It's easy to buy tickets yourself through the following ways in Beijing, here is the complete information for you about where and when to buy China Train Ticket. Just remember to take your passport with you.

Where to Buy the Trains tickets?

Online Booking with China Railway Customer Service Center

Passengers can book online with China Railway Customer Service Center (www.12306.cn). From the beginning of 2012, tickets of all trains are available online. While booking, it is valid to present one’s passport, mainland travel permit for Macau / Hong Kong / Taiwan residents or Chinese citizen ID card, however the website only has Chinese version and only offers online reservation service to its registered users, for tickets in 1-20 days. Payment online are applicable for bank card of the Bank of China, China Merchants Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and bank cards stipulated by China UnionPay. The users should open up the e-currency payment service. Passengers can choose seats when booking the bullet train tickets online. The seat number is made up of a digital number and a letter. The digital number shows the row, while the letter indicates the seat position. There are totally 5 letters to indicate the position including A, B, C, D, and F. Among them, A or F represents a seat by the window; C or D represent a seat by the corridor; B represents a seat in the middle of the three-seat.

Telephone booking with China Railway Hotline

Train tickets in 1-20 days are available in several cities but only for local citizens (95105105 for Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Wuhan, Nanchang, Taiyuan, Shenyang, Zhengzhou, Lanzhou, Jinan and their subordinate stations, 96006 for Chengdu and 96688 for Xian).

Buy Train Ticket in Railway Station

At the booking offices of railway stations, passengers could purchase the tickets on the spot or at most 18 days in advance. In these popular cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai and Xian, the booking offices are opened 24 hours round the clock.

In Beijing, you can visit train stations and buy the ticket there. If you don't know how to get there, then we have following information for you:

Beijing Train Station, Beijing North Train Station, Beijing South Train Station, Beijing West Train Station.

The following ticket counters have services in English and/or specially for non-Chinese riders:

• Beijing Railway Station: Ticket Counter 16
• Shanghai Railway Station: At ticket office near South Square
• Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station: Look for “English spoken” ticketing window
• Hangzhou Railway Station: High speed railway tickets sold at Ticket Counter 3 (outside the ticket hall full of ticket machines)

Authorized Train Ticket Booking Office

Generally, passengers could purchase the rail tickets 1~18 days (20 days for Z and D trains) ahead of travel time at the booking offices distributed throughout a city. An additional service charge of CNY5 per ticket should be paid.

The advantage of these are that those are often less packed (although it’s not rare to see a small queue during busier hours, especially around peak travel seasons around Chinese New Year).

Some high-end seats like Deluxe Class seats on the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity trains (C trains) are not available through these channels at all.

Buy Train Ticket from Travel Agency

It is often more convenient to obtain your tickets through a reliable travel agency or at the Reception Desk of your hotel. While this is both convenient and can save time, relevant service charge is required, maybe more if you require a delivery service.

When 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.

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.

TIPS

• The pre-sale period may be adjusted temporarily during the rush Chinese holidays or festivals, such as Chinese New Year, National Holiday and summer vacation. To avoid disappointment, it is suggested that you book through an agency as early as possible.
• 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 for a profit. This practice is of course illegal and it is not recommended to buy tickets from them. Some sell fake ones that are difficult to distinguish from the real ones. We supplied samples with some facts below to identify the authenticity of a ticket.
• Children between 1.2M and 1.5M are charged at a half price while those under 1.2M are admitted for free. Please note that children are asked to be accompanied by adults on the train.