It's easy to buy tickets yourself at the station in Beijing, you should look for the special ticket window for foreigners. but remember to take your passport with you, Chinese trains has the 4 kinds of classes: soft seat, soft sleeper, hard seat, hard sleeper. the different class ticket has a different price. |
|
|
| |
| When to Buy the Trains tickets? |
Reservations for the best Z-category express trains open 10-20 days before departure, but reservations for other trains only open 5-10 days before departure. You cannot buy tickets before reservations open. If the train you want starts its journey somewhere else and calls at your boarding station already well into its journey, tickets may only be available 2 days before departure. The exact rules vary by city and by train. |
| |
| How is reservation systems of Trains tickets? |
Chinese Railways don't have a central reservation system, only local computer reservation systems based in Beijing or each city that aren't linked to each other. So a station can generally only sell you a ticket for a journey starting at that station, not for journeys starting elsewhere. |
|
For example, the ticket office at Beijing can sell you a Beijing-Shanghai ticket but cannot sell you a Shanghai-Xian ticket. However, at major cities you can sometimes buy a return ticket for key routes - for example, in Beijing you can buy a ticket from Beijing to Shanghai and also from Shanghai back to Beijing. But in most cases, you'll need to book your return journey when you get to your destination in China. |
|
| |
|
| Where to Buy the Trains tickets? |
Tickets are best booked at least 2-3 days in advance, apart from peak periods (the Spring Festival, May Day 1st May, National Day 1st October) when they should be booked as soon as reservations open.
In Beijing, you can buy tickets at Beijing, or Beijing West station. At Beijing Main station, the ticketing office for foreigners is on the north west corner of the 1st floor, accessed via the soft seat waiting room. It is open 05:30-07:30, 08:00-18:30, 19:00-23:00. Only domestic Chinese tickets are sold, not international tickets. At Beijing West station, ticket window 1 in the main hall is marked 'English speaking', open 24 hours. Service here is reported as 'fluent & efficient'. Alternatively, you can buy train tickets at hotels or travel agents.
|
|
Beijing-Travels.com offers online information on the Beijing Train Guide and More transportation of Beijing. Keep browsing our site for more information on China.
|
|
|
