Catching a prepare in China is a next-level expertise! Think about strolling right into a prepare station the scale of an expert sports activities stadium. That’s precisely how we felt once we walked into the Qingdao North Practice Station!
Qingdao North is a high-speed rail station that serves the Qingdao-Jinan-Beijing line. After a tremendous week exploring Qingdao, we jumped in our ride-share automotive from Didi and headed to Qingdao North Practice Station.
We had been off to catch a prepare to Beijing for the previous couple of days of our journey to China. Qingdao in Shandong Province is positioned some 650 kilometres southeast of Beijing, and catching the prepare appeared like the right means for our household to journey.
Is Qingdao North Railway Station large?
Should you’re planning to catch a prepare in China from Qingdao, let me take you thru the expertise of navigating this large station and discovering all it has to supply.
After I say large, I imply large. The station is round 44,000 sq. meters, roughly the scale of a sporting stadium akin to Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.
This station, like different prepare stations in China, follows a well-recognized design—an enormous sq. constructing with elevated platforms surrounding it, dotted with meals distributors and outlets catering to each traveller’s wants.
Arriving on the Qingdao North Practice Station
From the skin, Qingdao North Practice Station seems large, and stepping inside solely confirms its overwhelming measurement. Welcome to the biggest prepare station in Shandong Province.
Upon arrival at Qingdao North Practice Station, you first have clear safety, as prepare stations in China are very similar to airports.
Passports are checked, and luggage are scanned. Like on aeroplanes, sure objects should not permitted to be taken by means of safety. Our daughter Willow’s can of aerosol deodorant was confiscated attributable to safety rules.
Whilst you wait
After you cross safety, you are taking the escalator as much as the primary concourse. There, you get your first full view of the within of this large station. It’s busy, busy, busy with individuals making their technique to boarding gates, bulletins coming over the PA system and other people enjoyable with their headphones on!
Contained in the North Qingdao Railway Station, there isn’t any scarcity of seating. We discovered ourselves an space to attend in that was much less crowded and near the bathrooms for our prepare to Beijing.
Qingdao North is greater than only a prepare station, it’s a vacation spot in itself the place you may store and eat whereas ready on your bullet prepare to hurry throughout China at 350 kilometers per hour.
It’s like a mini shopping center, with outlets promoting every part from snacks and drinks to baggage and clothes. There’s even a business-class lounge for these holding first-class tickets.
For our youngsters, they had been completely satisfied that plenty of the seating areas had USB charging ports for his or her telephones. There have been areas to fill your water bottle, loads of merchandising machines, bathrooms and even Starbucks for a mean espresso.
You might choose up some final souvenirs and even seize some Tsingtao beer to take with you.
Be a part of our adventures on Youtube.
Bec and Willow hit up the lolly store, grabbing some last-minute sweets for the 3-plus hour prepare journey to Beijing. We arrived a very good few hours early,so we had loads of time to wander whereas ready for our prepare to seem on the departure board.
*There gave the impression to be just one pedestal bathroom within the ones we used. To be trustworthy it was clear nevertheless it was an especially small area. Ensure you additionally take your individual bathroom paper or some tissues with you.
Once you first arrive, there’s one large departure board that tells you which ones platform you have to get your China high-speed prepare from. As a foreigner, the station was straightforward to navigate with signage in each Chinese language and English.
Attending to the platform
Very similar to an airport, this station has departure gates, and you have to discover the right departure gate. There have been 26 departure gates at Qingdao North Railway Station.
Purchase all of your China bullet prepare tickets on Journey.com
Boarding at Qingdao North is very similar to at an airport—you line up and present your ticket. For worldwide vacationers, you present your passport, which will get scanned, and also you head to your departure platform to attend on your Chinese language Bullet Practice.
The method is orderly, with little pushing, shoving and speeding concerned. It’s the way in which prepare stations ought to work.
On the platform
One wonderful thing about the trains in China is they’re immediate, and I imply immediate. It’s essential to get to the station nicely prematurely and be on the platform ready because the prepare waits for nobody!
Because the prepare pulls up, there are numbers on the bottom, and you will want to search out your carriage quantity. The prepare will pull up inside centimetres of the quantity, and it is possible for you to to board with ease.
Closing ideas on the Qingdao Station
Travelling from Qingdao North Practice Station to Beijing provides a glimpse into China’s rail infrastructure. China has by far the world’s largest high-speed rail community, and stations akin to Qingdao North are wanted to assist it. We will probably be seeing the very best Beijing points of interest very quickly.
Qingdao North Practice Station may also be accessed by the metro. The Qingdao North Railway Station is linked to Traces 1, 3, and eight of the Qingdao Metro.
The dimensions of the prepare stations in China will shock most Westerners. We had beforehand been to Xi’an and Chengdu stations, so we knew what we had been in for. Such a large infrastructure is required for a rustic of 1 billion individuals.
Whether or not you’re travelling with household like us at Wyld Household Journey or alone, the expertise is handy and thrilling, with a lot to see and discover whilst you wait.
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Creator bio:
Father, husband, traveller, and chief vacation spot supervisor right here at Wyld Household Journey. When Mark will not be discussing journey or planning journey, you’ll find him working in incapacity assist. Mark is a household journey advocate, having travelled to over 45 nations along with his children from 10 months to their teenage years. You’ll find his work right here and on different fashionable web sites.
Mark Wyld
Content material Creator
