Container transport will be authorized for the Yunkunmianyue international railway, which begins in Chongqing and runs through the provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan and the countries of Myanmar and Vietnam before ending at the Indian Ocean, according to Ma Zhongyuan, head of Chongqing’s customs office.

Ma said the railway’s container shipments will facilitate exports from Chongqing and west China to ASEAN member countries.

Another railway linking Chongqing with the city of Duisburg in Germany will be extended to the port city of Antwerp in Belgium, shortening the time it takes to ship goods from Chongqing to Belgium to about 16 days, 20 days less than the time on sea route, according to Ma.

China and Belgium also agreed to simplify custom inspection procedures, allowing goods exported from Belgium to China to go through just a single inspection in Belgium, Ma said.

The Chongqing municipal government has constructed multiple foreign trade ports and channels in recent years. The growth of the region’s foreign trade value, foreign investment and overseas investment rank first among the country’s provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

Source: China Daily

Not all stations have English translations yet for the Metro Map. Please see the attachment for both Line 1 and Line 2 full routes.

Si vous souhaitez visiter différentes régions de Chine, vous constaterez rapidement que le train est le moyen le plus économique pour circuler dans le pays, c’est aussi un excellent moyen de rencontrer et d’échanger avec des chinois.

Pour acheter son billet, il faut s’y prendre a l’avance, surtout si c’est durant les périodes de fête chinoise. Si vous ne parlez pas chinois, vous pouvez le faire par le biais de votre hôtel, d’une agence touristique ou d’un bureau d’information touristique (en échange d’une petite commission mais rien d’excessif). On peut réserver un billet jusqu’à cinq à dix jours à l’avance (selon les lignes). Pour les trajets courts, vous pouvez par contre acheter votre billet juste avant le départ.

Pour connaitre les horaires de train, vous pouvez consulter les sites suivants :

http://www.travelchinaguide.com  (en Anglais)

http://www.echinatravel.net (en Anglais et Français)

Il existe 4 classes dans les trains à longues distances:

1/La plus prisée, les couchettes souples (ruanwo). On compte normalement 4 couchettes par compartiment, qui est fermé par une porte. Elles sont plus confortables et certains compartiments ont même la télé et un petit salon. Ce sont aussi les plus chères.

2/Les couchettes dures (yingwo), c’est ce que la plupart des chinois prennent pour les longs trajets, donc ce sont celles qui sont le moins disponible à la vente. On compte 6 couchettes par compartiment, il n’y a pas de porte et sont moins confortables que les couchettes souples.

3/Les sièges mous (ruanzuo) sont des banquettes à deux places confortables et numérôtés. Les prix sont quasiment équivalents aux couchettes dures mais on peut y dormir assis à peu prêt confortablement.

4/ La classe la moins chère, ce sont les sièges durs (yingzuo) qui comprend une série de banquettes de trois places légèrement rembourrées. Pour un trajet de quelque heure cette catégorie est envisageable. En revanche s’il s’agit de traverser le pays, au bout de quelque heures cela deviens rapidement insupportable.

Here are 11 things you’ll want to know for train travel in China.

1) There are four classes when traveling by train in China. Most expensiveto least is as follows: soft sleeper 软卧 ruǎnwò, hard sleeper 硬卧 yìngwò, soft seat 软座 ruǎn zuò, hard 硬座 yìngzuò. Sometimes there is only one seat class on a train. Occasionally there are standing class tickets as well. For overnight train trips, be sure to purchase a soft or hard sleeper. The soft sleeper shares bunks with 4 people, while the hard sleeper shares with 6. The soft sleeper also has more room to sleep in. Getting a bottom bunk 下铺 xià pù (slightly more expensive) is much easier to get out at night if you have to go the bathroom. You also have much more headroom for when you want to read or use your computer. The other alternatives are middle or upper bunks, or just upper for a soft sleeper. Be sure to have your passport handy. If you are in asoft-sleeper bunk, a train employee will ask for your passport number.

2) You can purchase food on the train, but it is best to bring your own. Food on the dinner cart is small-portioned, overpriced, and not all that good. Make sure to bring drinks, snacks, a sandwich, and a few beers if you’d like.

3) Traveling around certain holidays, namely National Holiday (October 1st-8th) or Spring Festival (early February), can be a complete mess. You should prepare to book your tickets as early as possible, which is usually about 2 weeks. You may want to have a backup plan in mind because it is possible that all the tickets will have been booked out by students who are allowed to book even earlier than regular passengers.

4) Trains leave on time. I have never taken a train that didn’t leave within a couple minutes of its scheduled departure time. You will be allowed to board up to 5 minutes before departure time.

5) You can buy your tickets at the train station, or at kiosks around Chinese cities. The kiosks only charge a 5 kuai commission that is well worth it to avoid the sometimes horrendously long lines at stations. Tickets, as of now, cannot be purchased online. In non-peak travel times, 2-3 days before travel should be ample time to buy your ticket.

6) Bring some magazines, e-readers, iPod, ect. Traveling by train is not the most exciting thing. And because you will mostly travel at night, you will not even have a chance to see the country side. Make sure your batteries are charged for the trip!

7) If you cannot speak Chinese, there will often times be a ticket seller at train stations who can sell you a ticket in English. Don’t expect too much, though. It’s likely they speak just enough English to sell you that said ticket.

Don’t freak out! Chinese trains are mostly full of Chinese people, doing Chinese things. It’s likely you will see people spitting on the train floor.

9) Be very wary of your belongings. Theft is commonplace on Chinese trains
Always sleep with your valuable under your pillow or close to your head. You have less to worry about in a soft sleeper bunk, but still take precautions.

10) Don’t plan anything too important for the next morning. Even though you skip out on having to pay for a hotel for one night, you don’t often get the best night of sleep on a train.

11) When deciding to travel by train or airplane, consider that train stations are often much closer to city centers, and hence, closer to your hotelor guest house. Security for traveling by train is also very minimal, making it easier to get in and out of the station.

All aboard!

软卧下: Soft-sleeper bottom bunk ( most comfortable)
硬卧下: Hard-sleeper bottom bunk (second most comfortable)

La liaison ferroviaire entre Anvers et  Chongqing sera opérationnelle ce mois-ci. L’opérateur Hupac transportera des marchandises au départ et à destination de la Chine sur une distance de 10.000 km.

Taxi passengers in Chongqing used to pay additional fee for the taxi service, which often brought confusion and disputes.

According to the new regulation, the fee will start at 8 yuan in the daytime ( 6am to 10pm ) and 8.9 yuan during the night ( 10pm to 6am ).

1.8 yuan/km after the first 3km in the daytime and 2.25 yuan in the night.

Taxi-Book is your handy guide to key locations in Chongqing and a way to communicate with locals.

Good news! We can offer 5 free downloads of the Chongqing Taxi-Book iPhone App to the first people who react. Claim your free app by commenting on this post, move quickly to get one before we run out!!!!

The app is made to help you navigate through a city by listing its key locations and allowing you to get there comfortably. You just choose a location and show its name and address, along with an instructional phrase to a local taxi driver.
Taxi-Book – The App:

• Knows hundreds of key locations in the city

• Knows your position + helps you find your destination

• Speaks Chinese for you

• Available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch

• “Nearest Venue” picker wheel

http://www.yocoy.com/yocoy/en/taxi-book_index.php

The app also features dialogue options for communicating with locals in their language: All phrases are written in Chinese and can be pronounced via Text-To-Speech Synthesis. Some phrases also feature likely answer options that the dialogue partners may choose as a reply. An English-Chinese dictionary containing more than 12,000 words can be used to fill gaps in some phrases.

The Taxi-Book app is a joint development by Taxi-Book and Yocoy who have combined their respective expertises in key areas to bring users this handy tool. This installment features Xiamen, also known as Amoy, which is a coastal city in southeastern China. It is administered as a sub-provincial city under Fujian province. It became one of China’s earliest Special Economic Zones in the 1980s. More Chinese cities are soon to follow.

• Locations: Hundreds of locations divided into 10 categories are featured.

• Locations come with detailed information like English and Chinese name, address, phone number, and GPS coordinates.

• View locations on Maps and find nearby places easily (requires online connectivity). You can also add your own locations, enter and save their data if you have discovered a new place that is not covered in the app.

• Once you’ve chosen a location, press the Taxi-Card button to bring up a simple yet effective page that allows you to tell a taxi driver clearly where you want to go. Show the page to the driver and shake the phone to make it pronounce the phrase with your desired destination.

• Taxi-Card: Choose between different color styles to customize the page to your liking.

• Dialogues: Special dialogues for use in a taxi situation like “Turn on the meter, please” or “How long will the ride take approximately?”

• Basic Phrases: For everyday situations to say things like “Hello”, “Thank you”, tell others your name or ask where the restrooms are.

• Favorites: Pick your favourite locations out of all the locations and add them to your favourites list for quick and easy access.

Link to the iTunes Store: http://itunes.apple.com/be/app/chongqing/id426122297?mt=8
(Or easier: Type “Chongqing” in the iTunes Store)

http://maxxelli-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Taxi-Book-Chongqing2.png

With a total investment of 26.1 billion yuan, the constructon will include the 3^rd Runway and taxiway system, the T3 A terminal of about 450,000 sqm, oil supply facilities of 70,000 sqm…

The project is expected to be completed in 2020.

The operations will start on Sunday, 8th of May with bullet trains heading to Chongqing and Dazu.

Chengdu-Chongqing trains D1502, D1504 and D5106 and Chengdu-Dazu trains D5182, D5184 and D5186 will be the first trains to operate.

Tickets will be on sale at the train station and in the ticket offices this Friday, April 29th.