Expert: Tom Carter ~ Travel China Expert - 1/15/2009

Question
Tom,
i have a client who i am trying to get from Hong Kong to Guilin China, on
next Thursday, January 22nd, for a 3 day adventure, returning to Hong Kong
on Sunday the 25th.

I was going to fly her on Dragon Air, but they only fly on Fridays, so she'd
miss a whole day or more.
so i was going to train her from Shenzen.  i worked out the MRT to the KCR,
to connect at the border to the overnight sleeper train to Guilin but i have
been warned that with Chinese New Year, train travel will be impossible to
get.

I considered having her train to Guilin on the Thursday overnight train, and
return to Hong Kong via Dragon Air sunday night, but ive heard the train will
be too full, even on Thursday,... even though New Year doesn't start until the
following Monday.

so, what do you think?

are there flights to Guilin, from Hong Kong, or Shenzen, or another border
city, on Thursday?

or what do you think is the possiblity of getting an overnight sleeper train to
guilin for that Thursday night (the 22nd)?   
if you think this will work, how do i make a reservation?

i thank you much for your help.  this has been a very difficult travel logistic to
solve.

Melanie Tucker  

Answer
Dear Ms. Tucker,
I can not offer you flight advice because I never flew in China; my travels were strictly ground :)
However I can confirm that traveling by train before, during and after Spring Festival will be a nightmare and virtually impossible.
There are a couple ways to get on board, though, should you decide to play hardball. The first is going through a travel agency and offering them some serious cash to get you a ticket. Money talks... You can also try this with the train station agents themselves. But no matter what do NOT buy your ticket from a scalper (on the street); 99% chance that it's a fake.
Your second option depends on your clients age and resolve: purchasing a standing ticket. These are dirt cheap and easy to obtain. She might have to stand in the aisle the whole time, or sleep in the sink or the luggage racks like the locals do, but I have a feeling someone will offer her the corner of their seat if she is a foreigner. Chinese people are nice like that.
But to play it safe, I'd try to get that airplane ticket, and you should just do it through a travel agency and eat the fee.
Hope I could help!
Tom Carter