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China Elevator Stories
I Took a Train to Inner Mongolia (China Travel)
I am currently in Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia.
26/01/2026
Ruth Silbermayr
Author
My kids are currently spending their annual winter holiday at their dad’s. He was granted two weeks of holidays by the court—one in winter and one in summer—as he has visitation rights, while I have sole custody. He was also granted a few days during Spring Festival and a few days during the National Holidays in October. The rest of the time, my children stay with me, except for Saturdays, when they also spend the day at his place.
I took the opportunity to take a train to Inner Mongolia, where I am staying for a few days before visiting my next destination.
I have always loved traveling in China and am an avid traveler. I have traveled solo to many destinations in China, including the following provinces: Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Shandong, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian.
It has always been a dream of mine to visit every province in China, as the country offers a great deal of diversity, beautiful scenery, interesting local customs, and rich history.
I usually share travel stories on the travel page of my blog, which you can find here.
I went to the train station in Siping on 24 January to book a ticket to Hohhot for the same evening. Tickets online were already sold out, except for ones that would have required changing trains five times—something I didn’t want to do in case I missed a connecting train.
Since the winter holidays are peak travel season, tickets are often sold out. However, if you go to the train station on the very day you want to travel, you may be lucky and get a direct ticket if someone has canceled theirs (due to illness or otherwise being unable to take that train).
I took a sleeper train, which is a type of train I truly enjoy, even though they are not usually very clean. Still, there is nothing quite like spending time on a Chinese sleeper train.
People are often willing to chat with you, although this time most passengers were watching something on their phones and didn’t feel like chatting, which was also fine.
The train ride took over 18 hours, and I woke up in the morning to a sunrise over the Inner Mongolian grasslands—a truly beautiful sight in winter. I have always enjoyed traveling this way in China, because during a train journey you get to see the scenery outside, and time stops feeling stressful for a moment. You are not rushing anywhere; trains take the time they take. You are simply sitting there, enjoying the ride, or sleeping and enjoying a good night’s sleep (if you are one of the people who can actually sleep on these trains).
Have you ever taken a sleeper train in China?