I took a long-haul, slow train in China from Shanghai to Guilin (18 hours or so) and that was a great experience - watching the Chinese landscape go by, really

I took a long-haul, slow train in China from Shanghai to Guilin (18 hours or so) and that was a great experience - watching the Chinese landscape go by, really cheap to get a sleeper car with my friends, and no delays. The high speed rail is good too if you want to be quick, both in China and Japan (though Japan is much more expensive); I took the Chinese ones frequently but longest haul I did was Shenzhen to Shanghai (8 hours or so) and that was both smooth, nice views and comfortable.