Quote:
Originally Posted by Dengler Avenue
not least because Chinese airspace's tightly controlled by the military, from what I've heard, which makes for circuitous routes
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I don't know about any of that. It's no more controlled than airspace in any other country.
Honestly, flying in China is the same as anywhere else. Well, except that it's a lot cheaper so long as you stay domestic. I can take a flight for the equivalent of under a 100 bucks to a lot of cities that would take a day of driving. I was in a hurry to get home one time so I took a business class seat from Beijing to my home in Changchun. It cost about $230 bucks. It's roughly the same distance as Quebec City to London, Ont. So it was about half the price of a similar trip in Canada (I just checked) Also, there was no pre-booking for that trip so that undoubtedly cost me more as well.
Trains are cheaper but even the high speed ones are a lot slower than planes, of course. They're really comfortable and very modern. Actually, they're A LOT cheaper...even the HSR routes. That's why they're so popular, as near as I can tell. I mean, you can take a train and get somewhere in double or triple the time it takes to get there by plane BUT you can save upwards of double or triple as well. To take the plane over the train means you either have a preference for flying and will pay the premium for it or you're too busy and count your time using hours.
Great HSR system, nonetheless. Massive and efficient. It's pretty much the one thing in China that I can honestly works as advertised. I have no doubt that there are honest criticisms of the system (there's always something) but I believe that it IS a model the rest of the world could and should copy.