My travels: Zhong Shan 中山市

中山市 Zhong Shan, Guangdong, China

This is a beautiful city, about one hour by train from Guangzhou south railway station. The train number started with C for city. C train can be in high speed such as Beijing & Tianjin 北京天津城轨 speed is 300 km/hr, travel time is under 30 minutes. Our train ride from Guangzhou to Zhongshan north railway station is under one hour. The ride is very smooth and comfortable. Some tips for train traveling in China:

To buy a train ticket - China train ticket can be purchased online, at ticket kiosk, authorized ticket selling agent(a service fee will be added) or in person at station ticket booth. If you have a Chinese cell phone number, you can create an user ID on train's website. I do not have a Chinese cell number, so I cannot do it. Ticket selling kiosk is for person has an official Chinese ID, so my way is go to the train station ticket selling hall and line up for the tickets.

For foreigners, you need to bring passport or a copy of passport. I believe one person can purchase 4 tickets, because I did it. There could be many people line up for the tickets, so my waiting time was over 20 minutes. Ticket agent is very friendly, he just remind me you have to show real passport when you enter the gate.

Guangzhou south railway station is big, it is bigger than imagination. I used its WC and could not find way back to where my friend's location. No wonder, so many cases about kids/adults get lost.

Zhong Shan Northern Train Station 中山北站

中山旧称“香山”，因境内五桂山多奇花异卉而得名。北宋《太平寰宇记》记载：“地多神仙花卉，故曰香山”。近代以来，涌现了中华民国首任临时大总统孙中山、首任国务总理唐绍仪等名人。1925年，为纪念刚刚去世的孙中山，香山易名为中山。

Zhongshan (Chinese: 中山) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China, with a population of over 3 million (2012). The city used to be called Shekki or Shiqi (石岐).

Zhongshan is one of a very few cities in China named after a person. It is named after Dr. Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925), who is known in Mandarin as Sun Zhongshan. Sun, the founding father of the Republic of China who is also regarded positively by the People's Republic, was born in Cuiheng village in Nanlang Township of what was then Xiangshan County. In 1925, the year after his death, Xiangshan was renamed Zhongshan in his honor.

Population of the city is about 3 millions. Not a big city but a very suitable to live city. Transportation is convenient by bus or taxi. There are two train stations, we used north station, there is one Zhongshan train station that is in downtown area.

Our lunch at a restaurant near our hotel