How to purchase train tickets and ride the railway in China
Still planning your May Day holiday? Follow Alex for some helpful information about how to purchase train tickets and ride the railway in China.
Station
Buy & Change Ticket
Please pay attention to which station you'll be departing from or arriving at when buying tickets to avoid buying the wrong one.
All you need to purchase a ticket at the window is just your passport. The worker will take your passport, enter your information, and you’ll get your ticket.
If you want to change the time or date of your ticket, you just need to go up to one of these windows in the station, ask for "gaiqian"（改签）to change the time or date of your ticket.
If you purchase the ticket online, you can change it on your mobile phone’s application or at the ticket window at the station.
But if you have a paper ticket, you must go to the ticket window.
You can reschedule all tickets during the pre-sale period 48 hours before departure. Tickets purchased within 48 hours of departure can only be rescheduled on or before the date of departure.
Please remember that tickets can only be changed once.
If there's anything you're unclear about, go to the railway enquiry counter to ask.
Ticket Checking
When you're going into the station make sure that you have your ID ready and also make sure that you have your ticket ready if you have a paper ticket.
If you bought your ticket through the 12306 app online, then you can just swipe your passport, and it will recognize your information and you can go in.
Or you can go all the way to the side, to the "rengong fuwu"（人工服务） part which is the place where there's a person there not just a machine who can help you swipe your passport and make sure and troubleshoot if something goes wrong.
So if you have arrived late to the train station and you’ve missed your train you will have one opportunity to change to a new train to your destination on the same day, free of charge.
If you've already made one change and you've missed your train
then, unfortunately you'll have to purchase a new ticket.
Tips
It is recommended to arrive at the railway station at least 30 minutes prior to your train scheduled departure.
At each train station a security check is required to enter.
Most train stations have multiple entrances and ticket checking gates.
In order to help prevent you from missing your train, please leave ample time to pass through security.
If you lose your ID or passport, there are police stations in each railway station. Find a police station and tell them the situation. If you have a photo of your passporter ID, show them that as well and they'll assist you.
If you're on the train and miss your stop, there's no need to panic, get off at the next station and immediately alert the staff of the situation. Show them your ID as well as your itinerary.
According to regulations they will arrange you to get on the next train back to original destination free of any additional charge.
If you find that your luggage has been lost, if you're still at the train station, you should go to the information desk and tell them your situation. Give them a copy of your itinerary and show them your ID and if you have an idea about where the property was lost tell them that as well and they'll assist you.
If you've already left the station, you can use the 12306 app to report the lost property or you can call the hotline at 12306.
All you need to do is provide your itinerary information as well as your ID information.
Hope you have a wonderful traveling experience!
Click the pictures to read past stories ↓
Editor: Fu Rong
Designer: Shi JingyunWriter：Sun MinjieVideo: Sun Minjie