China DIY Travel

01/02/2020

Dear clients,

We are very sorry that the Corona virus breakout in China is impacting your travels. As for ourselves, we are safe!

• If we have purchased your tickets but you haven't picked them up yet, please send us a cancellation request via email, we will cancel the purchase and send you the refund.

• If you have a confirmed order for travel in March or April, we will send you a reconfirmation email. We only purchase if you reconfirm the trip. We will not fulfill existing order automatically.

• If you wish to cancel your future bookings now, please send us an email to this effect.

We still accept orders for future travels. Please note that since we won't book any tickets until you RECONFIRM your order, you still can plan your future trip.

If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected]

We wish you a safe & happy trip in China.

The China DIY Travel team

11/01/2020

Going to Datong now a lot easier

Datong has some amazing tourist attractions such as the Hanging Monastery, the Yungang Grottoes and Mt. Hengshan among others. However, it has always been difficult to reach due to long train rides and inconvenient schedules. This has now changed with the launch of a new high-speed train line from Beijing.
In anticipation of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, a new high-speed train line was built. In addition to the winter Olympics venues, the line was extended to Datong. These trains depart from the newly renovated Beijing North Railway Station and from the Beijing Qinghe Railway station. The three trains that depart from Beijing North also stop at the Qinghe station but the Beijing North station is more conveniently located for most travellers. This Beijing North station is located near the Xizhimen subway stop (lines 2, 4 and 13 – see photo ). The Beijing Qinghe Railway station is connected to the subway line 13. All trains arrive at the new Datong South station.

On to Pingyao and Xi’An

After Datong it is now possible to continue the journey to Xi’An, a very popular destination for tourists. It is very common for tourist travelling to Xi’An to make a short stop to Pingyao which can also be reached from Datong. This whole route is now serviced by high-speed trains.

18/10/2019

Very nice to finally meet Mark, the train Guru. Thanks for recommending us and confirming that we are the best agent in China. We'll keep doing our best for visitors to China!

The best agency for Chinese train tickets, Helen of china-diy-travel.com/en/ has been putting me right on the fiendish intricacies of the Chinese Railways ticketing system for years, by email from half way round the world. Great to finally meet you in London this afternoon, Helen!

21/08/2019

There are 56 ethnic groups in China. The majority are Han but the other 55 ethnic group represent about 8% of the country's population. Many of these live in remote areas. A very good way to see such minority groups in a natural setting is to visit a market. In many case they still wear they traditional costumes on a daily basis. These markets are authentic and not staged for tourists.

Some of the best places to see such markets are probably in the provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou (also in Guangxi and Hunan to a lesser extent).

This video shows a market near Yuanyuang in the province of Yunnan.

To search live China train schedule or book train tickets in China, please check www.china-diy-travel.com

14/06/2019

Once again, we received the TripAdvisor certificate of Excellence confirming us as a member of the Hall of Fame. Thanks to all our friends who took the time to write reviews!

27/01/2019

29/07/2018

Great photos of Guizhou. Our favorite province to visit.

In south central China’s Guizhou province sits Qiandongnan Miao and D**g Autonomous Prefecture, home to nearly four million people, beautiful scenery, and colorful festivals.

03/04/2018

Going to Xi'AN? Here is the cheap way to get to the Terracotta Warriors.

The Terracotta Warriors in Xi'an are amongst the most visited and most spectacular tourist attractions in China. This video show you how to get there cheaply...

06/01/2018

Overnight bullet trains now have new individual sleepers (capsule sleepers). These are a great option for the overnight trains (D trains) between Beijing and Shanghai as well as Shenzhen and Beijing or Shanghai, and Guangzhou and Beijing or Shanghai.
Great way to travel to save time and money. You sleep while you travel and don't need to pay for a hotel room.

China overnight bullet trains now have a new category of soft sleepers referred to as "capsule sleepers". These are individual sleeping compartments. These i...

20/12/2017

We recently told you about the new Xi'An-Chengdu high speed trains. More trains have been added and the fastest ones take only 3h15. We tried it on its second day of operation and here is our video:

In December 2017, new high-speed trains have been launched between Xi'An and Chengdu. These new bullet trains are a major improvements over the previous slow...