TRAIN STATIONS: Train stations in China should be considered a bit dangerous. From what I hear, there are usually many thieves and pick-pockets in and around the station. Indeed, they aren't good place to linger at. It is a mess. A mess of people. Sometimes the lines are so long to buy a train ticket, its almost crazy! Like the one from Xi'an to Jiayuguan, that train station was so huge.. there were probably more than 20 booths to buy tickets, but all the lines were more than 20 feet long!!! Whats more is that most Chinese people do not really know what is lining up.. many people might just cut in the line... .
In the Guangzhou Train Station, hundreds of people sit around outside.. waiting. While passing through this huge crowd of people to take the train to Chongqing, I witnessed an incident. A person in front of us was suddenly pulled aside by another. The guy who pulled that person aside spoke in a very rude and mean voice. Since we were in a rush, I didn't get to hear what happened.. But my cousin, who came to escort us to the station, heard it.. She later told me that the guy pulled him aside and said something like "Hey you, why don't you give me respect/face? Give me a cigarette!" And she said that the guy probably wants MORE than a cigarette.. .. scary...
But anyway, riding the train, for the most part, is quite a good experience. You get to see and meet various Chinese people, you can try out different foods at the train stops, you can look out the window for the scenery.

MISSING A TRAIN: ha! such embarassment, but yes, I did miss a train in Chengdu, Sichuan by 5 minutes.. Chinese trains always go on schedule. Boy, we were huffing and puffing after a taxi ride and a mad dash.. but it was useless because we missed the train... One of the train station janitors saw us and took pity on us.. She told us to go down and try to exchange the ticket. So we went to a special booth (I forgot the name... sorry!) and we try to exchange the old train tickets for the next train.. We could!! I was quite overjoyed because the ticket cost about 400 yuan (~$50US.. :D ), and that is *a lot* of money in China. HOWEVER, the catch was that there was no more hard sleepers left.. what is left is the HARD SEAT TRAIN... So we took the HARD SEAT train the next day in the afternoon... and had one of the *terrible* experience of my life.. ...

TRAINS IN CHINA: The first time I rode the train, I was nervous because I was afraid that people might steal your luggage or steal some items from your bag when you go elsewhere or sleep.. but that doesn't seem to be the case.. Of all the times I rode on the train, (even on the hard seat train)I didn't lose any personal belongings. But I also locked up my duffel bag, put my backpack in the corner of the wall, and slept with my backpack near my head. In the end though, I think that once you talk with your neighbours and know who is around you, no stranger would take your stuff while your neighbours are there. But still, its better to be careful because I hear the US passport is worth a few million RMB! @_@..

If there is a very heavy storm with strong rain and lightning, the train may stop and wait for the weather to become better. The train runs on electricity and the lightning interferes with it or something like that.. I was stuck on this train from Beijing to Guangzhou for about 45 minutes due to a storm.. and there were these German cockroaches that came crawling out from cracks... @_@ (that is the only time I've ridden on a train with cockroaches, BTW)

classes of trains:

HARD SEAT-cheapest of all seats. In other words, just expect the ordinary citizens and farmers to ride on this train. The seats are actually not "hard", they are cushioned, but they are 90 degrees straight up. The seats can accomodate two to three people. The hard seat train from Chengdu to Xi'an was completely FULL and I rode it sitting on the window seat (yay!), but with three people total sitting on one long seat and without much space between. There is NO air-conditioning. The fans on the roof *did* work for a few hours, but then *STOPPED*. I was so hot, I couldn't sleep. I probably didn't get *any* sleep on that ride.. I was drifting one half way between consciousness and unconsciousness and awaken almost every 15 minutes because of the noise from the train stopping at a station... The train seems to stop so often, its so slow.... There was a smart middle aged man across from me who brought a very BIG fan... =D Many people like to eat melon seeds and spit on the floor.. People just throw candy wrappers, seeds, fruit peels, or spit on the floor.. hmm.. very nice indeed... After getting off the train, i felt like a lost a couple of years.. Just remember, the Hard Seat Train may be better if you need to ride it for a short while.. . :D
SOFT SEAT-never tried this one..
HARD SLEEPER- The beds are actually not "hard" either and are quite comfortable! There are three kind of beds: top (cheapest), middle, and bottom (most expensive). The bottom bunk has the most space, and it is the most widest. People can sit upright on the bottom bunk. The top bed has the least space. You can't even sit upright because the space is too narrow.. So, usually the top and middle bunk person can just sit on the bottom bunk bed (even strangers) or sit on the two foldable seats next to the window.
These trains have air conditioning and are not too hot nor too cold. The beds have bed sheets, blanket, a pillow, and a pillow cover.. Well, I wouldn't go on and say if they are very clean or not.. but sometimes I find some hairs on the pillow cover... @_@.. You can get hot boiling water in the train.. and there are TOILETS (which flush everything OUTSIDE *ON* the railroad track.. @_@) and sinks.
SOFT SLEEPER- never rode one this one, but this is the most luxorious and most expensive class.

FOOD: Food sold in the train and in the train station tend to be more expensive. Some popular foods to eat are instant noodles, fruits, melon seeds (and yes, in the hard seat train, they spit them on the floor), tea eggs, canned sweet bean congee, beef jerkey.. and for lunch or dinner, you can buy a set meal which usually include one box of steamed rice and one box of vegetables, and a bit of meat. The box lunch costs about 10-15 RMB($2US) , which is not *too* expensive.. They aren't too bad either.. Sometimes you can buy a region's specialty food at the train stop.. One time, a neighbour bought a lunch that came with a ceramic bowl.. other neighbours praised him saying "That bowl is probably worth the 10 RMB!" haha..

Railroad workers would occasionally push food and snack carts in the hallway. They would loudly announce "drinks! beef jerky! oranges! peaches! lychee! Instant noodles!"

THINGS TO DO: Many people sit around looking out the window, some chat with others, some read newspaper, magazines, or books (and some people may just come and ask to borrow your newspaper!), some people play cards.. oh, there is usually music playing.. usually the old Chinese songs like "Ai wo zhong hua", some music pertaining to the region you are travelling, and sometimes non-vocal pop music.. (i heard a few of Miyuki Nakajima's song a few times..) Of course, I heard many songs probably more than twice each since I rode the train so many times for the whole trip.. :D

PRICES: Of course, the train in China is so much cheaper compared with the Amtrak in US. A 30 hour hard sleeper train ride may cost you about 400 RMB, or around $50US.. Just remember that 400 RMB is *a lot* of money in China.. Many ordinary Chinese cannot afford the hard sleeper and ride on the terrible hard seat train..