Train Z19 Beijing to Xian

On Chinese New Year’s Eve, I did the Beijing – Xian trip by taking Z19 express train, the Z19 leaves Beijing West train station at 20:28, and arrives the next day in Xi’an at 07:58. Back to Beijing, the Z20 departs Xi’an at 19:23, and arrives in Beijing the next day at 06:53. A soft sleeper berth cost me about RMB420. This was very comfortable. You can go cheaper and get a hard sleeper, but be prepared for noise.

It was a fantastic trip and I would encourage anyone to do it. You do need to be a little thick skinned when traveling through China and I’d highly recommend to plan it out well. It makes things so much easier.

Train ticket bookings
Book your trip to Xian directly at the Beijing station, or on the Internet or through a travel agent. You can’t book train tickets until about 20 days before you want to travel (though they keep on changing this. It may be only 10 days before your departure date). Also, you can’t book return tickets. You need to buy the Beijing-Xi’an tickets in Beijing, and the Xi’an-Beijing tickets in Xi’an. Something to do with the strange ticketing system in China.

I would suggest getting into contact with the people at your accommodation and asking them if they can get you tickets. DON’T use any of those international ticketing agencies. You will be overcharged. If you are booking tickets from Beijing to Xian through an agency, some agencies will accept your reservation only after a deposit has been confirmed.

Book a ticket of Train Z19 Beijing to Xian…

Boarding the train in Beijing
Know that Beijing’s train station can be somewhat confusing.

There are two major stations in Beijing, Beijing Main (metro Bejingzhan) and Beijing West (also called Beijing Xi or Xizhan, metro Junshibowuguan). Trans-Siberian trains to Moscow & Ulan Bator use Beijing Main, as do trains to Shanghai. The direct train to Hong Kong and trains to Xian, Guangzhou & Tibet all use Beijing’s newer West station. Both Beijing stations are large and busy, and some people find them confusing. So arrive in plenty of time for your train!

When you reach the station, you must first go through airport-style security controls into the departure area. For soft sleeper travel, you must then find the appropriate waiting lounge for your train. There are a number of different waiting lounges, and the electronic message boards show which is the right one for each specific train. Tickets are checked on entering the lounge, so you can be sure you are in the right place. Inside the lounge, the electronic message boards show the trains departing from that lounge, for the next 24 hours.

Trains are usually allocated between lounges so there is ½ hour or more between each departure from that lounge. Most trains are shown as ‘on time’, but the most immediate departures are shown as ‘waiting’. Once a train is ready for boarding (normally about 30 minutes before departure) it is shown as ‘check in’, meaning you can proceed through ticket control to the platform. About 5 minutes before departure the barrier is closed and the train is shown as ‘check out’.

More detail informations of Train Z19 Beijing to Xian…

Taxi service in Xian
The Taxi service at Xian Railway Staion is not good. Watch out for fraudulent taxi drivers who try to get more money out of passengers by taking the long route to their destination or by taking them on a needless trip around town. Western travelers are almost a novelty. Prepare to be the object of a lot of attention!

Trips within Xian are usually in the range of 6 Rembini, which is less than $1. Trips outside Xian can get up to 20 Rembini ($3).

4 days round trip train tour Beijing/Xian/Beijing by Z19/Z20…