Chinese BULLET TRAIN Business Class REVIEW to Shanghai + Chinese Food Lunch | Suzhou to Shanghai

In April of 2019, I spent twelve incredible days exploring China after I booked a one-day job there. I had the time of my lie experiencing the amazing people, food, culture, and history of Shanghai, Suzhou, and Hangzhou. It was a trip I will never forget and I’m so excited to share it with you!
On the afternoon of my fifth day in China, I arrived back in Suzhou after a day trip to the water town of Tongli in the morning. From Suzhou, I needed to head back to Shanghai. Come along with me as I have some outstanding Chinese food, take the bullet train back to Shanghai, and review its business class along the way! Let’s go!
The bullet train is the fastest and most affordable way to get to Shanghai from Suzhou. The ride only takes 22 minutes and travels at about 217 miles per hour! There’s a train every 20 minutes.
I arrived at Suzhou Station, one of the two station options in Suzhou. If you’re a foreigner, you have to wait in line with your passport in order to buy a ticket. It costs 128 Yuan/roughly $18.58 U.S. for Business Class, roughly 80 Yuan/$11.61 U.S. for First Class, and about 40/$5.81 U.S. for Second Class.
I got a 2 p.m. Business Class ticket to Hongqiao Station in Shanghai. My friend Peter helped me out. I had an hour and 6 minutes to get a meal and relax. We headed through the huge arrival terminal. There were lots of fast food options, but I went for some Chinese food at Fan Dumpling.
I got a set menu for 45 Yuan/$6.53 U.S., which included veggies with mushrooms, a spicy egg drop soup, and shrimp dumplings. Other people were eating dumplings around me and they looked so good!
I dove into the vegetables, which were very light and contained cucumber and a slimy mushroom. It was really good and so fresh! It had lots of Chinese flavors and the combination between the cucumbers and mushrooms was amazing!
Next was the soup, which had a viscous consistency. There were lots of vegetables and mushrooms in it. I liked it despite the sliminess. It was a little spicy, but I made it even more spicy with some chili flake sauce. I loved it.
Then I moved on to the shrimp dumplings. There were big chunks of meat in it. I added some chili to make it spicier. They give you 12 dumplings, so they’re really filling! Then I tried them with a mixture of vinaigrette and the chili sauce. The dumplings contained tiny shrimp from the rivers around here. It was such a great meal!
Then I headed to Departures to check in. I had to find the waiting hall and have my ticket and passport ready. After I ran my bags through the x-ray machine, I checked in and ran to car 16 with 7 minutes left. This station was massive! The trains only stay for about 2 minutes, so you have to board quickly!
Business Class was unreal! It was at the front of the train and so luxurious. There are only five seats there. It felt like I was in a spaceship. I was given a water and a snack. The seats a huge and can recline into a bed. It felt like I was in Business Class on an airplane!
I opened the snack, which was cookies similar to ones I’d had in Shanghai. They were buttery and had lots of layers. They also give you slippers in Business Class. The windows are huge, so you can really see everything. You really have to experience Business Class on a Chinese bullet train!
We slowed down from 300 km/hr to about 270. I was loving China so far. The toughest thing was the language barrier because very few people speak English there. The best thing to do is hire an English-speaking guide, which costs about $100 U.S. per day, not counting food and attractions.
And after 22 minutes, I was back in Shanghai! In Business Class, they even help you with your bags. I got on the Didi app, which is China’s version of Uber. After a frustrating mix-up where I couldn’t really ask for help because of the language barrier, I searched for where I needed to go on my own. Luckily, the Didi app translates languages, so I had some help there!
I got my Didi and took a 20-minute ride to the Puli Resort and Spa Hotel. I was staying there because I had a job with Renault in the city coming up!
I hope you enjoyed coming along on my bullet train ride from Suzhou to Shanghai! If you did, please give it a thumbs up and leave me a comment. Also, please subscribe to my channel so you don’t miss any of my upcoming travel/food adventures!
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Chinese BULLET TRAIN Business Class REVIEW to Shanghai + Chinese Food Lunch | Suzhou to Shanghai
• Chinese BULLET TRAIN B...

[@Davidsbeenhere]

Thank you for watching my Chinese Bullet Train video! If you're new to my channel please SUBSCRIBE bit.ly/DBH-SUB for new travel content every week! Also follow me on Instagram to get live updates: instagram.com/davidsbeenhere

[@veer_sun]

黑木耳怎么叫mushroom？

[@yeshao6575]

You can enter the business lounge and get fast check in with your business ticket.

[@Davidsbeenhere]

wow i didn't know that :)

[@frankfeng9411]

@@Davidsbeenhere hahaha

[@王宇-f1q]

第一次见有人能把小菜吃的这么认真😂

[@danielkhong1980]

Wow the way you ate the food made it look so tasty 😋😋😋😋😋

[@PieterCusters1983]

Seeing a guy eating > -100 social credit

[@Julian-cm9bo]

Awesome.

[@Flyingaceful]

Dude! You are making me want to go eat some Chinese food! 😂 Thinking about visiting China soon. Cheers from Texas..

[@wisdomhe3176]

Flyingaceful come to gz waiting u

[@kirorobao3002]

wow Welcome to CHINA !:)

[@Davidsbeenhere]

awesome dude!

[@Joseph-lm7ce]

As a Chinese and currently live in Dallas TX, i wanna say Welcome to China! 😄

[@davisdavis1852]

if u wanna see 500year history ' go to Beijing.. 100year history' go to Shanghai and Guangzhou. 40year history' go to Shenzhen' which is a digital city

[@00001111henry]

Good job 👍🏼 👏🏻 about China 🇨🇳 convenient transportation and 🥘 food. “You enjoy business class luxury comfortable spaceship!”

[@jakelin1399]

Watching u eating makes me hungry

[@timgshepherd]

David drinks water... "*mhHM delicious, needs some chilli*

[@afunguynamedkawhi7959]

Your pretty funny.

[@timgshepherd]

Haha mean no hate mate, I think his positivity is incredible.

[@eiruhr7860]

and if a Chinese make vlog in europa so loudly, people will say, rude Chinese😂

[@pax4370]

Thats european ancestry privilege for you !

[@rickr9435]

depends on the country. i think you can hardly get louder than the local people in italy.

[@licharles869]

@@rickr9435 hahahaha

[@homesweetshanghai8127]

I feel sorry for those two guys in business class having to be disturbed by this over-excited foreigner filming them.

[@李国栋-e6c]

Different cultures

[@月落长河]

If you want get help when you are in China, you can download a Google Translation APP in you mobile phone. I think you will get help with this function. thanks for your advertising for China. I'm a Chinese from Shanghai city.

[@AussieAngeS]

So friggin awesome, omg 😍 lol what a fantastic experience you had David, that’s a fast train 🥺

[@LM-if1rq]

Wow China is pretty advanced.

[@铭记八九六四文革大跃]

你说的什么

[@周小剛-n5v]

@@铭记八九六四文革大跃 他说中国先进呢

[@铭记八九六四文革大跃]

@@周小剛-n5v 你会英文吗

[@jayeshsingh2921]

Bcoz there is no corruption I guess

[@Brian-cc5ur]

It is amazing, guy, you are so skillful with chopsticks.

[@Mwoods2272]

Would you say the same if a Chinese person was using a Fork?

[@Brian-cc5ur]

@@Mwoods2272 I think a nife and a fork are easy to use, and you can find many Chinese uses them too sometimes. However, some of my foreign friends say to me it is difficult to use chopsticks.

[@amblypygi6651]

@@Mwoods2272 What is this supposed to mean? Chopsticks are well known to be hard to use, you're making no sense. He's just genuinely complimenting someone, stop being a jerk.

[@江你-h1g]

大哥你小菜当沙拉吃了吧，吃法完全震惊到我了，还有你好能吃辣和醋啊

[@lovedeng-z4z]

@@諸葛-c8v 发生了什么，让你如此气愤？

[@xcguo8206]

我也是这么吃小菜的。。。。有什么问题吗

[@zeyunxu8762]

@@諸葛-c8v 你这个狗见了人就咬人，我带回去给你打针。

[@李胜-d9r]

哈哈

[@谢盛文]

@@諸葛-c8v 举报不谢o(^o^)o

[@kartikbhalerao5018]

Nice one sir love from india

[@productguru8323]

Some day CN gov shall give international people the ID cards to enjoy the convinience.

[@damonlee226]

Dumplings are the best, yumm...great travel channel, yet, the string frayed off your wrist wear is driving me crazy./ Respect!

[@uhohhhsteven]

I love David’s videos because of the true appreciation he shows for the places he visits. He also highlighted something really important at the end of the vlog when he expressed that he was a little frustrated he couldn’t receive much help because of the language barrier. That made me appreciate what my dad went through when he immigrated alone to America in the 70s at 20 years old not knowing a word of English. Keep up the great work David!

[@秦朗-e9t]

欢迎来中国玩，有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎。

[@RohitSingh-wj3wc]

I am fascinated by bullet trains. Amazing both China and Japan seems to run them with utmost proficiency.

[@chankaan888]

你好，欢迎到中国台湾省玩

[@刘小七-r6q]

有味道

[@超级奶酪]

蔡老你好,你终于说了一句大实话了~

[@璃月港第一偶像胡桃]

潜伏的很好

[@赵烨锋-h9c]

秀儿，你来啦。

[@허위에]

蔡英文 秀儿笑死我对你有什么好处？要帮我还花呗吗

[@HT911Mac]

You hold the chopsticks correct way 👍

[@kkem993]

I just find Suzhou Railway Station is so beautiful!

[@tianwenma8598]

yep

[@kenwhat2226]

Suzhou station is morden Chinese style architecture

[@ivyyu329]

U can buy tickets online with passport and go to take your tickets in different window counter which is faster

[@jf7910]

how to buy a ticket online without a chinese number? I tried to get an account at 12306, but they require a china phone number to finish the registration.

[@ivyyu329]

Yes need China mobile number so the app can send information about ur ticket to your mobile . I assume ur have at least China mobile number

[@jf7910]

Ivy Yu there’s no way for foreigner to get a China mobile number. 99.99999999% foreigner don’t have a China Mobile number, i think the on-line preorder is useless for foreigner. China need to do something about this

[@ivyyu329]

How can all my foreign friends have can China SIM cards with passport from China telecom or Unicom . My Chinese friends are using 12306 from the beginning .

[@ivyyu329]

Ask ur Chinese friends to help u much easier . Cuz sure 100% can register . My foreign friends all using 12306 to buy tickets

[@leyi1052]

Firstly ,I saw some sensitive guys felt hard to hear u say why Chinese can’t speak English, well I have a word for those guys- is to admit a guy can speak English is a basic setting world-widely so hard for u guys? Isn’t it a normal fact ? Why can’t u guys accept it ? Secondly, English is the main subject to Chinese student , 300 million of Chinese have learned English, i can’t say all of them can apply it but 10% of them which is 30 million Chinese can apply it is for sure. Go to find those youth, most of them are able to give u some necessary help. Hope u can be here more often and bring the beauties of china to ur friends in ur hometown .

[@sichengchen5823]

It’s not so hard to accept English as a dominant language, it’s the truth at the moment. The problem is if you go to a place, at least learn some of their basic phases, not criticizing why they don’t use the same language bc it’s a different culture background, that’s called respect.

[@leyi1052]

我没有觉得他抱怨了，我去东南亚国家也会抱怨为什么当地人不会英语。那些酸的人的心情我可以理解，但是我不希望同胞们过于玻璃心，那是极度不自信的表现。千万别搞的像美国现在这样，随便说一句就可能涉嫌歧视，太多的政治正确把人们束缚了。心放宽点，宽容是中国人最大的优点，不是么？

[@rsyrsy8543]

It’s unbelievable that business class ticket only costs 20 dollars. When was this video taken?

[@Nanokillaz]

That's because the journey is only about 60km. For longer distances it will cost about 250usd

[@tsssta6664]

Welcome to China and have a good travel!

[@wangzhefpc]

Chinese food is roughly divided:Sweet south, salty north ， spicy west。

[@glengreyjoy7915]

meat fest west🤓

[@lastchangdepapa1247]

Nope, western media say China food are all dogs

[@songbingjoe]

甜咸没这么好分，北方豆浆粽子甜，南方番茄炒蛋豆腐脑汤包甜，咸的刚好相反。

[@mayaz7780]

谁说的……我大东北最爱酸甜口儿……而且川渝不算west吧，重庆江西湖南是south，就，概括不了，就像山西，难道因为醋就能说喜欢酸的？也不太行

[@papigeng614]

@@mayaz7780 自从发明了锅包肉，东北人就叛变了

[@WJLTHY]

Your video makes me decide to use high speed railway when I go back to China this year. LOVE CHINA!

[@川建国-l1t]

I completed my bachelor study in Suzhou while I am now studying abroad in Germany. Its feeling so kind to see Suzhou Railway Station through your video.👍

[@ruthnarzari587]

Hope to see you in India in the year 2022. We already have starbucks, KFCs.

[@bjolantanni992]

LOL， Is this a sarcasm ?

[@PankajGupta-kc4jq]

Indians and Chinese shall work together hands in hands for greater and better world

[@ssstellazzz4244]

Pankaj Gupta So true!!

[@woodsjonie2053]

@@PankajGupta-kc4jq china think so, but india boss, america, don't agree that

[@川建国-t7j]

Okay,I allow you eat Chinese food，because that's so delicious that the people all over the world should try to eat.When I am not to be the boss of USA I will be back my mother country-China.

[@jaylineslu2457]

川建国 lol

[@alicexuehuiwang3715]

You’re funny

[@川建国-t7j]

@@alicexuehuiwang3715 Thank you.

[@benshotyou]

Never a dull moment man. Love your content bro, keep it up

[@alvintheng8501]

4:52, it’s not mushroom, it’s an edible fungus which grow on tree bark. It’s healthy and nutritious.

[@Brick-Life]

Those are so yummy

[@leealex3320]

Yes, Its Chinese name is mu'er(木耳), mean ear of wood,

[@rtgtx]

These dumplings go with vinegar (and chilli) better than soy bean sauce :-)

[@chuantaowu4978]

迟到的欢迎～欢迎来到中国……

[@kungfucooking7567]

滚蛋

[@renyinwang8443]

Your face and voice looks like Pinkman in breaking bad

[@林一-k1q]

little pink‘s girlfriend is so hot

[@ziganwoo6543]

thanks david your introduction of China is very helpful

[@超级奶酪]

哇~你们外国人居然不会说普通话,太神奇了

[@homesweetshanghai8127]

我会！我会！

[@ladien235]

When more and more foreigners find it difficult to travel in China，they should learn Chinese.

[@任宁-o3r]

I just came out to middle east for my job from Suzhou,my hometown 1week ago.your video makes me miss it already :) good job borther! hope you have a wonderful time in China!

[@mohdsharkawiluabdullah2256]

#slimy soup, Hahaha. What makes it "Slimy " is the addition of little amount of corn flour to get that Thick texture, not "Slimy' it sounds so guey buddy.. 😂

[@宋凝]

“I feel that I am in space.” “These are amazing.” “This soup looks good.” Is my perception of happiness too low. Is my life so good.

[@vikrantkulkarni1241]

Loved the vlog also the fact that you write down the journey in detail .Those dumplings looked freakin delicios.

[@xiupingwu3952]

That is not cucumber and mushroom. That is cucumber and fungus.

[@tracyl5639]

Xiuping Wu better not calling it fungus. Black wood ear would be okay. 😂

[@gyxtc]

9:33 "There's nowhere that says departure here..." 9:45 Railway Departures...

[@rudyalfonsus686]

when he said gold car, he might wanna said metallic 😁

[@tracyl5639]

For those foreign friends who travel or live in China, you’d better learn Chinese language and practice with locals more often. I learned English very hard when I came to US. Learning a new language is great experience and it benefits you.

[@homesweetshanghai8127]

大部分的老外又笨又懒，学不了

[@PlanesTrainsEverything]

You have a new sub. That was probably one of the best travel reviews on China's high speed trains. Great job.

[@JOE-ee8yj]

点开这个推荐视频 看了看标题 这点赞数 就知道底下会有有一大堆国人评论“welcome to China”。

[@mantisnorth3519]

You make me feel hungry, good video! I hope more and more foreigners to visit China by themselves...

[@bernardtan9058]

What you had been eating is black fungus and not mushroom.

[@mayaz7780]

I think，the vegetable eaten first, is pickle, or similar to pickles …… At least we hardly only eat it without any main food,don’t you feel a little salty ？

[@bobmenendez8708]

It's so relaxing to see pple with good positive vibes. I sub.

[@jacobberg5584]

dumpling is supposed to be dipped in vinegar

[@legendtong1056]

but he like it salty

[@pengfu8608]

It was vinegar. He wanted to pour soy sauce but because he couldn't read the label he ended up using vinegar, which he quickly talked about.

[@PawanBhakuni]

I think he is a momos fan.

[@helen9904mc]

if you speak or try to speak local language, people will be warmer. It's the same in every country. Or you can ask young people~~

[@johnog2478]

45 yuan is a lot for lunch

[@MrPeterzhu]

高铁站哪有便宜的。

[@XJLCA]

Not in Shanghai. when was the last Time you visited?

[@Luke-ds8cn]

But he said yen, not yuan 😂

[@johnog2478]

dw he'll work on that

[@importantguycommenting8156]

They have longer bullet train rides from Beijing to Hong Kong, it's like 8 hours i think. You have to try it next

[@Chiapet2323]

Hey david why not get that gadget that translates what you speak into what ever language you want try to get an advertisement from them its called ili doesnt use internet to translate its all recorded in the gadget look it up it helps in these kind of situations

[@afunguynamedkawhi7959]

But when eating dumplings, you dip into vinegar mixed with minced garlic, not soy sauce and chili. 😭😭😭😭😭😭

[@pearlblack9753]

wrong, u can dip in soy sauce and chili too

[@pearlblack9753]

or vinegar with chili

[@jasongexin]

You know how to use chop sticks! Amazing!

[@isince1985]

用个筷子就牛逼了？你四不四撒？

[@jasongexin]

你這都能罵人, 人家是平時是用刀叉的, 不和你一樣用筷子,懂嗎? 另外, 素質,請注意你的素質.

[@rui_lee90]

welcome to china~ have a good journey

[@Rm-lb1yj]

Learn the local language is the basic respect of the foreigners.

[@Rm-lb1yj]

@@tcideh4929 Traveling to a country is different from staying in a country for a period of time. If you only travel to a country for a short period of time, no one expects you to be able to speak the local language proficiently, but say simple hello and thank you is also a respect. But if you expect to live in a country for a period of time, then learning the local language is a minimum of respect. No one asks you to speak well, but the point is to have the willingness to learn.

[@Rm-lb1yj]

@@tcideh4929 the thing is maybe there are many Chinese people live abroad with poor English, but many more foreigners live in China with even zero mandarin skills. And they don't have any willingness to learn Chinese.

[@Rm-lb1yj]

@@tcideh4929 It depends on your standards of poor English

[@Rm-lb1yj]

@@tcideh4929 like even dont know how to say thank you or hello correctly. Or the difference between my English level and your Chinese level.

[@AashishPandia]

Food is mouthwatering and train ride is so amazing

[@zhuahxk3771]

Brother, you go to Changsha, Hunan province, where the Chinese food is the best, small Fried meat is my favorite

[@NN-hi7nd]

seriously？！😂😂😂that fungus and cucumber is not even a serious course, it's cold dish only😂 have some real Chinese food.

[@Zergcerebrates]

That’s not mushroom, the thing you ate with the cucumbers is black fungus.

[@fdsaffff]

mushroom is fungi

[@hanxiaozhang5308]

Hungry now-Chinese in GB

[@souranilpaul6285]

Lost in translation? Maybe learn their language when you visit their country rather than expecting them to speak yours?

[@kangming32]

every vlog in china becomes food vlog.

[@杰文-r7c]

😂

[@gold9994]

For you guys that are working in China, you can buy them from your app. Then you scan the qr code in the gate.

[@jacobberg5584]

There are four railway stations in Shanghai. Shanghai, Hongqiao, Southern Station, and Zhenru Station.

[@guangyugao2833]

There are many more. In Songjiang, there are Songjiang Railway Station and Songjiang South Station, which I'm pretty sure will be bigger than Shanghai Southern Station in the near future. And there are some others, like Shanghai West Station and Anting North Station.

[@chuckgoodwish3897]

You eat just like Chinese. I love it! I am Chinese by the way.

[@chuckgoodwish3897]

Big thumbs up.

[@MrRobustzgy]

Most young Chinese speak English, albeit limited for some

[@cyclebaba]

Lovely people ... Awesome vlog... Lots of love from cycle Baba

[@阿夏-t7m]

I got water in my mouth, dude

[@timcollins1131]

Obviously you need a guide to get around, try finding that at an affordable rate in the USA or does it even exist?

[@OMG-zg7cj]

Im. Enjoying your video and you are look definitely handsome.

[@chetnadethe8172]

20 dollars for a business class train ride in china.. not bad..

[@jianwang4259]

Really nice! Thanks for your video!

[@指鹿为马-s1h]

This dumpling looks delicious.

[@Angie888hk]

WOW!! You can really eat hot 🔥!

[@jeffietheturtle4111]

15:53 pronauced Hong Chao, something ike that not hong Q station. .

[@maheshwarikaruppasamy7646]

How did you eat this much food and did not raise 1kg?

[@jiayintown5886]

he also can shitting to lost 1kg...

[@古拙訥叟]

Hi David, the bowl of cucumber and slimy mushroom you mentioned, is not mushroom. It is 黑木耳black fungus, got it ? ha ha

[@孟庆博-w5q]

Welcome and wish you have a good travel.

[@jaywang6681]

小菜是就着主食吃，清口解油腻的。。。哥们你一下就吃完了，嘿嘿嘿。

[@uhub3045]

JAY WONG 当沙拉了

[@Danchris345]

Cool looks really good food! Making me feel hungry haha

[@dewi9235]

The train is better and cleaner and more space than in the Netherlands

[@mikel4690]

Dude why don't you use Google Translate?

[@青山-i9i]

现在流行做复兴号了，和谐号有点落后..！

[@TiffanyDing]

ooo what fun! the soup looks like hot and sour soup!!!!! and weee the more chilis the better~~~

[@madhusudhank.p3402]

Love from India. One of the the best food critic 😍. Visit Bangalore once again

[@adityapoojary6708]

He has visited Bangalore already

[@madhusudhank.p3402]

@@adityapoojary6708 he hasn't visited many places there

[@ClownsMayhem]

@@madhusudhank.p3402 Bhai to Kya sabke Ghar Ghar jayga waise Banglore is not so special.

[@ClownsMayhem]

Mumbai much better than Banglore 😎😎😎

[@TheHokkaidogaijin]

NOOOOOOOO

[@RD-ht6go]

Good thing you didn't have your lunch onboard.

[@Luke-ds8cn]

Please learn how to pronounce the word Shanghai. The way you're saying it is like like a typical western English way. But listen carefully to local Chinese people, nobody will ever say "Shang-hai". It's pronounced more like "Shung-hai" or if you really want to speak like a true local then it's pronounced more like "Song-hai"

[@散仙-v9s]

上有天堂下有苏杭

[@NangongReng1973]

This gentleman likes vegetables and dumplings a lot .He is eating them in nearly all his videos I have seen, lol

[@petrichor4753]

捕捉熟悉的陌生人一枚😄😬

[@hydroxmusic]

Love from Assam

[@adngamingyt6099]

Love from Tezpur