China Train Ticket Service, How to Buy China Train Tickets

How to Buy Train Tickets

How to Buy a Ticket

Tickets Selling Office

•Ticket Office: Tickets can be purchased in the Ticket Office in the railway station.
•Ticket Agency: There are many ticket agencies throughout the city. A fee of 5 Yuan is added to the ticket price at these outlets.
•Travel Agency: It is often more convenient to obtain your tickets through a travel agent or at the Reception Desk of your hotel. While this is both convenient and can save time, there can be a service charge of 20 to 100 Yuan per ticket, maybe more if the tickets are delivered to you. Usually, more will be charged during the peak periods such as Golden Week or high tourist season.

Tips for Buying a Ticket

1. Normally, train tickets can be booked between 3 and 15 days ahead of travel time, subject to variations depending upon the city or time of year. To avoid disappointment, you are advised to book your tickets as early as possible.

Ticket of Multiple Unit Train

2. Tickets are generally easy to obtain; you can buy a ticket 2 or 3 hours before the train is due to depart. However, in peak times such as holidays, spring festival, you should book your tickets as early as possible. Be prepared for a long queue to get a ticket. After you have purchased your ticket, you should arrive at the train station at least half an hour ahead of the published departure time to avoid missing your train.

Ticket Scalper

Ticket Scalper, huangniu or piaofanzi in Chinese, refers to those who buy tickets repeatedly and resell them at higher prices. They loiter at the railway station trying to sell their tickets for a profit. This practice is of course illegal in China and it is not recommended to buy tickets from them. Some may sell fake tickets that are difficult to distinguish from the real ones. A sample of the ticket is shown below with some facts to identify the authenticity of a ticket.

Identifying the Authenticity of Train Ticket
1. Price: a real ticket will always have two zeroes after the decimal.
2. Watermark: All tickets must have the CR and 中国铁路 watermark on the ticket.
3. Feel: feel the ticket carefully. It would be fake if it feels smoother than usual.
So ensure to purchase your ticket from the train station counter to avoid untoward incident.

Train Ticket Sample

Sleeper Exchange Card

Cancel & Endorse a Ticket

In the event of cancellation before your journey, 80% of the fare will be reimbursed. However, if cancellation is made within 2 hours after the scheduled departure time, 50% will be reimbursed. Group cancellation should be made at least 48 hours before departure time.

Ensure that during the spring festival rush; cancellation must be made at least 6 hours ahead of departure time.

Ticket can also be endorsed at appointed counters should there be a need to reschedule your journey due to exceptional reasons. It can be changed to either an earlier or later date but not after the train has left for more than 2 hours on the scheduled date. It is thus advisable to give yourself plenty of time to reschedule your journey.

Related Link: Train Tickets Classification

Travelers' Voices on How to Buy Train Tickets

Nov. 21,2009 00:33 Reply

Mr.frank(canada) said:

Hi, My wife is Chinese/Canadian and speaks Mandarin. We plan to travel during daylight hours from Sanya to Changqing by train, over 7-days period from 25 Feb 2010 with stopovers in several cities along the route. Is it possible to purchase a ticket single in advance to cover such a journey? Advise please interesting cities, Train numbers and Soft seat fares if possible, and any regional holidays or events during that period. Thank you.

Nov. 19,2009 20:02 Reply

Ms.Jeep(Thailand) said:

I have a plan to visit Beijing-Harbin during January 7th-12th, 2010. I would like to take a train from Beijing - Harbin on the 8th, 2010 and come back to Beijing on the 10th. Can I buy the return train ticket at the train station in Beijing. Is it hard to get the ticket at that time? I'm quite worried about the way back to Beijing. Also can I buy the ticket at the agency in Harbin?

Nov. 15,2009 15:05 Reply

Mr.Petersen(Denmark) said:

We will be travelling from Beijing to Hangzhou by softsleeper. We are expecting this to be app. July 12-14, 2010. Is there any "bankholiday" or other difficulties in getting tickets?

Nov. 16,2009 01:46
Mr.Douglas(US) replied:

Hello, Mr. Petersen.
How is everything?
Well, the first two weeks of July is the beginning of students' summer vacation and many students, especially college students, will choose to go back home by train. So you need to buy your tickets as early as possible.

Nov. 16,2009 15:24
Mr.Petersen(Denmark) replied:

Thank you very much for a fast responce - this brings up another question....
How early will it be possible to book the Z9-train going from Beijing to Hangzhou in the mounth of July and which agency will be a good place to order train tickets from - for non chinese-travlers ??

Nov. 18,2009 22:00
Mr.Douglas(USA) replied:

Usually, you can buy the tickets 10 days in advance at most. When you are in Beijing, you can check it with the staff at the ticket office. I don't know an agency capable of booking the tickets in advance. You can ask your hotel in Beijing to have a try.

Nov. 17,2009 01:18 Reply

Mr.Cheong(Malaysia ) said:

Hi,

I would like to know where can i buy e-tickets from hangzhou to Shanghai? Can you provide me a website to buy it online? Thanks.

regards,
wai kit.

Nov. 18,2009 21:41
Ms.Sebold(Ireland) replied:

Trains in China do not have e-tickets, unlike flights.

Nov. 18,2009 01:46 Reply

Ms.TELEKHA(Afghanistan) said:

hi just i want to find out how much the train ticket from tianjin to beijing

Nov. 18,2009 21:26
Mr.Rossi(Italy) replied:

CNY69 for the first class seat and CNY58 for the second class seat.

Nov. 16,2009 18:16 Reply

Mr.Norman(Australia) said:

Hello, I'm flying into Chengdu on 7 feb 2010, i'm looking to travel to chongqinq around the 14th and then to maybe on the 18th. I know this is the busy new year season. What his a best way for a foreigner to obtain these train tickers.

Nov. 17,2009 02:30
Ms.Eva(CN) replied:

Absolutely! You can never imagine how hard to get a train ticket during the New Year Holiday and other festivals in China. As far as I know, there are also regular shuttle buses runs between the two cities. You may try both the ways, or maybe change the tour date. Good luck!

Nov. 10,2009 08:33 Reply

Ms.Sim(Singapore) said:

Hello,

I wish to travel from Beijing to Shanghai then to HongKong end of Janurary 2010. Do you know how much it cost to travel by railway trains from Beijing to Shanghai, and from Shanghai to Hong Kong? What is the minimum number of days in advance do we need to buy our train tickets from Shanghai to Hong Kong so that we can reach Hong Kong on a designated time. Thank You.

Nov. 16,2009 02:24
Mrs.Peggy Marcus(Canada) replied:

Hi, Sim, it costs about ￥730 per person by taking the soft sleeper train from Beijing to Shanghai. It is said that only soft sleeper trains are available between the two cities.

From Shanghai to Hongkong, the normal soft sleeper train ticket costs ￥935 and the deluxe soft sleeper train is ￥1143 per ticket. Please note the train leaves every other day, not daily.

For your reference, you can ask your hotel in Beijing and Shanghai to book the two trains.

Nov. 12,2009 02:19 Reply

Mr.Anas(India) said:

Hi there,

I am a travel agent here from India. My customers would like to visit China for tourist purpose. Now i need to buy train tickets for them Their routings will be Shanghai - Beijing - Xian - Guangzhou. Please advise me whether i can take a train ticket or air ticket for these journeys or mixed.

Nov. 16,2009 02:07
Ms.Liz(HK) replied:

There are trains and also flights between these cities. Flights can be booked in advance, even in your country. But for the train tickets, probably you need to buy the tickets after you are in China.

Nov. 12,2009 23:35 Reply

Ms.rachael(Australia) said:

I am arriving in Shanghai on 12th Dec and then travelling to Beijing on 17th Dec. I would like to buy T104 train tickets (SHG-BEIJING) Is it still possible to buy the tickets on the 12th when I arrive in Shanghai or would it be all sold out by then. Winter would be a slow season wouldn't it? I can speak some Mandarin so buying the tickets from Shanghai train station should not be a problem for me.

thank you
Rachael

Nov. 16,2009 02:01
Ms.Cole(New Zealand) replied:

You are right! December is the low season. I think it is OK to buy the tickets after you arrive in Shanghai. You can speak Mandarin!Really?? So cool!~ In the ticket office, actually the ticket building, there is also specialized English-speaking window. So, you don't need to worry about communication.

10.

Nov. 11,2009 05:58 Reply

Mr.Chris Willis(China) said:

My Wife, Baby, mother and father in law plan to travel from Wuxi, Jiangsu to Yibin in Sichuan starting on January 31st. What is the way with the least amount of train changes. I am told that there is a train from Hangzhou to Yibin, but can't find it.

Chris

Nov. 11,2009 20:48
Ms.Alice(CN) replied:

I think you'd better take train from Wuxi to Chengdu and then connect a train to Yibin. I found there was only one train from Hangzhou to Yinbin, which is an early afteroon train. However, there are many trains between Wuxi and Chengdu and you can find some suitable connecting trains to Yibin. Then you will not stay much time in Chengdu.

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