Full Dining Car Experience aboard China Railways Night Train Shenyang - Xining in Soft Sleeper Car

China Railways Sleeper Train Train No.: K1517
From: Wuhai West Railway Station, Inner Mongolia, China
To: Lanzhou Railway Station, Gansu Province, China
Travelling via: Yinchuan and Zhongwei (Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region)
Full train route K1517: Shenyang - Baotou - Xining
Railway lines used: Baotou - Lanzhou Railway
Travel class: Soft Sleeper
Car No.: 8
Bed No.: 27 (lower bed)
Special: Dining / Restaurant Car
Train operated by: China Railway Shenyang Group
Scheduled Departure Time from Wuhai West: 17h56
Scheduled Arrival Time in Lanzhou: 05h04
Travel season: October 2023
Electric Locomotive Shenyang - Xining: HXD3D 0178, built by CRRC Dalian
00:00 Preview Summary
01:11 Inside Soft Sleeper car
02:11 Wuhai West railway station
05:29 Inside Dining Car
08:36 Yinchuan railway station
11:12 Dinner in compartment
13:05 Zhongwei + Yellow River
16:41 Lanzhou train depot
19:14 CR200J electric multiple unit train
21:58 Lanzhou Railway Station
包头市
内蒙古自治区
銀川市
中卫市
宁夏回族自治区
兰州市
甘肃
软卧车
进餐车厢

[@samtrak1204]

The platforms are clean and polished.

[@doc7austin]

well, this is china after all

[@marsaeolus9248]

I love these old trains :) I'm a bit sad that they are replacing them!

[@doc7austin]

yes; more and more are being replaced by the CR200J electric multiple unit trainset

[@jfmezei]

A big change to see a "full" resraurant car compared to all the empty one on Russian and other trains you have documented. (buit later in video you mention that many sat there without ordering anything). Preparing food on-board is a rare thing these days. In Canada, during heydays of rail travel, Canadian Pacific's The Canadian (Montréal-Vancouver) would pickup fresh fish in Thunderbay (lake Superior) and have it prepared and cooked on board. What is left of our rail system just has manufacturered food in the few dining cars left. Not fresh eggs for breakfast, just frozen scrambled eggs. So seeing Chinese dining car still cooking meals is amazing.

[@doc7austin]

yes; in europe and north america you will mostly only find convenience food aboard the restaurant cars

[@ParcelExpressX104]

I would always enjoy a meal on the dining car! It's the kinda magical atmosphere I'm fond of, so indispensable to a train trip IMO.

[@doc7austin]

yes; i also like dining cars, except the ones of deutsche bahn

[@iany2448]

With booming of takeout business, I understand it is now possible to order takeout in city ahead and order is delivered to platform when train arrives. This offers greater variety and choices, and possibly pares down railway own dining car offerings.

[@doc7austin]

but is all the food - you can order from takeout businesses - really safe to eat ?

[@sams9981]

好像只有在部分高铁上才可以点外卖，不是高速列车不行。食品安全应该没有问题，商家是和铁路官方合作的，仅限于高铁车站内的商家。

[@natraj_j]

Thank you for your videos. I always look forward to watching them. I watched your Part 1 video and loved it.

[@doc7austin]

yes, thank you for the feedback

[@brucewilliams8714]

This brings back memories of 1994, to Zhongwei. The "western style" toilet was locked, so had to use the squat toilet. Quite a feat considering it was a straight-through outlet to the track! And a very chilly updraught. Much subtlety was vital. Agree about the dining car, fantastic food. We had to surrender our tickets to the car attendant for the duration of the trip; returned just before arrival. A good feature was the replenishments of the hot-water flask, to make tea.

[@doc7austin]

yes; the toilets (both western and asian) were all in working order)

[@Trains686]

I like your videos keep up the good work🎉🎉🎉

[@doc7austin]

sure thanks

[@TripsonBudget]

Off the beaten path. Really waited for this 2nd part.

[@doc7austin]

yes; I wanted to escape the paths of mass tourism; china's inner mongolia and ningxia region offer that

[@upulpriyanthagunasekara4387]

U r the best traveller .❤

[@doc7austin]

well, doing a lot of video recording along my way

[@GuojunSONG]

SNCF jingle in ZhongWei 😅 thank you for the video

[@doc7austin]

yes; that jingle was one of my two easter eggs, which i have hidden in this video

[@gaborbalkanyi3490]

Found the second one, which was a DB announcement of a troubled train to ... perhaps Koblenz. All too familiar :D @@doc7austin Thanks for the vid!

[@doc7austin]

yes; major delay announcement by deutsche bahn

[@alexzhang1897]

As a Chinese I think the food served on the train is expensive and terrible🤣. I choose to buy it in advance and take it on the train or order takeout on the high-speed rail

[@doc7austin]

yes; you saw the other passengers in my compartment - they ate their own food, which they had brought on board

[@sheilaathay2034]

❤🎉

[@yuqin405]

I like your sense of humour. 😂

[@brucewilliams8714]

Many memories here. I noticed you didn't show the train toilet, just the wash basins. On our train to Zhongwei, in 1994, the "Western WC" was locked, and we had to use the squat toilet. Quite a challenge on a swaying train. We were based at Zhongwei to film trains in the surrounding areas. Thank you for this.

[@doc7austin]

well, I do not publish video content of dirty toilets on my channel

[@joey3291]

That's a good value for the price, you got a lot of chicken, and it looks delicious...

[@doc7austin]

yes; you wouldnt find this kind of chicken meal in central europe

[@calvinang1]

Your train journey has the nostalgia of Paul Theroux - Riding the Iron Rooster published in the 1980’s. Great book by the way. Thx for such an insightful video and safe journey

[@doc7austin]

yes, i have really enjoyed this night train trip

[@Tinovr6]

I think i heared the Lanzhou station announcer talk about an overnight train to Berlin ueber Koblenz? :D

[@doc7austin]

yes, i have hidden two easter eggs in this video - in order to see if people are carefully watching this video

[@K-sp]

Interesting announcement at 18:07 😄

[@doc7austin]

do you mean the german-language announcement ?

[@K-sp]

@@doc7austin yes, where does that come from?

[@ohneEisen]

Immer diese bösartigen Seitenhiebe auf die DBAG? Da bin ich dafür!

[@doc7austin]

ein bisschen Heimweh auf Deutschland und die DB AG ist ja ok - auch in der tiefen chinesischen Provinz

[@jfmezei]

You ask the question of Nightjet vs Chinese railways: Nightjet isn't really a long distance servicem it is just a motel on wheels for one night travel, no restaurant, no lounge, no socializing. The chinese train in this video has dining car, and it appears the people are much more lively on the train. Though I still remember one of your videos aboard a PKP train where your breakfast in dining car made me really hungry.

[@doc7austin]

yes; very few night trains in europe also carry a restaurant car; however, the sleeping car attendants may lock the aleeping car so that the restaurant car is not accesible

[@yangdaoy]

Do you have a travel channel?

[@guestonearth1274]

Most safe country in the world

[@doc7austin]

i agree with you

[@duiliuceng]

You Didn't even sleep. And stand on the platform 1 hour under -2 degree. How much Passion you have for train.

[@doc7austin]

hahaha; yes; thats why i have written that i felt exhausted making videos on chinese trains

[@andienguyen-theworldandi6483]

At 16:00 min, I can clearly hear someone boring 😂. Will take many trains on my silk road trip this Oct. How you all think about food on the train? Should order foods there or bring own foods?

[@panzer3279]

Amazing video! How's the train suspension and ride quality compared to a European sleeper trains (like Nightjet)? And the Indian Tejas train you made a video about?

[@doc7austin]

this was an older ruanwoche soft sleeper car - the ride quality was not the best; but, on newer soft sleeper cars the ride quality is perfect

[@ikmijzelf179]

Its good to hear some proper German announcements at 18.05. I assume the long distance train Beijing to Berlin?

[@doc7austin]

this was actually a delay announcement due to a technical problem

[@mistersurogat]

very modern train

[@doc7austin]

well, most cars were new, but not my soft aleeper car

[@DanielYau318]

@@doc7austinyep, your one should be running more than 20 years.

[@doc7austin]

but i think the car was still well-maintained

[@Anonymous-dy2zu]

Don't they operate day sleeper passenger trains? Ther rolling stocks look amazing btw.

[@doc7austin]

yes; there are some high-spees trains with sleeper cars, which operate only during the day

[@user-ve6vu2fv3z]

视频拍摄当天的Z275本物机车是“雷锋号”，HXD3D-0035

[@doc7austin]

oki

[@kkbrainff6986]

😢very familiar report sound in 13:25.why it is the same in france gare

[@doc7austin]

it was an easter egg, that I was hiding in this video

[@yuqin405]

Nothing is simply simple 😅😅😅

[@doc7austin]

yes; simple and china dont go well along with each other

[@samtrak1204]

Was that a dining car with the tables and purple seats? It was on a moving train filmed from the platform.

[@doc7austin]

yes; this was our dining car

[@travelvideos]

I have never eaten on the train in China. The best is to buy food in supermarket before trip or use cup noodles. But I like to sit in dinning car without buying anything, because it is more spacious.

[@doc7austin]

well, I believe that cup noodles are not very healthy; in this dining car the meals have been freshly cooked

[@bombaytaxidriver]

Why is there an announcement in German @ 18.06-18.25 when in Lanzhou?

[@doc7austin]

yes; 40 minute delay announcement due to a technical fault

[@alexanderivkin7086]

@@doc7austin🤣🤣🤣🤣 Every train that runs too late in China must be announced in German, so that the chinese can feel our third-world-country vibe.

[@samtrak1204]

Do the blinding bright lights stay on all night in the hard seat cars? I'm blinded just looking at them on my computer. Poor passengers.

[@doc7austin]

yes; unfortunately; hard seat cars are not a comfortable way to travel during the night

[@cestmoi1262]

How does the announcement (@ 18:10) in German fit into this China railroad station. Note: the train is 40 (?) minutes late. Typical.

[@doc7austin]

its an easter egg; i always place some of them into my videos

[@panzer3279]

Why was the gate closed at Lanzhou? Couldn't understand the reason.

[@doc7austin]

there is a metal door between the platform and the passenger underpass; this was closed; some yelling from my side and they opened it

[@sellier-bellot22]

The Chinese are building railways like crazy ???😆😆

[@doc7austin]

crazy; they are still expanding their network at a rapid pace

[@basstrip73]

Yes. They've built 40k kilometres of high speed rail lines in 20 years. Contrast to UK where HS2 from London to Edinburgh (about 1000km) was scheduled to take 20 years to build before the whole project was scrapped late last year by the current UK government. The west can't build anything anymore, the only thing it spends public money on is bailing out failed banks and businesses and weapons and war (e.g. Ukraine). The European rail system is a sad joke compared to what it was even 15 years ago. Multi-hour delays, overcrowded tracks and equipment failures are all common now.

[@alexanderivkin7086]

@@basstrip73China now has more high speed rail than the rest of the world combined. This is also the fact for: Coal consumption, concrete production. The plan is to build 70.000km of high speed rail. I only see one problem: If you build infrastructure for currently 1,4 billion people, it´s not clever to see how your population will die out 50% until 2080. Who will use this stuff?

[@marcinklimas2670]

I prefer classic ex, or still comunist sleepers, like ex CCCR, China, Poland, Slovakia, ex Yugoslavia, North Korea, Romania, etc. Nightjet is ok, but so modern.

[@doc7austin]

trains in India have sleeping cars, as well - but it feels much different

[@karmesindryade]

I would prefer a compartment like the ones in the 1974 Agatha Christie movie "Murder on the Orient Express". I need pure luxury 😎

[@doc7austin]

well, china is a communist country; the best you can get is a deluxe 2 person sleeping compartment with an ensuite bathroom (without shower)

[@robinsonshawqx]

The Altay (Aletai) Train (Y965/967) might be of interest. There's quite a few upscale ammenities options up there. Still not as luxurious as Japanese offerings, but it's a good start

[@doc7austin]

what is the route of this train ?

[@robinsonshawqx]

@@doc7austin From Urumqi to Altay/Fuyun County. It's a ski express sort of thing. Last time I checked, there's a piano in the dining car and apparently it was a pretty joyful ride.

[@robinsonshawqx]

@@doc7austin But apparently the dining car is in for some repairs this snow season, so might as well come back next year!

[@samtrak1204]

Can a single passenger occupy a compartment for additional fare?

[@doc7austin]

no, this is not possible in china

[@jellyzRL]

Bourgeoisie decadence will not be tolerated 😤

[@user-ej4cz5yr5y]

@@doc7austin Technically, yes！You can use the identities of three other friends to buy three more tickets and inform the conductor that you need to stay in a same box. Money bag hurts.😁

[@maxwang7937]

No. Even the best deluxe suite option on some trains are twin compartments, so you need at least 2 people travelling together.

[@XerxesLangrana]

Is it difficult for foreigners to travel in China, or can anyone travel anywhere they like?

[@doc7austin]

hmmm; most foreigners need a visa; and for tibet foreigners also require a special permit; practically speaking, its not possible to travel anywhere

[@guestonearth1274]

No problem , everywhere from cities to corner villages

[@user-ys4og2vv8k]

I noticed that Chinese trains (at least from the outside) are much cleaner than European ones...

[@doc7austin]

yes; much better cleaning and maintenance

[@shaozhihao]

中国的车厢有专门的洗车场对外面进行机器清洗，不知道欧洲是人工清洁还是机器自动清洁？不知道频率是多少

[@adityagarthe7184]

dude i have seen it multiple times why do you include fake announcement sounds , like in this one @ 13:25 you played the sncf announcement sound

[@doc7austin]

yes, these easter eggs were meant as a joke

[@adityagarthe7184]

i guess, lol @@doc7austin

[@samtrak1204]

Is that someone snoring in the background?

[@doc7austin]

yes; there is a lot of snoaring of my fellow compartment pax; it is authentic and real

[@samtrak1204]

@@doc7austin

[@Islandicus]

Yes, that is what happens when you eat a boiled frog late at night.

[@ZZGZBF]

Can you find male over age 40 without snoring? 😂😂😂 It is common worldwide.

[@doc7austin]

@ZZGZBF yes, good point

[@markuskaminski8945]

18:07 German language????

[@doc7austin]

yeah; it was an easter egg

[@johnmehaffey9953]

Oh dear all that snoring and chatter in the background, that sounds like the trip from hell for me, I prefer peace and quiet

[@doc7austin]

chinese trains are not the best place to seek for peace and quiet

[@Hoo88846]

You can say the same about Japanese and American trains,

[@guestonearth1274]

😀 Gansu Province is one of 3 poorest provinces in China

[@doc7austin]

but i felt ok there

[@cestmoi1262]

You point out all the wind turbines. None of them were turning thus not producing electricity. Reminds me of the plywood tanks that were produced during WWII to fool the enemy of the true military strength.

[@doc7austin]

ah good point; i didnt notice that ))

[@cestmoi1262]

@@doc7austinLeave it to your viewers. We check everything. LOL!

[@doc7austin]

@cestmoi1262 yes, yea; I am noticing that.

[@GS-pg5qz]

Maybe it wasn't windy enough.

[@cestmoi1262]

@@GS-pg5qz Well then, what good are they! Hope you have plenty of candles in reserve and wood for a bonfire. Think beyond the length of your nose.