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Do-It-Yourself JingPeng Steam |
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There have been numerous reports about the JiTong line and the Jingpeng Pass in particular, by both groups and independent travellers. I was here for the first time for 5 nights in January 2000 and I have tried to put together a guide for those who have yet to make an independent trip here. Grateful acknowledgements to the Lonely Planet Guides for the organisation of the text and other visitors whose wisdom I have tried to distill into what follows. Corrections and helpful suggestions will be much appreciated. I have made minor changes to this in November 2001 to reflect more recent reports and the opening of two loops on the pass
Getting there and away from Jining/Tongliao: There are daily passenger trains from Jining and Tongliao which will stop at Jingpeng or Galadesitai (the station for Reshui) - for the situation in October 2001 see the then current Jitong timetable. Many visitors combine the Jingpeng Pass with a trip to Baotou, note that this means an overnight train journey. From what I have heard hard sleepers are only hard to come by when official parties of Chinese are on the move. (Comments from readers would be appreciated.) Getting there and away from Chifeng: I travelled this way. In Chifeng, to find the bus station, turn right outside the railway station and it is about 100 metres along the road on the left side. Conventionally, take a bus/minibus to Linxi, which will cost just under Y30 (depending on the kind of bus involved), you get a computer generated ticket which will state the departure time and entry gate. Very easy, the services are quite frequent, the road is good and journey time about 3½ hours. From Linxi there are frequent minibuses and microbuses on to Reshui, the journey time is ½ hour and the cost a relatively expensive Y10 - but I bet the locals pay less! Stay on the bus for another ½ hour for Jingpeng itself. Yet again, my Nelles map is inadequate in this area! In Chifeng, I found it impossible to stay in other than the 3* Chifeng Binguan. With a bit of gentle negotiating the board rate of Y248 was brought down to Y160, I believe others have had similar experiences. To find the hotel, go straight ahead out of the station for about 500m, the hotel is on the right just before the clock tower, the entrance is round the back of the older building. As always there are plenty of cheap, good eating places outside the station. (Since this was written Robert Hale recommends (November 2001) the Taiyuan Binguan (sign in English, poorly lit) accepts foreigners in 3- or 4-bed rooms at 20 yuan a bed. They wouldn't let me rent a single bed, but even a 3-bed room only works out at 60 yuan, considerably better than the competition. the rooms are clean and comfortable, and heated, but the landing toilets are very Chinese (I'm not bothered but I know some people are). I don't think they get many foreigners, and I was the object of intense friendly curiosity from the young staff. To find it, cross over the station square and go straight on towards the clock tower. the Taiyuan is on the right immediately before the first intersection.) Getting to/from Chifeng: Trains times are taken from the CNR 1999/2000 timetable and are obviously subject to change. There are overnight trains to/from Beijing Bei station (560 south 20.20/06.25, 559 north 20.45/07.45), I had no trouble getting a hard sleeper (Y75) at short notice in Chifeng. Beijing Bei station is about 5 minutes walk north from Xizhimen station on the Metro Loop Line, you ought to be able to buy a ticket for this train from the Foreigners Booking Office at Beijing Main Station. There are other trains on this route but since they run further south and north, getting a seat/sleeper will probably be more difficult Less conveniently, there are trains to/from Beijing Nan station (574 south 04.03/14.38, 573 north 16.32/03.36), I only mention these because they call at Chengde southbound at 09.09 and northbound at 22.08. You will need a taxi for Beijing Nan. East from Chifeng, trains 607/610 and 207/210 leave at 04.55 and 21.15, arriving at Fuxin 12.40 and 05.34 and Shenyang 16.15 and 08.55. In the reverse direction trains 608/609 and 208/209 leave Shenyang at 18.23 and 09.32, calling at Fuxin 22.39 and 13.23 and arriving Chifeng 06.40 and 21.00. Most people stay in Reshui at the east end of the pass (a one street town) which has hot springs which attract local visitors outside the winter. There are several hotels here, belonging to various public utilities (Post, Electricity, Telecoms and JiTong Railway). I stayed in the Railway Hotel, I was asked for Y120 a night but had no trouble getting this down to Y100 which is what others have paid too (at least one traveller beat them down to 80Y in November 2001). This is a new hotel, well equipped and most things worked including the heating and the staff. The Post Hotel is rather older and I was told the heating is inadequate. I know that other visitors have stayed in Jingpeng at the west end of the pass. Where to Eat: The Railway Hotel has its own restaurant which my friend Ameling reported to be as good and as cheap as the local restaurants which line the main street. I ate with two visiting tour groups (for company and to get a better variety) at a small restaurant about 100m north of the Post Hotel. It was fine, the prices seemed to be slightly 'touristy'. There are a few local shops to buy the usual pot noodle, sausages, biscuits and beer. By January 2000, it seemed pretty well established that anyone arriving in Reshui with a Chinese guide would be extorted Y100 for a 'Photo Permit' and probably another Y50 a day as reported by Duncan Cotterill. To refuse to pay would clearly be impossible as the Chinese guide would then not be able to operate in the area. For the independent traveller, the position is a little different. Until recently, they tended to be ignored by the 'powers that be'. I had two visits in my hotel room from 'the men in leather jackets' with various pieces of paper which I didn't bother to read. I politely waved them away and left after 5 days with my budget intact and no trouble. By November 2001, tour groups were being strictly policed (patrols on the lineside!!) and issued with permits from the 'Ke-Qi Tourism Bureau' but individuals usually had few problems. I make no recommendation as to how others should react to this situation.... The vast majority of trains are hauled by double headed QJs, with a small minority single headed. The locos are worked intensively (I suspect to the point of being run into the ground, although opinions differ on this), during my visit (and other peoples) a core of just over 20 locomotives were seen at work compared to Daban's nominal allocation of twice that number. Many of the rest of the allocation are permanently working east from Daban to Chabuga, and obviously some will be under overhaul. Certainly as Hans Schaefer has reported most have many minor faults and leak steam prodigiously, which complicates mid-winter photography. The line must now be approaching saturation point during the winter (which could be bad news for steam), and most visitors report an average of 4-5 trains in each direction during daylight hours with occasional breaks and particularly west-bound light engine workings (much of the traffic is east bound coal and longer trains of empties west can be run). If you hire a taxi/microbus, then the staff at Galadesitai will have the approximate times trains are expected. I used only local buses for the west side and walked to photo positions on the east side. For the latter, all the classic positions on the top horseshoe are at least a stiff 30 minute walk from the road, although chasing along the valley floor would be practical. The bus ride to the west side cost Y5, the main disadvantage being that the first buses did not seem to run until about 08.30 and I had to leave by about 15.30 to be sure of getting back to Reshui. I used the first day to sort out the positions I wanted to use (quite easy with 2-3 hours between uphill trains), the best spots seemed to be around the curved viaduct and horseshoe ('brickworks') valley to the east. Some of these are no more than 10 minutes walk away from a road and it would be practical to chase the slow moving train up the valley from Jingpeng and Xiakengzi. I am told a microbus would cost Y200-250 a day, a lot for an individual but quite bearable for a group of, say, 4. A lot depends on whether you want a large quantity of shots or would be content with a smaller number of classics. At the end of the day, it all comes down to luck. Frequent visitors to the line find the kind of variety of weather which those of us who live in the west of the UK will understand only too well. It may be cloudy (or not), it may snow (or not) and most of all it will probably be windy, especially on the east side where it will blow away most of the snow. In the Spring and Autumn temperatures can oscillate wildly from day to day, so that it may either be so warm that there is no visible exhaust or so cold that full winter gear is required. In the depths of Winter it will always be cold, but the real killer is the wind which will not only wreck photography but threaten you with frostbite if you are not properly prepared. I arrived in late January 2000 towards the end of a week which was described by visitors as being almost without precedent for 'quality'. By the end of my stay it was back to 'near normal' with cloudy interludes and strong winds. These are cut down and simplified versions of those prepared by Julien Blanc who first brought the place to the enthusiast's attention. Tunnels are numbered from west to east, hence the summit tunnel at Shangdian is 'Tunnel 5'. I have added the new stations (November 2001).
A lot of very positive things have been said about the Jingpeng Pass and there is no doubt that it is one of very few places in the world to see day to day full sized steam hauled trains in spectacular mountainous scenery. The photographic opportunities are probably unrivalled anywhere. What I did miss compared to the narrow gauge and industrial railways in China was a sense of involvement. With the main depot a long way away at Daban I was just a (very cold) passive spectator. Also no-one could describe the Reshui scene any longer as 'unspoiled China'. I left a day earlier than I had planned, (which gave me a serendipitous extra afternoon at Dahuichang near Beijing). Will I go back? I was pleased I had been here and I expect I will return but definitely not four or five times. There are other places with active steam in the country that I would like to go to see first. A minority view point no doubt, but there is much, much more to working steam in China than yet another 'mastershot'. |
