On the Move in Shaanxi: Instead of taking China’s familiar high-speed rail, Dad and Elaine boarded an old-style green train (绿皮车, lǜpíchē) from Xianyang to Baoji. It was Elaine’s first time — and we got a surprise after boarding.
Elaine had traveled on plenty of trains in China.
Fast ones.
Very fast ones.
The sleek high-speed rail (高铁, gāotiě) that makes moving between Chinese cities remarkably easy.
But Dad wanted her to experience something different.
A train that belongs to another side of China’s enormous railway system.
A green train — 绿皮车 (lǜpíchē).
So when we needed to travel from Xianyang (咸阳, Xiányáng) to Baoji (宝鸡, Bǎojī) in Shaanxi, Dad saw an opportunity.
Instead of automatically choosing the fastest train…
why not let Elaine try a green train for the first time?
It sounded like a good idea.
Then we got onboard.
And discovered something Dad hadn’t quite planned for.
We had no seats.
😂
First Question: Why Were We Starting From Xianyang?
International travelers usually think of this part of Shaanxi as:
Xi’an (西安, Xī’ān).
But we were starting from:
Xianyang (咸阳, Xiányáng).
They’re not the same city.
And there’s actually a reason Xianyang keeps appearing in our travels around Xi’an.
Even Xi’an’s main airport is called:
Xi’an Xianyang International Airport
西安咸阳国际机场
Xī’ān Xiányáng Guójì Jīchǎng
Why?
That’s another ChinaTravelBUG rabbit hole.
🐇 Why Is Xi’an Airport Called “Xianyang”? Our Xi’an Xianyang International Airport Guide →
For this journey, though, we weren’t heading into central Xi’an.
We were going west.
To Baoji.
Even the Train Station Felt Different
Before our green train had even arrived, Dad was already noticing the difference.
We were waiting inside Xianyang Railway Station (咸阳站, Xiányáng Zhàn), an older conventional railway station.
And Dad looked up.
Behind the rows of passengers was this enormous mural.
Emperors.
Horses and chariots.
Ancient buildings.
People traveling and trading.
Historical scenes stretching across the wall.
It had character.
So naturally…
Dad took a photograph. 😂
🚄 Very Different From the HSR Stations Elaine Already Knew
By this point, Elaine had already passed through plenty of China’s modern high-speed rail stations (高铁站, gāotiě zhàn).
They’re impressive.
Huge.
Bright.
Efficient.
Electronic departure boards.
Security checks.
Long rows of gates.
Large waiting halls.
And often a very modern, standardized feel.
Dad likes them enormously.
But older conventional railway stations can sometimes feel different.
They may be smaller.
Older.
Less polished.
And occasionally…
far more individual.
This mural was a good example.
We weren’t simply waiting for a train.
The station itself was quietly reminding us that Xianyang (咸阳, Xiányáng) has a very long history.
Why Xianyang’s History Matters
Xianyang isn’t just the city whose name international travelers see attached to Xi’an Xianyang International Airport (西安咸阳国际机场).
It was once enormously important.
Xianyang was the capital of the Qin state and then the Qin imperial capital under Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇, Qín Shǐhuáng).
That made the historical imagery around the station particularly appropriate.
Dad didn’t stand there trying to identify every scene in the mural.
That wasn’t the point.
He simply liked that an ordinary railway waiting hall had something that made him stop and look.
🐇 And if you’ve ever wondered why Xi’an’s airport carries the name of another city — Xianyang — we’ve gone down that rabbit hole too:
Xi’an Xianyang International Airport Guide: Why Is It Called Xianyang (咸阳)? →
🚂 It Was the Perfect Beginning to This Journey
Looking back, the waiting hall suited what was about to happen.
This wasn’t going to be another journey through a gleaming high-speed rail station followed by a sleek 高铁 (gāotiě).
We were about to board Elaine’s first:
绿皮车 (lǜpíchē) — green train.
Older station.
Historical mural.
Traditional train.
Slower journey.
And, as Dad was shortly going to discover…
no seats for us.
😂
The adventure had already started before the train arrived.
Waiting at Xianyang Station
This is one of Dad’s favorite kinds of travel photograph.
Nothing dramatic.
Elaine sitting at a railway station.
Phone in hand.
Suitcase beside her.
Other passengers waiting around us.
And behind everyone, a huge mural filled with imagery from the history and culture of this part of China.
That’s something Dad enjoys about traveling through China’s smaller and older railway stations.
The station itself sometimes tells you:
You’re somewhere different now.
And soon…
so would the train.
🚂 Here Comes Our Green Train
🎥 Elaine Sees a Green Train Arrive
Watch Elaine standing on the platform.
Pink cap.
Backpack.
Suitcase ready.
Waiting behind the yellow safety line.
Then the locomotive appears.
Behind it:
those long, dark-green passenger carriages.
绿皮车 — lǜpíchē
Literally:
绿 (lǜ) — green
皮 (pí) — skin
车 (chē) — vehicle/train
So quite literally:
“green-skinned train.”
That’s the affectionate everyday name widely used for China’s traditional green passenger trains.
And this was Elaine’s first time taking one.
This Was NOT China’s High-Speed Rail
For first-time international travelers, this distinction is important.
When people imagine taking trains around China today, they usually picture:
高铁 (gāotiě) — high-speed rail
Modern stations.
Sleek white trains.
Very high speeds.
Assigned seats.
But China’s railway system also includes conventional passenger trains.
The train Elaine was about to experience was from that world.
Older-style carriages.
Slower journey.
Different atmosphere.
And considerably cheaper.
Dad wanted her to experience both.
Because China’s railway story isn’t only about traveling at 300 km/h.
Look at the Price Difference
Dad later checked the journey.
A conventional train between Xianyang and Baoji could cost around:
¥23.50
for a journey of roughly:
1 hour 50 minutes
That’s one reason these trains still matter.
Not everybody needs the fastest train.
And not every journey requires high-speed rail.
For many passengers, conventional trains remain an affordable way of moving between cities.
But Dad was about to learn something else.
😂
Then We Boarded…
Suitcases in.
Elaine aboard.
Dad aboard.
Excellent.
Now find our seats.
Except…
there weren’t any.
Our tickets didn’t give us seats for this journey.
Dad looked at Elaine.
Elaine looked at Dad.
😂😂😂
Welcome to another side of Chinese railway travel.
Wait — You Can Buy a Train Ticket Without a Seat?
Yes.
China’s conventional railway system can sell standing/no-seat tickets (无座票, wúzuò piào) on some services.
The Chinese is useful:
无座 — wúzuò
无 (wú) — without
座 (zuò) — seat
So:
无座 = no seat
You have a valid ticket.
You can board the train.
You can travel to your destination.
But…
you don’t have an assigned seat.
Dad had known conventional Chinese trains could be busy.
Experiencing it with luggage and Elaine was rather more educational.
😂
So Where Did We Go?
This was very different from our high-speed rail journeys.
The carriage was busy.
People were sitting.
People were standing.
Luggage occupied the racks.
Passengers moved through the aisle.
Purple seats.
Curtains beside the windows.
A completely different atmosphere from the sleek high-speed trains Elaine already knew.
And somewhere in the middle of it…
there was us.
Trying to work out how comfortable we could make ourselves for the journey.
😂
Thankfully, there was one very important piece of good news.
Less Than Two Hours!
Xianyang to Baoji wasn’t an all-day journey.
Roughly:
1 hour 50 minutes.
Dad could handle that.
Elaine could handle that.
Probably.
😂
If we’d accidentally booked a six-hour journey without seats, this would be a very different Follow Our Stories article.
But for less than two hours?
It became part of the experience.
How Did Elaine Take It?
This is the part Dad remembers.
No meltdown.
No:
“Dad! Why didn’t you book us seats?!”
Well…
perhaps Dad deserved that question. 😂
Instead, Elaine adapted.
She watched what everyone else was doing.
Found her space.
Managed the luggage.
And experienced a form of railway travel completely different from the high-speed trains she’d already taken around China.
That’s partly why Dad wanted her to try it.
Not because standing on a train is inherently fun.
It isn’t.
But because travel becomes more interesting when not every journey looks exactly the same.
🎥 And There Goes Another Green Train
Listen to it.
The sound of the wheels.
The station platform.
Passengers pulling luggage.
The long green carriages moving away.
There’s something very different about the atmosphere compared with a modern high-speed railway station.
Dad wouldn’t choose a green train for every journey.
But we’re glad Elaine experienced one.
🐇 But Why Were We Going to Baoji Anyway?
This is where the train story connects with something much bigger.
Baoji (宝鸡, Bǎojī)
is west of Xi’an in Shaanxi Province.
And Elaine wasn’t being dragged there by Dad.
Quite the opposite.
One of the big reasons we were going was something Elaine wanted to see:
Baoji Bronze Ware Museum
宝鸡青铜器博物院
Bǎojī Qīngtóngqì Bówùyuàn
Baoji is deeply associated with the bronze culture of the Western Zhou Dynasty (西周, Xī Zhōu).
And that takes us into a China that existed centuries before Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇, Qín Shǐhuáng) unified the empire.
That’s why we went.
🐇 Beyond Xi’an: Why We Went to Baoji — Into the China Before Qin Shi Huang →
The green train was simply how we got there.
But sometimes the journey becomes a story of its own.
And She Arrived Like This
Look at her.
After:
the station,
the luggage,
her first green train,
the crowds,
and discovering we had no seats…
still smiling.
We had arrived at:
Baoji Railway Station (宝鸡站, Bǎojī Zhàn)
And now Elaine could finally go after the reason she’d insisted Baoji belonged on our journey.
Bronzes.
History.
Western Zhou China.
Dad had survived the train.
Elaine was in good spirits.
Everybody wins.
📍 Want to Travel to Baoji Yourself?
For international travelers, Baoji is absolutely possible as an independent trip.
But don’t assume Dad’s green-train adventure is the only way to get there.
There are different railway options depending on where you’re starting, the timetable and the type of train you choose.
If you’re planning the journey, we’ve already done the practical work for you:
Travel Tips: How to Visit Baoji (宝鸡) From Xi’an (西安) for Foreign Travelers →
That guide covers the practical journey.
This story tells you what happened when we actually did it.
Dad’s Tips Before Taking a Green Train
If you’re curious about trying a 绿皮车 (lǜpíchē) yourself, Dad would suggest checking a few things carefully.
1. Look at the train number
Conventional Chinese trains commonly use letters such as K, T or Z, depending on the service type.
Don’t assume every train search result is high-speed rail.
2. Check the seat type BEFORE paying
This is the lesson Dad learned personally. 😂
Look carefully for:
无座 (wúzuò) — no seat
If you see that, understand exactly what you’re buying.
3. Think about journey length
Standing for 90 minutes?
Maybe manageable.
Standing for six hours with luggage?
Dad would think very carefully.
😂
4. Give yourself time at the station
Conventional railway stations can feel different from China’s newest high-speed stations.
Arrive early enough to find:
your waiting area,
platform,
carriage,
and boarding point.
5. Travel light if possible
Dad says this after taking a no-seat train with luggage.
Enough said.
😂
ChinaTravelBUG’s Take
Would Dad deliberately book a 无座 (wúzuò) ticket again?
Not if there were good seats available.
😂
But are we glad Elaine experienced a Chinese green train?
Absolutely.
She had already seen one China railway story:
高铁 — gāotiě.
Fast.
Modern.
Efficient.
Assigned seat.
Now she experienced another:
绿皮车 — lǜpíchē.
Slower.
Cheaper.
Busier.
Older-style.
And in our particular case…
no seat.
Both are China.
We left Xianyang with Elaine excited about her first green train.
We boarded and discovered our little surprise.
We survived 1 hour 50 minutes.
Then Elaine stepped outside Baoji Station (宝鸡站)…
still smiling.
And waiting beyond the station was the reason she’d wanted to come in the first place:
the bronzes of Baoji.
Sometimes Dad chooses the destination.
Sometimes Elaine does.
And sometimes…
