Reliable and highly recommend you book train tickets through
China Travel
Booked my return fast train tickets via China Travel. The
service of the tickets and communication was good. If you’re
planning your trip in China from overseas and are a bit
confused by the multiple sellers on line, conflicting
advice, and uncertain if you actually get a ticket, or a QR
code or just use your passport as a ticket. Read on (current
info 2025).
Some of the confusion about buying tickets for fast trains
in China is more easily understood when you remember the
train network has doubled in size almost every two years for
the past decade. So the systems the train authorities run
for selling tickets has changed about every two or three
years as well. So there is a lot of outdated info on the
web, but confusingly it’s not that old. Maybe only two years
old web posts are no longer relevant. So you need to read
the current websites to get the current method for
ticketing. As of 2025 here’s what I know.
There are no more paper tickets issued or QR codes for fast
trains in China. All ticketing is replaced (as far as my
experience is) with use of your passport in the scanners at
the ticket gate. The scanner reads your passport number and
name details and bingo, the gate opens for you. For Chinese
people they use their national ID cards, but for foreigners
- passport is the way to go. This is super simple and
efficient but…. If you hold more than one passport as some
people do, remember to book your tickets under the exact
same passport as what you will travel on. Otherwise the
scanner won’t match you to your booking.
The China Travel Service email after you purchase the
tickets will record your passport number and allocate you
designated seats in the desired class of travel. As a tip
for first timers, if you’re weighing up to save money on 2nd
class or pay more for first class in terms of price vs
comfort, just go 2nd class. There’s not a lot of difference
and seats in 2nd class (they are very good as well). Perhaps
the only time I think about first class is on a trip over
four hours. And of course Business Class on China Trains is
the top top seat, like a mini cocoon pod. And the price for
those is pretty expensive.
Book early for trains. They get super busy and you can end
up missing out. China Travel is a reliable booking partner
and can help if the train you want is over booked. Sometimes
they will suggest you buy a ticket from a stop earlier than
where you want to get on. This sounds odd at first, but is a
reflection of the way the tickets are sold and optimized by
the train company. They prefer fully sold trains so
sometimes buying a blank sector (for a tiny amount extra)
means China Travel can get you a seat on the actual sector
you want to travel on, even when the online booking system
shows there are no seats available between the two stations
you want to travel between. This is probably the No1 reason
for booking through China Travel only their type of service
can know this detail.