When it comes to traveling in China in 2024, most tourists opt to either fly or hop on a train. The reasoning is quite simple: flying is fast and trains are cheap. There are times, however, when China’s massive, intercity bus system is your best (or only!) option. In these cases, you’ll want to understand how to travel by bus in China – and that’s where this traveler’s guide will come in handy!
Perhaps you’re traveling China on a budget and flights are too expensive or the train is too full. Maybe you’re heading to a place that isn’t serviced by an airport or train station.
Whatever the reason, if you plan to take a bus in China, this 2024 guide to China buses should provide everything you need to know before you travel.
Since it has ended up being a relatively long guide, I’ve divided this into multiple “chapters” to help make it easy to digest:
I hope you’ll find this China bus guide useful! If you’d rather download the PDF, you can do so here.
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There are a number of reasons why you might want to take a bus in China…as well as a few reasons you would potentially want to avoid it. Over the decade, I’ve seen my fair share of both while traveling on a Chinese bus.
Let’s start by breaking down a few of the reasons that a bus is a good option for tourists:
That’s what makes China bus travel good. Here’s a bit of what I don’t like about China bus travel:
Hopefully I haven’t discouraged you from attempting to take a bus in China, I just want to make sure you have a dose of reality.
There are plenty of good reasons to take a bus in China – and I hope you do! – but make sure you set your expectations before buying your ticket.
If you’ve never had a chance to look inside a Chinese bus and you’re afraid about what you’re getting into, allow me to walk you through the average bus.
Generally speaking, there are two basic kinds of buses in China: the seated bus and the sleeper bus.
The seated bus is exactly what it sounds like. There are usually two sets of two seats with a middle aisle and all the seats facing toward the front of the bus.
As a tall guy, I’ve never had a complaint about the leg room in a Chinese bus but the seats can be somewhat narrow.
Most buses have an entertainment system that will play Chinese movies throughout the duration of the journey and most buses have an air-conditioning and heating system (though not all).
Your seat will recline slightly but don’t expect a great sleeping position. A few seated buses have a bathroom but often they won’t be available for use (or you won’t want to use them anyway).
All seats in a seated bus are priced equally and are sold on a first-come-first-serve basis. Prices are fixed.
A sleeper bus is different in that travelers each have a bed instead of a seat. There are usually three rows of beds with two aisles in between and a bathroom toward the back (which again, may or may not be available for use). There is a top and bottom bed the entire length of the bus.
Anybody whose height exceeds 5’8″ will have trouble fitting onto one of these beds, as I do. I don’t have the option to hang my feet over the edge since that is somebody else’s bed so I end up having to scrunch up a little.
These buses also usually have an entertainment system, A/C and heating, although it all depends on the age of the bus you’re riding.
Beds are priced higher for the top bunk than the bottom bunk in a sleeper bus.
To the unseasoned China traveler, it seems simple enough to find a bus station, right? Just look up the word for “bus station” in your handy Mandarin phrasebook and tell the taxi driver.
Boom! You’re done 🙂
Unfortunately, it’s not always that easy. With the exception of small towns, most cities in China have a number of different bus stations scattered around.
One may be a “long distance bus station” while the other is an “International Bus Station.” Often, bus stations are categorized by which direction their buses head (north, south, east or west). Others by which specific city or region they service.
The bottom line is that the word “bus station” just doesn’t cut it. You need to know exactly which bus station you want to go to. How do you do this? Here are a couple ways:
In my opinion, the most confusing part about taking an intercity bus in China is figuring out the schedule.
Unlike trains and airplanes, you can’t easily check schedules or even buy tickets online. It’s possible, but it’s always in Chinese and it’s not a simple process.
For most major intercity connections, China buses commonly depart once every twenty minutes, half-hour or hour. I’m making a major generalization here, I realize. I’m assuming you’re not wanting to go to some po-dunk village that isn’t on any map.
There are some cases where only a handful or even one or two buses depart each day. In this case you’ll want to have an idea of the bus schedule.
I’m going to separate the following recommendations by whether or not you can read Mandarin:
Since buying tickets online for a bus in China has not yet become an option, you’re left with only two options. You can buy a ticket at the bus station or (maybe) have a proxy do it for you.
China now runs on a “real-name ticket system.” This means that you have to have an official form of ID (your passport) in order to purchase bus tickets. Once your ticket is bought, you can’t transfer this ticket to anybody else without returning it and buying a new one.
Standing in line at a Chinese bus station isn’t my favorite activity in the world. It’s usually not as bad as, say, standing in line at a train station though.
Most of the time I arrive on my day of departure, stand in line and purchase a ticket. You’ll want to have cash ready for the purchase since bank cards usually aren’t accepted. They will accept WeChat and Alipay, though, so if you have WeChat setup on your phone you can pay using this as well.
It used to be that hostels would offer a ticket purchasing service for guests (I’m not sure how many still offer this). You would need to provide a photocopy of your passport and they’ll charge you a fee, but at least you don’t have to stand in line yourself.
I’ve tried to provide as much information as I can in the above chapter. However, I consistently receive questions that I want to answer here in detail.
The beauty of the Chinese bus is that you can take almost anything you want. People take bicycles, overweight pieces of luggage, instruments…you name it. There isn’t an official weight limit so whatever can easily fit in the underneath hatch is usually permitted.
Like any other form of transportation in China, there are still some things that you can’t take with you through the security checkpoint of the bus station. This includes: knives, bottles of any kind of liquid, fuel canisters (used for camping in China), lighters, etc. For drinks, you can buy water and sodas at shops inside the bus station.
While officially prohibited, unfortunately I’ve seen plenty of passengers and even bus drivers smoke on a China bus. Most people wait for a rest stop to pull out their cigarettes but that’s not always the case. If you don’t like smoking, it’s not impolite to ask the smoker next to you to put out their cigarette. Be bold! You’re a foreigner and you can get away with it.
No. I wish there were but I have yet to see a seated or a sleeper bus with electrical outlets.
Yes, you can. Just tell the driver exactly where you want to get off. Whether it’s a specific village or place along the road, they will stop to let you off.
Yes, they do. If you’re out in the boondocks, you can stand on the side of the road and try to wave down a bus. They won’t stop if they’re full, but if they stop just tell them where you’re going on and hop on. You’ll have to pay the driver directly and they’re usually pretty good about giving a fair price for transport.
Over the many years that I’ve taken buses all across China, there are a few quick tips I’ve learned. I believe they could be helpful to you or even save you money. Hopefully you find them useful!
That’s it!
I hope you’ve been encouraged to give buses in China try after reading this 2024 guide to taking a bus in China. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the experience and adventure of taking a bus across China’s beautiful landscape. I hope you have the opportunity to do the same!
If you have any questions, please let me know in the comments below. If this guide has been useful please share it on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or any other social media platform.
Remember, if you’d like to download a PDF version of this China bus guide to have with you, enter your email address below. I’ll send it to you immediately.
I'll be happy to send a copy of The Ultimate China Bus Guide to your email address to read at your convenience!
Success! Now check your email for the bus guide download.
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