China Train Tickets

Chemins de fer chinois runs the largest high-speed railway network in the world — our timetable covers 3 404 gares · 432 villes. Almost every place a visitor wants to go (Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Chengdu, Guilin, Kunming, Hangzhou) is on the rail map rather than a flight away: high-speed services run at 200–350 km/h, so Beijing–Shanghai takes under 4.5 hours and Shanghai–Hangzhou under an hour.

Trains are identified by a letter prefix. Knowing the six you will actually see makes a Chinese timetable readable at a glance:

The letter is part of the train number: G7, D3106, C2001, Z20, T110, K816.

Three things foreign travellers need to know before booking. First, ticketing is real-name: every ticket is issued against a specific passport, so the name you type must match your passport exactly. Second, on most high-speed lines that passport is your ticket — you scan it at the gate instead of collecting paper, and if a gate does not read it, the staffed counter next to it will. Third, sales usually open 14 days before departure, so popular trains sell out early on public holidays; book as soon as your dates are fixed.

We handle the parts that are hard from abroad: searching in English, quoting in your own currency with the fare and our service fee shown separately, and paying with VISA, MasterCard, AMEX or PayPal. Once your seats are confirmed we email the e-ticket — nothing to collect at a counter, nothing to print.