Getting Train Tickets
A trip to China isn’t complete without a ride on a high speed train! Trivia: Train apps are called 12306. This name comes from the fact that the China Train network help number is 12306. Now you know!
Types of trains and seats
High Speed Trains
G trains – These are daytime only trains and have a speed of 250-400 km/h These usually run between major cities.
D trains – These trains have a speed of 200 – 250 km/h. They run both day and night. Some long-distance trains will have soft sleepers.
C Trains – C train (“Chengji Dongche”, 城际动车), is a high speed train below 200 km/h running between two neighboring cities and usually only within one province.
Seats on G D and C Trains
Second Class – Narrower seats with less leg room, but on high speed trains still very comfortable.
First Class – Nicer wider seats with extra leg room.
Business Class – A nice reclining chair with lots of room and usually a meal and train attendants bringing you drinks and snacks.
Soft Sleeper – A small room with 4 beds, with storage space under bed, and in area above the hallway.
Slower Green trains – Z, T and K trains
● Z – Non-Stop Express (“Zhida”, 直达): These trains are non-stop to your destination or might have several stops are bigger city stations.
● T – Express (“Tekuai”, 特快): Slightly slower than the Z trains with a few stops in between servicing major cities.
● K – Fast (“Kuaisu”, 快速): Even slower than the T trains with more stops at middle and large cities.
Seats on Z T and K Trains
Hard Seat – On older trains, a seat similar to that on a subway car or bus seat. These seats areas are often crowded and might also including people who are standing.
Soft seat – A more comfortable seat, a little wider, with extra leg room.
Soft Sleeper – A small room with 4 beds, with storage space under bed, and in area above the hallway.
Hard Sleeper – Dorm like bunk beds with no door, but with a room divider between groups of bunk beds.
How to Get Your Train Tickets
What is Your Station Name? Xi? Bei? Nan? Dong?
A little mandarin will help you…
Bei – North
Nan – South
Xi – West
Dong – East
So Beijing Xi station is Beijing West Station, Chongqing Bei is Chongqing North Station! Beijing Nan station is Beijing South…. use this pattern accordingly for all cities.
Plan Your Trip
The train ticket platforms do not yet suggest complete routes. i.e you may have to view the map to figure out your best route of two trains.
Here is the overall map of the China High Speed Rail network
Get Your Tickets
Tip: Almost all tickets are e-tickets and are tied to your passport. When purchasing a ticket, make sure your passport info is entered correctly!
Tickets are release 14 days before the travel date.
You can book on:
12306 English app
12306 Chinese app
trip.com/trains website
Trip.com app.
Note about 12306 app and website:
The first step with the 12306 is to create an account and upload your passport for verification. Some people have reported that uploading a large file creates validation problems. Approval and verification of your account can take a few days.
After verification you can purchase tickets.
Advance Reservations (more than 14 days from date of travel) are not guaranteed but an option to get your tickets!
With some sites such as Trip.com, you can place a Reservation for the dates you want to travel that are more than 14 days away. When the tickets open up, the site will attempt to book your tickets for you and will confirm if you got the seats. This saves the effort of trying to book yourself when the tickets are released.
Arriving at the Train Station and Boarding
Train stations have security similar to airports.
- Upon arrival, enter the staffed gate for foreigners. They will check your passport to verify you have a ticket.
- Proceed through security – your luggage will be xray’d NOTE – NOT ALLOWED: No aerosol cans, scissors over a certain length, knives, or liquids allowed above 120 ml (or current regulations)
- Find your gate.
- When your train is ready to board, the gate will be opened. Chinese citizens simply scan their Chinese Id. You should go to the staffed gate for foreigners -they will manually check your passport and verify you have a ticket.
- Board the correct car and seat.
- Enjoy your ride, but watch the signs for when you are reaching your destination.
Many trains are arriving from a previous destination. You will wait at the track for the train to arrive. Boarding only takes a few minutes, then the train is on it’s way!
Prohibited Items!
Prohibited items include knives, scissors over a certain length, aeosol cans (deoderent, hair spray etc) and liquids over 120 ml, lighter fluid, lighters etc…. Best to read the items on the China 12306 website at https://www.12306.cn/en/faq.html Click on the Miscellaneous tab.
Baggage Allowance and Storage.
There is storage above the seats for smaller luggage. Larger luggage is stored at the end of each train car.
There are limits. To view the current limits, use the following link and click on the “Miscellaneous” tab
https://www.12306.cn/en/faq.html
These are current Baggage allowance according to the 12306 website:
The maximum limit of free cabin luggage for each passenger are: 10 kg for children (including those free of tickets), 35 kg for diplomats and 20 kg for other passengers. The maximum dimension of each item is 160 cm in total (rod-shaped items 200 cm) for traditional trains, and 130 cm for EMU trains; the maximum weight for each item is 20kg. Foldable wheelchairs used by people with disabilities are not included in the above range.