Beijing West Train Station Guide
Address: Lianhuachi East Road, Fengtai District, Beijing
Railway Routes and Directions
Beijing West Train Station started operation in 1996. Passengers to Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Xi An, Zhengzhou, Nanchang, Chengdu, Guiyang, Chongqing, Changsha, Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Guilin, Nanning, Hohhot, Xining, JiNan, Urumqi and Yunnan Kunming should depart here.
Luggage Issue, Ticket Booking and Entrance Guide
Beijing West Train Station has two front squares: the Southern Square (close to Lianhuachi Park) and the Northern Saquare (close to China Millennium Monument). Entrance passes and ticket booking windows are located in the Northern Saquare. If you happen to get to the Southern Saquare, you should walk to the Northern Saquare through the underground tunnel to get into the Train Station Hall.
Passengers should pick their luggages at the west side of the west wing in the Northern Square and forward luaggages at the east side of the east wing in the Northern Square.
Special Waiting Rooms
Sleeper ticket holders can relax themselves at the east side of the entrance hall on the 2nd floor.
T27 waiting rom is dedicated for passengers to Lhasa of Tibet.
Get to Beijing West Train Station by bus
Passenger can take the following buses to Beijing West Train Station: No. 21, No. 52, No. 65, No. 319, No. 320, No. 373, No. 374, No. 387, No. Te 6, No. 437, No. 673, No. 695, No. 802.
Get to Beijing West Train Station by subway
Passenger can take Beijing subway line 1 and get off at "China People's Revolution Military Museum" station to change buses such as No. 21, No. 320 for Beijing West Train Station.
Get to Beijing West Station from Beijing Central Station
Passenger can take No. 9, No. 122, No. 673 , No. Te 2 or No. 52 from Beijing Central Train Station to Beijing West Train Station.
Passenger can take the subway from Beijing Train Station to "Fuxingmen" and then change subway line 1 for "China People's Revolution Military Museum" station to change buses such as No. 21, No. 320 for Beijing West Train Station.
Get to Beijing West Station from Beijing South Station by Bus
Passenger can take No. 72, No. 122, No. 53 , No. 741 from Beijing South Train Station to Beijing West Train Station.
Get to Beijing West Station from Beijing North Station by Bus
Passenger can take No.21 from Xizhimen South To Beijing West Train Station.
Get to Beijing West Station from Beijing Capital Airport
It takes around 40 minutes from Beijing Capital Airport to Beijing West Train Station by taxi if the traffic is good. The costing is RMB 80-100 Yuan or USD 11.7 to 14.7 dollar.
You can either take the airport shuttle to Gongzhufen. Duration is around 1 hour if the traffic is good with ticket price RMB 16 Yuan or USD 2.8 dolar. Passengers can then take No. 40, No.374, No.437, No. 724, No. 854, Yuntong 102 or Yuntong 202 buses directly from Gongzhufen station to the west Train station. Gongzhufen is only 1 kilometer away from the west Train station.
Beijing Central Train Station Guide
Address: Dongbianmen, Dongcheng District, Beijing.
Telephone: 0086-10-51019999
Railway Routes and Directions
Beijing Train Station was built in 1901. It used to be the busiest Train station in China before Beijing West Train Station was built. Now, Beijing Train Station mainly acts as the transporation hub between Beijing and South-east China, North-east China and etc. Passengers to Changchun, Dalian, Harbin, Shanghai, Shenyang should depart from this station.
International trains to Moscow of Russia, Ulaanbaatar of Mongolia, Pyongyang of North Korea also departs from Beijing Train Station.
How to get to Beijing Central Train Station
Passenger can take No.¡¡9, No. 10, No. 20, No. 24, No. 25, No. 29, No. 39, No. 59, No. 52, No. 37, No. Te 2, No. 403, No. 420, No. 434, No. 457, No. 637, No. 638, No. 639, No. 640, No. 668, No. 692, No. 673, No. 674, No. 729, No.120, No. 122, No. 126, No. 203, No. 204, No. 208, No. 209, No. 211, No. 938, No. 957, No. 103 electric bus, No. 104 electric bus to get to Beijing Train Station.
Get to Beijing Train Station from Beijing Capital Airport: The easiest way to get to Beijing Train Station from Beijing Capital Airport is by aiport shuttle bus line 3. It takes around 1 hour if the traffic is good and costs RMB 16 Yuan or USD 2.8 dollar.
Passenger can either take the light rail to Dongzhimen station and then change subway line 2 (loop line) for Beijing Train Station. Duration is around 50 minutes and cost is RMB 27 Yuan or USD 4 dollar.
Beijing South Train Station (Yongdingmen) Guide
Address: Yongdingmen Wai, Chongwen District, Beijing.
Railway Routes and Directions
Beijing South Railway Station was re-constructed in May 2006 and started to operation again in August 1st, 2008. it¡¯s now renowned as the world¡¯s largest railway station combining normal-speed rail, high-speed rail, suburban rail and metro rail.
Beijing South Train Station is now acting as the departure station for Beijing Shanghai High-speed rail and Beijing Tianjin Inter-city Rail. Passenger to Qingdao, Jinan by bulletin train should also depart here.
Get to Beijing South Train Station by Bus
Passenger can take No.¡¡20, No. 53, No. 63, No. 122, No. 102 electric bus, No. 106 electric bus, No. 203 night bus, No. 208 night bus, No. 377, No. 381, No. 454, No. 458, No. 485, No. 692, No. 741, No. 800, No. 927, No. 939, No. 943, No. 958, No. 986, No. 997, No. Te 3, Yuntong 102 to get to Beijing South Train Station.
Get to Beijing South Train Station by subway
Passenger can take Beijing subway line 4 to Beijing South Train Station.
Get to Beijing South Train Station from Beijing Airport
The best solution is to take the airport shuttle bus to Fangzhuang. After arrival, you can then take a taxi directly to Beijing South Train Station. The total cost is under RMB 40 Yuan.
Beijing North Train Station (Xizhimen) Guide
Address: Xizhimen, Xicheng District, Beijing
Railway Routes and Directions
Beijing North Train Station was re-constructed in 2005 and re-started operation in the beginning of 2009. It is now acting as the departure & terminal station for Jingbao (Beijing-Baotou) Railway, Jingtong (Beijing-Tongliao) Railway. Passengers to Chifeng, Tongliao of Inner Mongolia, Yanqing county, Badaling Great Wall should depart from this station.
How to get to Beijing North Train Station from Beijing Airport
There are two options to get to Beijing North Train Station from Beijing Airport:
Passenger can take the light rail to Dongzhimen station and then change subway line 2 (loop line) for Xizhimen Station.
Taking airport shuttle to Beijing Train Station and then change subway line 2 for Xizhimen Station.
Train Types in China
There are 8 types of trains in China:
1. 4-number train, for example,1487, is the slowest green body train.
2. K train, for example, K49, is a fast train with zolfe orange body.
3. T Train and N Train, for example, T 87 is a super-fast train or express train.
4. Z train, for example, Z19, is a non-stoppable super fast train. Most of this kind of trains provide sleepers only.
5. D train, for examaple, D59, also know as the bullet train, is the fastest train among all the others.
6. C train, for example, C2001, is used to refer to Beijing Tianjin Inter-city Trains only.
7. Y train, for example, Y563, indicates to tourist train.
8. L train, for exampe, L11, also known as temporary train, is added temporarily to meet the increasing traffic demand during the holidays such as the National Day hodiday, Spring Festival and etc.
China Train Ticket Types
There are three large types of train tickets in general: standing-room-only ticket, seat ticket and sleeper ticket. Price of sleeper ticket is usually higher than that of the othe two types of tickets.
Types of seat:
1. Hard seat.
2. Soft seat.
Types of sleeper:
1. Hard sleeper: it has 2-3 subtypes including upper hard sleeper, middle hard sleeper and bottom hard sleeper. Bottom sleeper usually has more space than the other two types and upper sleeper makes passenger feel more crowded in the composed compartment.
2. Soft sleeper: it has 2-3 subtypes including upper soft sleeper, middle soft sleeper and bottom soft sleeper. Bottom sleeper has the highest ticket price as it has more space than the other two types and upper sleeper, with the lowest price, makes passenger feel more crowded in the composed compartment.
When can I buy Beijing train tickets?
Advance reservation period for most types of trains in Beijing is 10 days (for D train and Z train it is 20 days). Advance reservation period reduces in holidays and tourist seasons.
As an international traveler, you should try to book your train ticket in advance as the train ticket will most likely be sold out if you buy it on the actual departing date. China has a seller's market in railway transportation which makes the railway tickets much hotter than that in the west countries.
Where can I buy Beijing train tickets?
You can go to any train station's ticket windows to buy ticket for trains departing from any railway station of Beijing. There are hundreds of legal train ticket agencies in Beijing, you can also try to purchase ticket from them.
I have a tight schedule and really can't miss the train, but the ticket is sold out at the train ticket ageny. What should I do under this case?
Please don't try to buy the ticket from the black market no matter how urgent you are as you will be most likey to waste your money and time if you do this.
Try to pay a visit to the train station's ticket window and show your passport to the staff and tell them you really have a tight schedule and want help. China government treats every foreigner as guest and offers preferential policy for expatriate travelers. When the ticket is in shortage, your passport will most likely can help you get a ticket.