Buying train tickets in China

Buying train tickets in China
Sep 15, 2004 13:55
LYCH Points: Join Date: Sep 15, 2004 Status: offline	Hi, I have planned a trip to China in mid February 2005 (the 15th onwards), and had aimed to travel by train a fair bit. i.e. Beijing -> Xi'an Guilin -> Shanghai Shanghai -> Huangshan Huangshan -> Suzhou Suzhou -> Hangzhou Hangzhou -> Shanghai I have priced up all these fares, and am happy, however; Will it be hard to buy these tickets (soft sleeper where applicable) only one or two days in advance, especially considering it is so close to Chinese New Year? Obviously we are unable to book the tickets well in advance, as you need to do so from a ticket office, and we may only have 2 or 3 days in each location. I don't want to buy the tickets from www.china-train-ticket.com, as they are very expensive. I would be very grateful if someone could shed some light on this, or offer any suggestions. thanks.

Sep 15, 2004 13:55

LYCH
Points:
Join Date: Sep 15, 2004
Status: offline

Hi,

I have planned a trip to China in mid February 2005 (the 15th onwards), and had aimed to travel by train a fair bit.

i.e. Beijing -> Xi'an
Guilin -> Shanghai
Shanghai -> Huangshan
Huangshan -> Suzhou
Suzhou -> Hangzhou
Hangzhou -> Shanghai

I have priced up all these fares, and am happy, however;

Will it be hard to buy these tickets (soft sleeper where applicable) only one or two days in advance, especially considering it is so close to Chinese New Year? Obviously we are unable to book the tickets well in advance, as you need to do so from a ticket office, and we may only have 2 or 3 days in each location.

I don't want to buy the tickets from www.china-train-ticket.com, as they are very expensive.

I would be very grateful if someone could shed some light on this, or offer any suggestions.

thanks.

Sep 15, 2004 17:34	#1
DAISY Points: Join Date: Mar 30, 2004 Status: Offline	Book the ticket still via internet. During the period around the New Year, the price of ticket would go up about 20%. So you'd better still ask help from the net in order to get the ticket.

Sep 15, 2004 22:56	#2
RACHEL123 Points: Join Date: Sep 11, 2004 Status: Offline	The 2005 Spring Festival will come on 8th,February. It will be very hard for you to buy tickets at that time. Also 15th,Feb is the time for many people rush back to their work place which makes it a rather tough time for buying tickets.

Sep 16, 2004 06:07	#3
LYCH Points: Join Date: Sep 15, 2004 Status: Offline	Thank you for your quick replies. Is it possible for a Travel Agent within China to buy the tickets for us, and we could pick them up when we arrive? Is this likely to be more expensive than booking the tickets online?

Sep 16, 2004 09:51	#4
ANNA Points: Join Date: Mar 30, 2004 Status: Offline	it would be much more expensive to book via travel agency than online. And the most important is whether travel agency is willing to offer such service for you, because they are TRAVEL agency after all, unless you join their tours. Maybe booking online would be better.

Sep 16, 2004 12:02	#5
LYCH Points: Join Date: Sep 15, 2004 Status: Offline	AArgh. I give up. Maybe I'll just walk :P

Post a Reply to: Buying train tickets in China