Before writing about a bullet train I took to Dalian… A few days ago, I made Kinako mochi, which is Kinako (sweet roasted soy bean flour) sprinkled over small balls of mochi. I couldn’t find a type of glutinous rice flour called “Shiratamako” that I like to use for making this mochi, so I instead used this product that I found at a local supermarket.

The mochi was so soft and fluffy when it was just boiled, but once it cooled down, the texture became more dense and chewy, which I also like!

My kids loved tasting the Kinako mochi and we ended up making another 2 more batches that day!

Ok, so two weeks ago we went to Dalian to find good seafood. It took about 2 hours from Shenyang to Dalian station by bullet train. Today I would like to share how we bought our train tickets, about the check-in kiosk and the public bathrooms on the train.

We bought our tickets with an App called “Alipay“. We use Wechat a lot too, but Alipay is more dedicated for some kinds of payments.

As you see in the picture below, there is a section where you can purchase tickets for transportation.

You click that, and it takes you to “Train” section where you can type in “Departure” as “Shenyang” and “Destination” as “Dalian.”

And it shows you available trains. There are 2nd class, 1st class and Premier class to choose, but we just picked the 2nd class seats. You also can choose your return ticket and then go to payment page.

It was pretty easy. At the station, unlike everyone else who enters with a QR code, you will need to show your passport and the digital train ticket on your phone to a staff member to get inside. Please don’t forget to bring the passports of everyone traveling. At every counter/gate at the station, a train station staff will check the passports for non-citizens.

Here are some pictures of the train station and bullet train that we took.

There was a luggage storage corner right before the seating area. Umbrella- type strollers and small luggage would fit in the corner if you don’t want to bring your luggage to your seats.

There were announcements in Chinese and English as we approached each station. There was also a small kiosk in the train selling snacks and drinks.　

Here in the train also, you can pay with WeChat pay or Alipay. There were 4 different kinds of bentos, snacks, and drinks. I bought a Starbucks coffee, which you can say in the below photo, hehe. There was a staff person who was walking back and forth selling train bentos too. I think it would be good idea to bring some fruit and sandwiches yourself, too. There was wifi available on the train, but we couldn’t figure out how to connect to it. We tried pretty much the same steps that we usually take when we use free-wifi in public.

Lastly, regarding the restrooms on the train. There are sitting style and squat style restrooms. Both restrooms look clean, however, there aren’t changing tables for babies.

This is a view that I like from our trip to Dalian. I felt very nostalgic seeing this scenery from the window because my hometown where I was born is also surrounded by rivers and the ocean. We were traveling between Shenyang and Dalian, but as I was looking at these beautiful views, I was reminded of my hometown, Yatsushiro.

Thank you for reading my blog.