I’ve done several veeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyy long train trips (52 hours and 27 hours being the longest) and I had no trouble sleeping.

The hard sleeper is fine. It can be a bit noisy if kids are on your car, but everyone generally quiets down when the main lights go off and you end up with just safety lights and your flashlight. I do recommend that if you are tall, purchase a bottom bunk ticket. If you get the middle or top you will be cramped. I am aprox 5’6’‘ and I just fit comfortably in the middle and top. The only downside to the bottom is that the bottom bunks are the social scene while the lights are on. No hiding, esp if you are a foreigner.

The soft sleepers look very swish and the soft sleeper car is the most quiet on the train.

The other class that you didn’t mention is the hard seat. If you request a hard sleeper and they don’t have any they will usually offer you a hard seat. If you get stuck there you can try and upgrade once the train has started moving. You wont be able to sleep! I spent 12 hours in 100F on a hard seat with no fan and a broken window going through a sandy desert (the window wouldn’t close). Its great for people watching, card playing and chatting, but very uncomfortable, cramped and you really have to watch your stuff.

Oh and the trains have only boiling hot drinking water, unless you want to buy bottled water. The hot meals that you can buy are ok, but if you have a sensitive stomach I recommend the dry noodle buckets and the hot water. The food you can by at the stations when they let you out to stretch can be quite nice, particularly the fried breads.
And if you are using the train in the NE at all, they do get a bit cold. Not too bad, but enough to notice.

Hope that helps!

Yup – Redkat pretty well sums up chinese trains.

I woud add the following:

Beijing-Xian-Beijing trains are generally shuttles – so they tend to be very good.

Beijing Shanghai Beijing is the best train in China that I have travelled on (TV screens etc in soft sleeper)

I have found (based on some 50 plus train trips over the last 6-7 years) that the further west you go, the worse the trains tend to be.

Irrespective of the quality of the trains, it really depends on who is in the carriage with you. I really like hard sleeper as you mix with the chinese travellers and it can be great fun and a good way to pass the time away.

Oh and if you are over 2m tall – I always recommend the top bunk as you can let your legs hang over (or onto the luggage rack!!) and the relatively shorter chinese wont bump into them during the night!!!