Zhangjiajie Travel Tips
Timing your Zhangjiajie trip: Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is a natural landscape scenic area, so season and weather matter greatly. Before traveling, fully consider the theme and purpose of your trip. For spring outings, naturally go in spring. Spring arrives late here, generally starting mid-April and ending by early May. Summer...
This article is compiled from the original travel notes on the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com); it is a record of trips from earlier years. Time-sensitive information such as ticket prices, schedules, and accommodation prices is subject to the latest announcements from scenic areas and transportation authorities; the itinerary ideas and attraction introductions still have reference value.
Points to note when choosing the time to visit Zhangjiajie: Zhangjiajie Forest Park is a scenic area mainly featuring natural landscapes, so seasonal and weather factors are very important. Before traveling, fully consider the theme and purpose of your trip. For a spring outing, naturally it's in spring. Spring in the scenic area arrives late, generally not starting until mid-April and ending by early May. Summer is naturally a good season for escaping the heat and leisure, with rafting and vacationing. However, July and August are slightly inferior to May and June, because the rainy season begins in July, and visibility on the mountains is very poor. Food and accommodation conditions are also relatively worse. Golden autumn certainly means after October. After October, the weather is clear, the color contrast of trees on the mountains gradually becomes stronger, the scenic area has broad views and fresh air. Products are abundant, and food and accommodation conditions are relatively good. Friends who like snow scenes naturally should not miss December and January-February each year. Rare alpine snow scenes occur only a few times a year, and they come quickly and melt quickly. Zhangjiajie receives nearly ten million visitors from various places each year. Peak periods during major holidays are times when problems are more frequent; queuing to enter scenic spots is very common, and tight schedules and a wrong atmosphere are the main issues. So try to avoid tourist peak periods, which will make your itinerary much more relaxed and smooth.
I. Precautions against touts at the train station
On the train: On various trains to Zhangjiajie, there are often people wearing uniforms (mostly impersonated), or claiming to be from some reception department, or under the name of some travel agency, soliciting customers. They will ask you to join their travel agency, or offer services such as accommodation, tour guides, and vehicles. Generally, they use low-price tactics to attract tourists' attention and use group after group of people to wage a war of attrition on tourists' willpower. At this time, you should remain cautious and not easily engage with them. For those who pester endlessly, you can complain to the train attendant.
Train station: Zhangjiajie Railway Station is located in the suburbs and is relatively remote. Therefore, at the exit and square of Zhangjiajie Railway Station, there are year-round illegal tourism workers of low quality soliciting customers, and their methods are rather aggressive. Forcible solicitation, grabbing bags, and obstruction occur frequently, even causing trouble for tourists taking public buses normally to the city or scenic areas, seriously affecting Zhangjiajie's tourism reception image. If tourists arrive at Zhangjiajie Railway Station and then contact a travel agency on the spot, since the city is far from the station, it takes about 30 minutes for the arranged guide to arrive. During this time, tourists are followed by touts and their rights cannot be properly guaranteed. The travel agency guide coming to pick up guests temporarily is also very likely to be obstructed by touts. So we often hear some independent travelers confide in us like this: "At the train station, I was almost torn apart by them"; "Sigh! I barely escaped!"). If you stay at a hotel, they follow you to the hotel, and after you settle in, they demand kickbacks from the hotel, insisting these guests were referred by them. There are duty police officers at the center of the square. If tourists encounter such aggressive touts, please complain to the police promptly.
◎ Tourist reference material 1: http://travel.people.com.cn/GB/41636/41644/6141753.html
◎ Tourist reference material 2: http://www.hnredstar.gov.cn/zhangjiajie/zjj/t20070907_128761.htm
★ Solution: Before departure, tourists should learn about Zhangjiajie tourism information in detail, such as consulting relatives and friends who have been to Zhangjiajie, or asking local travel agencies for materials. Do not travel blindly. It is recommended to make a plan before departure, contact a local travel agency in Zhangjiajie or a local group-organizing agency in advance, and promptly inform the travel agency of the travel plan (date, train number, route, name, contact information, etc.), so that the travel agency can prepare reception plans in advance and arrange a guide to come to the train station exit holding a pick-up sign with the tourist's name. Generally, guests who have a guide from a legitimate travel agency holding a sign to pick them up will not be troubled by touts at the train station. However, note that after getting off the train and before meeting their guide, tourists should also ignore those "enthusiastic" touts.
II. Precautions against pickpockets at the bus station
Like every city, bus stations, due to large floating populations from other places and complex environments, are often breeding grounds for petty theft. Zhangjiajie Bus Station is located in the most central position of Zhangjiajie City and the old urban area, with a large flow of people. Buses from Changsha, Fenghuang Ancient Town, Jishou, and other major cities to Zhangjiajie all load and unload passengers here. Since tourists coming to Zhangjiajie mostly carry considerable cash, they become special targets for pickpockets. Pickpockets often work in groups of three to five, pretending to accidentally bump into tourists and seizing the opportunity to strike. Or they carry long tongs and follow tourists to steal.
★ Solution: Before traveling to Zhangjiajie, contact local friends or travel agencies in Zhangjiajie and ask the travel agency to arrange guide personnel to pick up guests at the bus station in advance. Guests should keep in touch with the pick-up personnel so they can be picked up on time and promptly go to the hotel or scenic area.
III. Precautions against self-driving car solicitors
If you come to Zhangjiajie by self-driving car, wildcat operators and unlicensed guides will try every possible way to discuss tour packages with you. Since you are driving yourself, their first step is to get into your car before you arrive in Zhangjiajie or after you arrive. Once they get into your car, they have their stage, and there is nothing they think they cannot accomplish.
1. Boarding locations: At the Zhangjiajie highway exit, at the Changsha highway entrance, and at fork roads, intersections, gas stations, toll stations, and traffic police duty posts in surrounding cities and counties near Zhangjiajie (such as Lixian, Shimen, Changde, Cili).
2. Target vehicles: Sedans, minivans, business travel vehicles, and non-route-operating minibuses or large buses from outside Zhangjiajie.
3. Reason for boarding: "I'm from Zhangjiajie, just heading back, so I'll hitch a ride and can also give you directions along the way." Unknowing people often think they are lucky. More sophisticated wildcat operators may appear as public security, traffic police, or government personnel, asking roadside traffic police to stop a car for them, claiming to be colleagues from that area, handling matters here, and now needing to find a ride back.
After getting in the car, they boast and brag as much as possible, as if they have extraordinary abilities and know every tourism link and department in Zhangjiajie. If a deal can be made in the car (or an intention expressed), their task is complete. If the guest is disgusted, they have contacts, and after arriving at the scenic area, "more capable" and "more imposing" accomplices will negotiate with you. If these efforts still do not work on shrewd guests, and the guests may find a hotel on their own or find a reputable travel agency locally, then they may stick to you like flies, going to the hotel (or travel agency) you stay at to demand kickbacks, claiming they spent great effort bringing these guests. If the hotel (or travel agency), as a business entity, considers giving kickbacks to "wildcat operators," it must raise accommodation prices, and the one who suffers is still the guest. More importantly, it disrupts the normal order of the tourism market.
Moreover, the routes arranged by these wildcat guides are often not the classic tourism routes of legitimate travel agencies. They often omit many well-known Zhangjiajie scenic spots such as Huanglong Cave, Baofeng Lake, and Huangshizhai, while filling the itinerary with free minor attractions. To save money, they take tourists to stay in family inns (villagers' homes) within the scenic area, where hygiene and safety cannot be properly guaranteed. Zhangjiajie Guide Network www.33519.com, an excellent Zhangjiajie tourism website
★ Solution: For the above situations, self-driving friends have every reason to refuse them. If you encounter someone pestering endlessly, you can call the 110 police hotline. It is best to call the Quality Inspection Brigade of the Zhangjiajie Municipal Tourism Bureau (0744-8230888) or the Quality Inspection Office of the Wulingyuan District Tourism Bureau (0744-5618331). At the same time, if self-driving tourists need tourism reception services, they should contact legitimate and regular travel agencies for reception. Sign a tourism agreement with the travel agency, carefully review the route content in the agreement, etc., and avoid joining wildcat routes arranged by wildcat guides.
IV. Precautions against online wildcat guides
Currently, many online wildcat guides in Zhangjiajie have appeared on major travel forums, using lower prices and the guise of independent travel to attract tourists. Tourists often only realize after arriving in Zhangjiajie and following them up the mountain that they have no one to turn to for help. Moreover, to save on tickets, wildcat guides often take guests to areas not fully open, where tourism facilities simply cannot guarantee normal safe visits for guests. If an accident occurs, tourists cannot receive the protection of the travel agency liability insurance purchased by legitimate travel agencies. Such unlicensed wildcat guides soliciting customers directly not only violate the Regulations on the Administration of Travel Agencies, but also bring more negative effects to Zhangjiajie. Wildcat guide solicitation in Zhangjiajie is actually explicitly prohibited, and tourism management departments have made great efforts to rectify it, as in most tourist areas nationwide. However, driven by huge profits, it is still rampant online.
A large number of online wildcat guides often first post a Zhangjiajie independent travel guide (no matter which wildcat guide posts it)
The guide content is basically identical. The original source of this post is actually the original work on a legitimate travel agency website in Zhangjiajie. Then they show a work ID from some company or their own mobile phone number, claiming to be a simple local person or a guide from some travel agency (although they may be affiliated with a travel agency, the travel agency may not know they are illegally soliciting customers). Then there may be a few shills to bump the post. After tourists contact them and arrive in Zhangjiajie, they will not use regular tourism vehicles with safety guarantees, but directly go up the mountain in uninsured, unlicensed vehicles. They will not stay in regular hotels, but to save costs, stay directly in farmhouses on the mountaintop, with no village ahead and no shop behind—unsafe and unhygienic, no air conditioning, and no guaranteed hot water. If safety issues such as sexual extortion occur at night, tourists have nowhere to complain or call the police. The tour routes specifically take remote small paths, omitting some classic Zhangjiajie scenic spots and definitely not going to places requiring tickets—otherwise how could they receive tourists at ultra-low tour fees? With meals arranged by wildcat guides, tourists basically cannot eat well. If tourists want to order two more dishes themselves, the wildcat guide will mostly say the restaurant owner is their cousin. After tourists take the menu introduced by the wildcat guide, they will see green vegetables at nearly 50 yuan per portion and chicken soup at 200 yuan per portion. For all this, even if tourists complain to tourism departments, they will only be perfunctorily brushed off, because most of them do not have national guide certificates (or have fake ones) and are not dispatched by legitimate travel agencies, so tourism management departments cannot do much about them.
◎ Tourist reference material 1: http://bbs.zjj.gov.cn/read.php?tid=144417
★ Solution: Many tourists, because they do not understand the local tourism reality well enough, consider issues less carefully. As long as an itinerary looks like a Zhangjiajie several-nights-several-days tour, densely listing attractions and with a particularly affordable price, they approve it without much consideration. In fact, this is very wrong. You must first understand the following two facts:
1. The essential scenic spots in Zhangjiajie include Huanglong Cave, Baofeng Lake, Zhangjiajie Forest Park (Huangshizhai, Golden Whip Stream, Tianzi Mountain, Yuanjiajie), and Tianmen Mountain Scenic Area.
2. The main accommodation hotel distribution areas are: Wulingyuan District (Suoxiyu), the entrance of the Forest Park, and Zhangjiajie city proper—these three major areas.
But in order to reduce costs and expenses and thereby achieve the purpose of obtaining high profits, they generally change the conventional route and accommodation areas:
① Reduce attractions on the essential tour routes (especially attractions requiring tickets), and add less important attractions (anyway, no tickets or low ticket prices; the more listed, the more you psychologically feel you have gained).
② Change the conventional hotel accommodation area, placing tourists in family inns (villagers' homes) in remote areas such as Yangjiajie, Yuanjiajie, Daguantai, and the top of Tianzi Mountain, where conditions and services cannot keep up, making the promised star-rated hotels or guesthouses an empty phrase—or they simply dare not promise. When tourists question that the standard does not meet their expectations, they change their tune and say this is all that is available here. In that desolate mountain area, to whom can you explain clearly? Only then do you realize you have been cheated.
Appeal regarding protecting the World Natural Heritage and reducing accommodation in the core scenic area: Since the discovery of Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and Wulingyuan Nature Reserve in 1979, due to the non-replicability of their geology and landscapes, they have been honored as a "World Natural Heritage," "China National Forest Park" (the first), and "China National Geopark." Zhangjiajie City was also established because of tourism. To protect the common wealth of mankind, Zhangjiajie has carried out many years of protection work. To protect the ecological environment within the core scenic area and reduce tourists' ecological pressure on the forest park, a major demolition was carried out in the scenic area in 2002, completely demolishing hotels, restaurants, and artificial buildings built within the core scenic area due to tourism development and relocating them outside the ticket stations. Therefore, there is currently no regular hotel accommodation within the scenic area. The so-called inns in the scenic area now are villagers' houses where residents lived at the time. Because of their remote locations, they do not affect the landscape, and the villagers have lived there for generations, so the government allows them to remain. If tourists stay in villagers' homes, over time and increasingly so, the green mountains and clear waters within Zhangjiajie's core scenic area will soon cease to exist...
V. Precautions against hotel sexual extortion
In the hotel areas where tourists stay, male tourists should beware of sexual extortion.
Many hotels in Zhangjiajie have service providers offering massage, foot soaks, hairdressing and the like. As soon as tourists check into a hotel or take an evening stroll around it, these people will approach you in various ways to "show concern" — "You must be tired from your journey, why not try a Chinese herbal foot soak, or a proper massage? The results are really great." Some men then ask about the price, and are told, "It's very cheap, just a few dozen yuan, pay whatever you like," and some even claim it can be provided free of charge. Nothing good comes that easily — in fact, this is mostly bait (though it cannot be denied that some are genuinely legitimate). They use these services, which on the surface seem like good value and are often needed by tourists, to lure some men into a trap, then use a young pretty girl as a second piece of bait to launch another round of psychological attack, asking whether you want "special" services and so on. At this point, some male tourists whose convictions are not firm may begin to waver at the sight of a pretty woman, and start haggling with her, finally settling on a price you think is acceptable — generally between 100 and 300 yuan. In fact, it is virtually impossible to enjoy the "special" services they offer for such a fee. After it is over, they will extort you under all kinds of pretexts and in all kinds of ways — at least 600–800 yuan, or as much as over a thousand or even several thousand, whatever figure they dare to name — otherwise you cannot get away. By then the tourist realizes it is too late to regret. If he wants to report it or complain, he has done something shameful and dares not make it public; if he does not complain, the knife has cut too deep. It is truly like a mute person eating bitter herbs — the bitterness cannot be expressed!
◎Reference for tourists: http://www.hnfz.net/zjj/content.asp?area=%D5%C5%BC%D2%BD%E7&lmmc=%B7%A8%D6%CE%D0%C2%CE%C5&id=7088
★Solution: Here we earnestly advise our many male tourist friends to keep themselves clean and avoid immoral and illegal matters. (Note: In Zhangjiajie, simply having a foot soak or a legitimate massage is not necessarily a problem, and there are quite a few such service places — as long as both sides agree on the price. The extortion described above mostly occurs when guests engage in illegal special transactions with girls. If this happens, we suggest you dial 110 to report it to the police and immediately contact your tour guide for assistance.)
Six. Precautions Against Fake Travel Agencies
Travel agencies are an industry under state franchise; only with a travel agency license number may one receive tourists for sightseeing. To meet tourists' travel needs, Zhangjiajie City has, after strict review, 65 travel agencies citywide, including 15 international travel agencies and 50 domestic agencies (statistics as of January 2008). Before joining a tour, pay attention to choosing a travel agency; when signing up online to join a tour, you should choose a travel agency with operating qualifications. The identifying standard is that the travel agency should hold a "Travel Agency Operating License" issued by the tourism administrative department (the National Tourism Administration or the tourism bureaus of provinces and municipalities directly under the Central Government). For example, Hunan Zhangjiajie International Travel Service's operating license number is: L-HUN-GJ00042 — L stands for tourism, HUN stands for Hunan, and GJ indicates an international agency. Only by choosing such a travel agency can the lawful rights and interests of tourists be protected! One more point to note is that a travel agency should not have very many websites. If one travel agency has many websites and numerous different phone numbers, and you encounter such a travel agency, then you need to be careful — this company may have problems. Finally, pay attention to the scale of the website, the travel agency's brand, and other details.
If you come to Zhangjiajie by train or plane, on the train you take to Zhangjiajie, as well as at Zhangjiajie Railway Station and Zhangjiajie Airport, there are often people in uniforms (mostly impersonators), or claiming to be from some reception department, or using the name of some travel agency, who solicit tourists. They will ask you to join their travel agency, or offer to provide you with accommodation, a guide, a vehicle, and various other services. At this time you should keep a clear head and not casually have dealings with them (because they either charge very high prices or provide very poor service, and cases of abandoning tourists happen frequently). Toward those who pester you endlessly, you can report to the duty officer, or dial 110, or call the tourism complaint hotline to get it resolved.
If you come to Zhangjiajie by self-driving car, those touts will rack their brains even more to discuss tour packages with you. Since you are driving yourself, the first thing they want to do is get into your car before you even arrive in Zhangjiajie. Once they are in your car, they have a stage to perform on. According to their boasts, there is nothing you can imagine that they cannot do. Places where they get into your car: at fork roads, crossroads, gas stations, toll stations, and traffic police posts within the areas of cities and counties neighboring Zhangjiajie (such as Li County, Shimen, Changde, Cili, and the expressway exit in Zhangjiajie's urban area).
Reasons for hitchhiking: "I'm from Zhangjiajie, and I happen to be going back to Zhangjiajie. I'll hitch a ride with you, and by the way I can show you the way." People who don't know any better often think they are just lucky. There are also people who disguise themselves very well and appear as public security, traffic police, or government agency personnel, wearing fake traffic police uniforms and driving fake traffic police cars to stop tourists' vehicles, claiming to be colleagues from over there, that they are handling matters here, and now need to find a ride back.
Other Aspects
1. Do not take the so-called free or low-priced special airport or station pickup vehicles at the railway station or airport. The best transportation is a taxi, a public bus, or a vehicle dispatched by a legitimate travel agency; otherwise they will take you to places you do not want to go;
2. Do not readily trust tour guides or touts who quote excessively low prices or are overly enthusiastic;
3. Friends who come to Zhangjiajie by self-driving car must absolutely not let strangers you have never met ride in your car along the way, such as at three-way or crossroads, toll stations;)
Whenever you encounter troublesome matters involving fraud or endless pestering, do not be weak and afraid, otherwise they will become even more arrogant and unrestrained. The first thing you should do is refuse decisively and forcefully — they will not do anything to you. If this does not work, you can complain to the relevant management department, and firmly believe that the management department will uphold justice for you. At the same time, this is also what they fear most and your most effective move.
In Tourism Shopping
On the whole, Zhangjiajie's shopping market is still fairly well regulated. Especially in recent years, efforts to crack down on and shut down illegal shopping venues have achieved good results, and forced selling and buying are almost nonexistent. However, tourists should still pay attention to the following aspects when shopping during travel:
1. Do not spend money in "black shops" without business licenses — if you are not at ease, I am worried;
2. Do not casually buy "antiques and curios," "fossil stones and rare stones," or "jewelry and jade"
3. Do not believe in "human-shaped fleeceflower root" — no matter how much it looks like one, it is still a "once-in-a-thousand-years" find;
4. Look clearly at the goods and bargain; only take them after the price is settled
One. Preventing Infection Is Most Important
During a journey, if your shoes are uncomfortable or you walk for a long time, it is very easy to get blisters on your feet. What should you do then?
For smaller blisters, it is best not to puncture them. Apply some antibiotic ointment or iodine locally and bandage them. Generally they can be absorbed on their own after two or three days.
If the blister is relatively large, wash the foot clean and disinfect it (you can apply iodine and alcohol locally). Then use a clothing needle sterilized over fire to puncture the blister, squeeze out the fluid, and cover and bandage it with sterile gauze.
If the blister breaks naturally, disinfect it immediately, cover and bandage it with sterile gauze, and do not wear dirty socks or shoes again.
Folk remedy: stir-fry an appropriate amount of white radish seeds and grind them into powder; grind an appropriate amount of alum into powder; mix the two medicines evenly and put them in your shoes. After putting on the shoes, walking will not hurt, and the small blisters will disappear on their own. You may try it.
Two. To Prevent Foot Blisters, You Should:
(1) When walking long distances or traveling, do not wear new shoes, leather shoes, or high heels.
(2) If the sole of your foot is rubbed sore, painful, and red, you can rub a layer of soap on the outside of the sock or inside the shoe at the corresponding area, or stick two layers of gauze on the rubbed area of the sole to make the contact area smooth.
Wind, Cold Compress, Medicine
When you feel like vomiting, it is better to just vomit
Motion sickness by car, boat, or plane is medically called motion sickness. It is caused by acceleration, deceleration, and bumping and shaking of the means of transportation. Excessive fatigue, hunger, overeating, physical weakness, mental tension, and a humid, stuffy, and dirty surrounding environment, or someone nearby vomiting, can all trigger and worsen this condition.
Sightseeing travel is originally a pleasant thing, but if motion sickness occurs on a bus or boat, with dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting, and even collapse or shock, it inevitably makes one feel disappointed.
When carsick, take the following measures:
(1) You can apply a cold towel to your forehead, face, and chest, which will relieve the symptoms.
(2) If you really want to vomit, it is best to find a place and vomit as much as possible. After vomiting, you will feel much more comfortable.
(3) When seasick, if the boat pitches up and down, you can lie horizontally; if the boat rocks left and right, you can lie along the length of the boat, then close your eyes and rest, and do deep breathing movements.
(4) Do not look at things flashing past outside the window. Gaze into the distance.
(5) If antihistamine drugs can be found nearby, such as meclizine (Bonine), dimenhydrinate (Dramamine), diphenhydramine, etc., they can be taken according to the instructions, with better effects.
In order to prevent the occurrence of motion sickness, it is best to take the following preventive measures before traveling:
(1) Maintain a happy mood and suggest to yourself that you will not get carsick.
(2) Avoid getting too hungry or too full, and do not travel when fatigued.
(3) Try to keep the surrounding environment quiet and well ventilated.
(4) You may take the above-mentioned medicines before traveling as a preventive measure.
You can also try some folk remedies, such as sticking a medicated plaster on your navel before traveling, or placing a dried plum on your navel, which may have a miraculous effect. In addition, cooling oil, essential balm, and the like are also effective in preventing and treating motion sickness.
III. Points to Note When Taking a Train
Trains are the main means of transportation for tourism in our country. Their features are large passenger capacity, accurate schedules, low cost, and the ability to transfer or stop over en route (within the ticket's validity period), giving them a certain flexibility. In addition, they have the advantage of running at night. Tourists can make use of the feature of nighttime travel to journey at night, which saves both time and accommodation costs, and allows them to rest on the way. They can also take advantage of transfers to visit several places along the railway line. Train departure times are fixed and unaffected by weather, making it easy for us to manage our time and arrange our schedules reasonably.
When taking a train, pay attention to the following issues:
(1) Buying tickets
There are three types of tickets: passenger tickets, express tickets, and sleeper tickets. To buy an express ticket or a sleeper ticket, passengers must have a soft-seat or hard-seat passenger ticket. If you have not bought a ticket but are in a hurry to board, you can remedy the situation by boarding first and paying for the ticket afterward. When paying for the ticket on board, a supplementary ticket fee will be charged. If you have bought a ticket but board without having it checked, you will be required to pay a supplementary inspection fee when tickets are checked.
(2) Ticket validity period
The validity period of a ticket is calculated according to the distance traveled. Within 300 kilometers it is two days; for 301 kilometers or more, one additional day is added for every additional 500 kilometers, and any distance less than 500 kilometers is also counted as one day. For passenger tickets and express tickets after rebooking, when traveling earlier, the validity period is calculated from the actual date of travel; when changing to another train, it is calculated from the date specified on the original ticket. If a passenger is ill and presents a medical certificate or has it verified by the station within the validity period of the passenger ticket or express ticket, the period may be extended according to the actual number of days of medical treatment, but by no more than 10 days. When resuming travel, the remaining valid time on the original ticket is still used. Sleeper tickets cannot be extended, but refund procedures may be handled.
(3) Ticket endorsement
If passengers cannot travel on the date and train specified on the ticket, provided that the validity period of the passenger ticket and express ticket is not extended and the train has capacity, they may go through the procedure once to travel earlier or later, but no later than 2 hours before departure. Sleeper tickets are not eligible for rebooking. When passengers change trains at a transfer station or resume travel after getting off midway, they must go through endorsement procedures regardless of the type of train taken.
(4) Luggage
The free weight allowance for carry-on items is 20 kilograms for adults and 10 kilograms for children. The length and volume of carry-on items must be suitable for placing on the luggage rack or under the seat. Explosive and flammable dangerous goods, and items that hinder public hygiene or pollute the train, must not be brought on board.
(5) Advice on guarding against theft when taking a train
On the train, whether day or night, and especially at night, remember never to take turns sleeping or watching bags with strangers, otherwise criminals may seize the opportunity and steal the luggage you have placed on the luggage rack.
When the train stops at a station, there are often three many's: many passengers getting on and off, many people looking for seats, and many people looking for space on the luggage racks. At this time, pay special attention to guarding against criminals fishing in troubled waters, and keep a close watch on your luggage and belongings. Do not wear gold and silver jewelry, as you can easily become a target for snatching.
When taking out money on the train to buy things or meals, especially in crowded conditions, it is not advisable to reveal large amounts of cash. If the cash is seen by some people, it can easily be snatched or stolen.
When leaving your seat to use the restroom, eat, meet friends, line up for hot water, or get off to buy food when the train stops, never become careless; you must closely prevent your luggage from being stolen. Never casually accept drinks handed to you by others, especially drinks whose seals have already been opened. Recently, crimes using drugged drinks have been quite rampant.
When using a bag to hold a seat after boarding, or when asking someone to pass a bag through the window when getting off, because there is a time gap between leaving the bag and retrieving it, and because there are many people, many belongings, and much confusion at such times, pay special attention to prevent your luggage bag from being taken away or swapped.
On the train, you should be on guard against people who are restless, people who like to look around and stare about, and people who pretend to be foolish and bump into others. Only by taking strict precautions can you prevent theft.
(6) How to complain when problems are encountered on a train
When people travel and buy tickets to take a train, once problems arise, to which departments should passengers complain? To complain about a relevant station, first find out clearly which railway sub-bureau the station belongs to. Within the railway sub-bureau there is a road conduct office and a passenger transport division, to which you can write letters or make phone calls to complain, and you can also complain to the consumer association and the industrial and commercial bureau price department of the city or county to which the station belongs. To complain about a train, first understand clearly which railway sub-bureau and which passenger transport section it belongs to, and then send a letter or call the relevant departments of that railway sub-bureau or municipal government. When it is impossible to know which railway sub-bureau or railway bureau the station or train belongs to, you can also complain to the Ministry of Railways, which will forward the complaint to the relevant department.
(7) How to handle a lost train ticket
If a train ticket is lost before boarding, you should actively search for it. If you remember the ticket number of the ticket purchased, it is best to go to the station refund window to report the loss. If someone happens to pick it up and comes here to refund it, the staff can withhold the ticket for you and return it to you after it is reviewed by the public security department. If the person who lost the ticket is unable to buy another ticket, they may go to the local civil affairs department to explain the situation and request help.
If a lost ticket is discovered on the train, a ticket for the remaining journey must be purchased starting from the station where it was lost; if the station where it was lost cannot be determined, the ticket must be re-purchased starting from the nearest operating station behind; if it cannot be determined that the ticket was lost, the passenger will be treated as a ticketless passenger and the ticket must be re-purchased starting from the train's originating station.
If, after re-purchasing a ticket for a lost one, you find your original ticket, you must immediately declare this to the train conductor. After it is confirmed beyond doubt, the train conductor will issue a certificate to the passenger, and at the passenger's destination station, together with the original ticket, it should be submitted to the station ticket window to handle the procedure for refunding the re-purchased ticket fare, with a refund fee charged. In order to prevent losing train tickets, passengers must properly keep their tickets and store them separately from money, so as to avoid losing both the ticket and the money.
(8) In summer, pay attention to protecting against the cold when taking an air-conditioned train, because when the train runs at night the temperature in the carriage is below 20 degrees Celsius, and it is hard to bear wearing only short sleeves or a shirt.