friend Henry arrived to drive us to the station. He found a place to park right in front and helped us with our bags. We rang the travel agent and met her inside the station after going through the security screening process. She took us to one of the waiting rooms to sit until closer to boarding time. We tried to chat with Henry as this would be the last time we would see him for a long time but it wasn't the relaxed send-off that we had planned on.

Beijing Railway Station at night

Finally it came time for boarding and the ticket swapping exercise. It turned out that at least one of the tickets we held was in carriage 3 and others were in carriages 13 and 14. So the agent had a job ahead of her trying to convince someone in carriage 14 to swap all the way down the train to carriage 3! Most people seemed to be travelling solo so that at least made the swapping process easier. We just tried to stay out of the whole thing and let the agent and her co-worker do all the work and worry. Finally she had us two and two and in adjoining cabins--a workable solution. She left us at this point as neither cabin's other occupants had arrived. (We had arranged for early boarding to make the swapping process easier.) When the other occupants arrived we first swapped Jade in with Jarrah and me. Then finally we asked the last occupant of the cabin with three of us if she would swap and let Paul come in. She readily agreed--possibly to her detriment as she went into a cabin with a baby who cried during the night.


Our train trip was lovely and uneventful. There was no morning wake-up coffee as the train from Xian to Beijing had had. Still we were happy the whole exercise had worked out and that our journey had continued as we had wanted it too.


The reason for the difficulty the agent had with obtaining tickets is due to the demand for train tickets in the lead-up to the Chinese New Year or Spring Festival. We certainly knew that travel was difficult at this time--which was why we had made our travel arrangements eight months ahead of time and pre-booked train and plane tickets. All of this doesn't seem to matter, however, when it comes to the train. I don't understand why overseas tourists who have pre-booked tickets are placed in the same position as locals who haven't when it comes to the availability of train tickets.

Sign on the side of the carriage

Our train had a large group--maybe one or two carriages full--of a Danish tour group. I imagine that they didn't have the same difficulties we had in obtaining their tickets. Is the Chinese government only concerned about making travel arrangements for overseas groups smooth but not those for individuals or families? Hopefully others who travel at this time of year in the future won't have to go through the worry and uncertainty and inconvenience that we did.

Oh, one other comment about the train. When we arrived in Harbin at 7:04am we were a bit slow in gathering up our things and getting off the train--reasonable with two kids, one of whom tends to take their time in moving. One of the train staff came repeatedly and banged on the window, angrily telling us to get off the train. Once was OK. But he came back again and again-seemingly at 30 second intervals--getting angrier and angrier each time. Finally I yelled back at him that we had two kids and he was making one of them cry. I don't think he really cared. It seems that Chinese trains only allow 5 minutes or so for all passengers to get off before they are taken away for cleaning for the next trip. If you are on your own with one bag that's not a problem. But just try to get kids moving and several bags off in that time!