Beijing South Railway Station

 Major Rail Lines from the Station to:

The station mainly consists of terminal buildings, South Square and North Square. The terminal building is inspired by the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in the Temple of Heaven and appears to be elliptical, a harmonious combination of tradition and modernity. There are altogether 5 floors inside, two above ground and three underground:
 2F: waiting hall, ticket offices…
 1F: platforms, rail tracks…
 -1F: transfer hall, ticket offices, express channel to platforms…
 -2F: platform of subway line 4
 -3F: platform of subway line 14 (not opened yet)
  Arrival by bus:
At South Square: 343, 529, 652, 665, Te 5, Te 8 (inner fast line), Te17, Night line 15, Night line 24
At North Square: 20, 84, 102, 106, 381, 458, 485, Night line 17

Passengers arriving by bus will be dropped off on the squares right outside the terminal building. For those having a ticket already purchased, please enter the station directly from either south or north entrance with the passport bearing the ticket. Afterwards, take the escalators to the waiting hall on 2F. For those without a ticket, go down to the ticket office no.6 on northwest of -1F to obtain one first, and then go up to the waiting hall.

 Arrival by subway line 4:
The subway exit is on -1F of the station building. If passengers already have booked a ticket, go up directly to 2F to wait for the departure time. If not, go to obtain one in ticket office no. 6 right on -1F and then go up to 2F for waiting.

If you are in a hurry, take the express entrances on the same floor (-1F) with subway station to go directly to the platforms. 

 Arrival by Capital Airport shuttle bus line 10:
Passengers will be dropped off on the north square. If you have a ticket,, either e-ticket or paper ticket, take the north entrance to reach the waiting hall. If not, go down to -1F to get one first, and then go up for waiting.

 Arrival by taxi:

Note: The above information is for reference only. The duration and cost may be different due to waiting time and traffic jams.

Generally speaking, the driver will drop passengers off somewhere on the elevated road close to the entrances on 2F. For those having booked a ticket, go through security check at the entrance and then go to the waiting area in the centre of this floor for waiting. If not, go to get one at any of the four ticket offices located in the four corners of this floor first, and then enter the waiting area.

There are 23 ticket check points on the second floor, which are symmetrically located on east and west two sides and numbered as 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B.... Passengers can have their passports bearing the ticket checked at either side. Please note that the check points are usually opened 30 minutes before departure and closed 5 minutes before. After, take escalators, lifts, or stairs down to platforms.

2F of Beijing South Railway Station Map

Tip:
1. The east checking points are equipped with escalators and elevators while the west ones are equipped with escalators and stairs. The old, weak, sick, disabled and pregnant passengers and those with large suitcases or bags are advised to use the elevators on the east.
2. Generally speaking, the larger numbered carriages of high speed trains to Shanghai are closer to east checking points while the larger numbered carriages of intercity high speed trains to Tianjin are closer to west check points. Passengers can also read the LED screen at each check point for more up-to-date information.
3. Overseas passengers need to use the manual check channel where the passport bearing the ticket will be checked. 

On the platform, there may be two trains. Check the LED screens to confirm which one is yours. After this, find the right carriage and get onboard. Mind the gap between the carriage and the platform when boarding. After, put your carry-on luggage on the luggage rack over seats, or in the cabinets at two sides of the carriage, or behind the last row of the carriage, sit down, adjust the seat back and enjoy your rail ride.

 Upon arrival, all passengers will be led to -1F transfer hall for exiting. At each exit, there is a LED screen showing the most up-to-date arrival time and stopping platform. This is a great help for those picking up arrival passengers. After getting through the exit, follow bilingual direction signs to find buses, subway, capital airport shuttle bus, and taxis to leave the station.

-1F of Beijing South Railway Station Map

 Leave by bus:
Please confirm which bus you are going to take first and then find the boarding site accordingly, as there are two bus stops in the station located in south and north squares separately.
 

 Leave by subway:
The subway station is located on the same floor with railway exits. Pay attention to direction signs and you will find it easily.

 Leave by capital airport shuttle bus:
It departs from the bus stop on the north square; hence passengers are advised to get out from north exit to save time.

 Leave by taxi:
There are taxi stands on both west and east sides of this floor, which can be easily find. 

 Transportation to other places from the station:
 How to get to Forbidden City & Tiananmen Square:
Take subway line 4 to Xidan, and then change to line 1 to Tiananmen East, get out through Exit A and walk there;
Take subway line 4 to Xuanwumen, change to line 2 to Qianmen and walk north to get there;
Take bus no.20 to Qianmen East, then walk west to Tiananmen Square. 

 How to get to Wangfujing
Take subway line 4 to Xidan, and then transfer to line 1 to Wangfujing.
Take subway line 14 to Puhuangyu, and then change to line 5 to Dongdan, Dengshikou or Dongsi, walk west to get there.
Take city bus 106 to Dongdan Road Cross North or Dongsi Road Cross South to reach the south or north entrances of Wangfujing Street, respectively.

 How to Get to Capital Airport:
Take subway line 4 to Xuanwumen, change to line 2 to Dongzhimen, and then change to Airport Express Line to get to airport.
Take airport shuttle bus line 2 to get there directly; the bus departs every 30 minutes from 05:00 to 21:00 at CNY30.

 Badaling Great Wall:
Take subway line 4 to Xuanwumen, change to line 2 to Jishuitan, get out through Exit B2 and walk to Deshengmen to take bus 877 to get there;
Take subway line 4 to Xizhimen, get out from Exit A1 and then walk to North Railway Station to take a S2 train to reach it;

 Beijing Railway Station:
Take subway line 4 to Xuanwumen, and then change to line 2 to get there.

 West Railway Station:
Take subway line 4 to Caishikou, and then change to line 7 to get there;
Take bus Te17 and get off at the last stop, south square of the station and then walk there.

 East Railway Station
Take subway line 14 to Dawanglu and then walk about 900 meters (984 yards) southeastward to the destination.

Bus and Subway Search

 

 Ticket Offices:
There are four of them in the four corners of 2F and two on northwest and southwest of -1F.
Online booking collection window: Window no.19 in ticket office no.2; window no.39 in office no.3; and window no.45 and 49 in office no.4. Actually in most cases, passengers can collect the online booking at any of the regular ticket windows.
Ticket change: Window no.8 and 9 in office no.1; window no.22 in office no.2; window 36, 40 and 41 in office no.3; window 50 and 51 in office no.4; window no.60 in office no.5; and window no.67 in office 6.
Ticket refund: Window 29, 30 and 31 in office no.3
Ticket lost: Window no.40 in office no.3; window no.51 in office no.4
Union pay window: Window no.8 and 9 in office no.1; window no.22 in office no.2; window 36 and 41 in office no.3; window no.50 in office no. 4. Passengers can pay by Union Pay Bank Card while purchasing tickets at these windows.

Ticket office no.5 on the northwest of -1F mainly deals with automatic ticket selling and collecting, which are not applicable to foreign passengers in absence of Chinese ID card. They are advised to collect or purchase ticket in office no.6 in southwest of the same floor or the other four on 2F.

 Left Luggage:
They are located on two sides of north security check on 2F, and northeast and southeast sides of -1F. The opening time is from 06:00 to 23:00. There are large and medium sized two kinds of cabinets. The large ones are big enough to contain a regular suitcase and several bags while the medium ones can only contain bags. 
Service Fee (CNY)

 LED Screens:
There are many large LED screens showing the train numbers, their departure times, check points, and boarding platforms on the 2F and arrival times, platforms, exits on -1F.

 Information Desk:
There are four of them, located at east entrance, west entrance and no.5 and no.17 check points of 2F. Although named differently as Information Desk, Runqiu Service Desk, or Duty Manager Desk, their provided services are similar, like searching for real-time schedule, pointing out the different functional areas of the station, helping the old, weak, sick, disabled and pregnant to get onboard or leave the station, and broadcasting. They also provide maps, wheelchairs, and medicine boxes, etc.

 Washrooms:
They are spread on east and west two sides of the waiting hall on 2F and around the transfer hall.

 Hot Drinking Water:
They are set up nearby the washrooms on 2F. The water are boiled and be careful when fetching it. 

 Cell Phone Charging Station:
There are eight self-serviced cell phone charging machines located on both sides of east and west entrances on 2F.

 Business Class Waiting Areas:
They are located in the northwest and southwest of 2F, next to no.3 and no.4 ticket offices. Only business class passengers to Shanghai are allowed to wait inside.

 China Railway Express:
It is located in the northwest of 2F. Passengers can consign their luggage to Shanghai, Nanjing, Jinan, and Qingdao and they will be transferred to the confirmed railway station on the second or third day.

In addition, there are supermarkets, coffee shops, restaurants, book stores, and newsstands in the waiting hall and transfer hall.