Talking Travel: Alter Tickets Online, Monitoring for Returnees

Original Joey Knotts theBeijinger

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Talking Travel: Your semi-regular roundup of Beijing's latest transportation-related news.

Train ticket alternation goes online

Many of our readers have chosen to call off travel plans for this year’s New Year holiday, but that doesn’t keep us from dreaming about our next destinations. And, as long as we’re fantasizing, we might as well imagine that our future trips will go off without a hitch – which is likely a bit closer to reality now that train tickets can finally be altered online!

You can use the 12306 website (which now has an English edition!) or app to make the adjustments.

But just how much more convenient will this make the process of altering your tickets? The good people at Guangming Daily figure the best way to illustrate is by example. Here’s two translated examples they provide:

Xiao Ming bought a train ticket that departs from Beijing West Railway Station at 9am, but he slept in until 9.10am. According to previous regulations, Xiao Ming would have to rush to Beijing West Railway Station to handle the alteration. Starting from January 28th, however if Xiao Ming missed the train, did not use cash to purchase tickets and has not been issued a reimbursement voucher, he can apply for an alteration “on the cloud” To exchange it for a ticket for a train departing on the same day.

Xiao Hong bought a train ticket from Beijing West Railway Station to her hometown at 11.30pm. If she misses the train, can she still change the ticket before 11.59pm?
Technically it’s possible, but if there are no other trains or train tickets available before midnight of the same day, the alteration cannot be processed.

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Returnees to Beijing will have to undergo health monitoring

If you are persisting with your holiday travel plans then be aware: the latest rules, announced at the control and prevention press conference yesterday, stipulate that anyone entering Beijing from Jan 25 to Mar 15 will have to present a negative COVID-19 test result from within 7 days prior to re-entry, and additionally, you will have to undergo health monitoring for seven to fourteen days. While this will be short of quarantining (though you may still need to do that if your community requires it of you), returnees must refrain from dining out and gathering, though they may go to work and otherwise go about their business as normal.

If that sounds like more trouble than it’s worth, though, don’t forget that it’s not too late to cancel train tickets, which can be done for free eight or more days prior to the departure or for a 5 percent processing fee between two and eight days before departure.