From: Moderator
To: ORIENTAL-LIST
Date: Sep 26, 2005 2:11 AM
Subject: [Oriental-List] Train tickets when you want, to where you want

Regarding concerns about not getting a train ticket when you really,
really want one on the day you really, really want to go somewhere:

I learned that the magical word in China (when it comes to trains, at
least) is "bupiao."  Again, as I mentioned before, my mandarin is
limited to the random words and phrases I learned while traveling.
"Piao" means ticket. "Bupiao" however is a magical term that means
upgrade ticket (or something
to that effect).

First thing to understand is that when you say you want to go to x
location and the ticket seller says "mei you" (no, in the "no, I do
not have" sense of the term "no"), often what they mean is that there
are no more sleeper tickets, and they often cannot fathom a foreigner
wanting a hard or soft seat ticket - or just do not want to sell you
those at first.  So be specific.  Start with the beds, if that is
what you want - "you mei you" (are/is there any - pronounced "yo may
yo") followed by "yingwo" (hardsleeper), then "you mei you
ruanwo" (softsleeper), "ruanxi" (soft-seat), "yingxi" (hardseat).

Do not be afraid to say these short sentences in chinese.  While a
normal Chinese person may not understand them, a ticket agent will,
because the ticket agent is only expecting you to say one of a few
things.  So, learn how to pronounce pinyin more or less, and you will
be fine in these encounters.  Do not be afraid of Chinese because you
think you are tone-deaf.  Chinese people are not dumb and so if you
ask (even with a poor accent) a ticket agent about tickets or a hotel
manager clerk about hotel room prices, they will very likely understand.

And then just repeat yourself.

The point is, that if you are confronted with a situation where lots
of awful ticket agents are buying up the tickets, you can buy a
ticket for a soft seat or a hard seat and then get on the train and
upgrade your ticket to the sleeper ticket you wanted in the first
place for no additional charge!!  I did this very frequently for
long, overnight journeys during the summer.  On every train, one (and
only one) car has a little office/window in which a conductor resells
the empty seats and beds on the train, once they have determined who
is actually on the train.  Thus, you can just pay the difference
between your purchased ticket and your new ticket.  This works
because all those agents do not actually succeed in reselling all
those tickets they bought up.

The tricky part is that you really must get onto the train and to the
"bupiao" car quickly (in some cases, making sure to rush onto the
train and find the car before your seat) so as to assure yourself a
top spot on the waiting list.  I did this by standing in a waiting
room and waiting for my train to be called. When it was called, I
always tried ot be at the front of the people on the way to the
train.  I would then hurry to the train.  At every door of every car,
there is a conductor standing, ready to look at your ticket.  I would
yell in a concerned tone to the first one I saw, "bupiao" and would
invariably be pointed in the right direction.  Usually, the person
would also tell me the number of the car.  If you do not understand
Chinese numbers, this is not a problem, as you can just keep yelling
this to train conductors at the entrance to each car.  The idea is to
go to the upgrade car before going to your seat.

Now, on some trains, there are so many extra beds that this would not
even be necessary.  I discovered the wonders of bupiao when a
conductor found me sitting in a seat on an overnight train journey
and asked if I did not want to upgrade.  It was already 11pm.  He
clearly had decided that the foreign girl all alone would not want to
be sitting in a seat.

On the other hand, I have also had less pleasant experiences.  Once,
I was traveling with a friend, and we raced to the bupiao car only to
discover many people in a line.  There was a clipboard floating
around on which people had to write their names, nationality, and
other information on the waiting list.  I hope this does not panic
Sameach too much, but I actually ended up getting into a shoving
match on the train with 3 (yes three middle-aged men and  me, a
woman, aged 22 at the time) while attempting to ensure that my friend
got both of our names on the list to get a bed.

So, there is a certain amount of risk involved in planning to
"bupiao".  I cannot guarantee that it will work every time.  Once, I
ended up sleeping sprawled across three seats.  I was not very happy
about that.  But on about 4 or 5 other occasions, I got a bed,
sometimes for several people in the same compartment.  So, depending
upon how badly you want to be somewhere, this may well be a risk
worth taking.

C. Pitt