20250827 Wednesday, August 27, 2025 Shenyang to Beijing at 200mph

Lifen booked us a 15 passenger Ford Transit for our trip to the high speed train station in north Shenyang.  8 of us are headed to Beijing at 8:57am while DaQing, BenShan and KeXin are headed to Wuhan at 9:30am.  BenChen headed off to the airport by subway on her own about the same time.  We were able to get all passengers in and piled up the luggage in the first set of seats and entry to the van. We just had to pray we didn’t need to exit the van in a hurry.  

The ride to the train station took only about 20 minutes despite traffic.  We did have some uncertainties about how to use the tickets BenChen helped us to purchase online.  We had QR codes on our phones, but those didn’t end up working.  At each place where we had to get our ticket scanned, there were 5 or 6 automated lanes where Chinese citizens simply tapped their Chinese State ID card to go through. There was one lane manned by an agent that had a passport reading window, and we ended up having to scan our passports to gain entry. 

7 of us were in car 9 of the train while Ben was in car 1.  The first class cabins were very comfortable and roomy with seating 4 across and reclining seats like in a domestic first class flight.  Also like a flight, there are attendants in the cars dressed just like flight attendants.  They came through with snacks and a drink shortly after the train left Shenyang.  There was also a trolley lady selling bags of treats and addition drinks during the trip. 

The train did not have WiFi, but cell phone network signals were strong nearly the entire trip, except in the longest tunnels.  The train was very quiet and smooth.  We cruised at just under 200mph most of the way.  That was a huge contrast to the Rocky Mountain Express which felt like it was going to jump off the rails the one stretch where it got to 40mph.  It is shameful that the US does not have high speed rail services like this when so many other countries around the world have managed to pull this off.  

The weather has been very wet, but cooler, with the temperatures in the mid 70’s and moderately heavy rain.  There are lots of puddles and streams to have to cross walking between the train station and van parking, and around the hotel.  

Our Travel China Guide Kevin met us at the exit from the train station and had been in contact with Ben via WeChat during the day.  His driver helped wheel some of our luggage through the station and into the van.  This Toyota van actually has luggage space behind the last row of seats, so we were able to easily get all the luggage in without having to put any in laps.

The Beijing Mercury Hotel is a very nice business class hotel with large comfortable rooms and air conditioning that actually works.  We ended up turning the temperature UP at one point.  

There is also WiFi that works for WeChat but for some reason, China’s internet does not work for most other internet functions, and when we try to turn on our VPN software, our devices report “No Internet Connection”.  

We have been burning through a lot of data.  Our 20GB 45 day plan that Janet and I have been sharing ran dry and we had to tack on additional data at the same rate.  All the photo syncing between devices eats up a lot of data, especially if you take a lot of pictures and video like Ben does.  It would be nice to have real internet in the hotels to radically reduce that cellular data usage.

After getting checked into the hotels, we walked through the rain to a nearby recommended restaurant “Da Yali ” or Big Pear.  This is a place with an extensive menu including Peking Duck and Squirrel Fish.  

We had a Peking duck, which they carved at the table side.  The skin was expertly crisp and the duck was moist and flavorful.  We tried to order Squirrel Fish for Connor, but for some reason, the waiter said we could only order them in two’s and not just one.  Since it was lunch, we skipped it for now.  Well later, we figured out the price was per kg, and that the average fish was actually closer to 2kg, so that’s what the waiter was trying to explain so there wouldn’t be any surprises.  The food was all excellent, but this was probably the first meal this trip where we didn’t over stuff ourselves to the point of feeling comatose.  The bill for the 8 of us was only $53.83 or only $6.73 per person.  It’s astounding how inexpensive food in China is. 

We headed back to the hotel where everyone kind of went their own way.  That included naps, gym and pool workouts, and starting laundry.  Janet and Ben were happy to get a bag of dirty laundry from Shenyang washed and put up clean.   Once we had a load go from the wash to the dry cycle, we walked to the Hopson Mall, which is a 15 minute walk from the hotel.  

Unfortunately, it was pouring down rain, which even soaked through our rain coats.  Janet didn’t have waterproof shoes so her feet got soaked.  When we got to the mall, if we bent over, water would come pouring out of our raincoat hoods, which were down because we were wearing our brimmed rain hats.  

We ran into John and Price, who had done some shopping.  The mall has a huge food court with dozens if not more than a hundred restaurants and other food vendors.  The other end of the mall is just like a big American mall except for it is crammed full of customers.  All the big name brands are present, and all are charging NYC prices, not Shenyang prices.  Ben looked at some Helly Hansen raincoats.  They started at $300 and went well above $500 USD (>¥3,000).  And waterproof Hoka shoes were also $300 USD.  Those are actually higher prices than you can get online in the US on Amazon.com.  We need to find another knock-off market like the ones in Shenyang where everything was unbelievably cheap.  

We ended up eating some Shanghai cuisine in the food court, which fortunately was still a cheap place to eat.  Price was able to figure out how to do online ordering and payment from the table, although we did have to use two iPhones to simultaneously go through the order process and use Google Translate to figure out the online directions.  

Our food did arrive shortly, so Price got it right.

  
The rain had let up a little on our walk back to the hotel so that it was just like a normal Seattle rain, and not a torrential downpour.

 
Our clothes were still finishing up in the dryer when we got back.  A lot of people are using that self service laundry.  What a great feature for a hotel to have!
Tomorrow we will begin our Beijing tour in earnest.  We’re hoping it won’t be raining like it was today, but we will bring rain coats and umbrellas again.