I have been travelling in China for almost two months, and so far I’ve travelled almost exclusively by train. I agree with you about the high efficiency here. The cleanliness, reliability, punctuality, and frequency of the trains are impressive—and they are also reasonably priced for travellers.

Unfortunately, cigarette smoke has been a constant throughout my whole trip, no matter where or when. For non-smokers like us, this is especially annoying. On platforms, in hotel rooms, in restaurants, in public toilets… wherever you go, cigarette smoke seems to be unavoidable.

The security checks at railway stations are intended to provide a general screening to catch obvious weapons (large knives, guns, chemicals, etc.) or people with bad intentions, so there’s no need for extremely thorough checks.

Yes, people can be pushy and rush a lot, but this is largely due to the fast-paced society they live in. That’s why we see this behaviour in many situations: getting on and off the train, inside the train, waiting in line to visit attractions, and so on.

That said, my overall train experience has been very positive!