Quick Summary
🚆 Best Booking Method: Trip.com app for convenience and advance booking
⏱️ When to Book: 30-60 days before travel (varies by season)
💲 Booking Fee: Trip.com charges ¥15 per ticket
🔍 Alternatives: 12306.cn (official), travel agencies, station counters
⚠️ Peak Periods: Spring Festival, National Day, summer holidays
Introduction
If you want to buy train tickets in China, this post will give you a comprehensive answer on how to do it.
For Chinese people, trains tend to be the preferred mode of transport for long-distance travel. And for good reasons—they are comfortable, reliable, fast, and relatively cheap. They're also environmentally friendly, though that's a lesser concern for the average person.
Because trains are so popular, they become a scarce resource during busy travel periods like summer holidays or Chinese New Year, which is the peak time for domestic travel. During these periods especially, don't even think that you might be able to get a ticket at the train station. So, as a foreigner, how do you buy train tickets?
Magda
How to Buy Train Tickets Online
The Best Way: Trip.com
The easiest way by far is a website called Trip.com. While not as popular in the West, it seems to be the go-to website/app for train/flight and hotel bookings in Asia, and in China in particular.
Key Advantages of Trip.com:
- Automated API to the ticketing website
- Purchases tickets the moment they become available (tickets are released 2 weeks in advance)
- Allows you to pick preferences (seat type, departure time)
- Continues purchase attempts until tickets are secured or sales close
- Automatic refunds if tickets aren't purchased
- Offers ticket cancellation (requires passport photo upload)
I highly recommend using the Trip.com app—it's super easy and practical.
Official Website: 12306.cn
Even though the official ticketing website has an English language version, it is not easy to navigate. Unlike any website in the West, it shuts down booking functionality for maintenance (or some other reason) every day between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Beijing time (which is 5 p.m.-11 p.m. Central European time).
For that reason, for a while we thought that it simply doesn't work, only to discover by accident one night that it does in fact work.
Online Travel Agency
There are multiple travel agencies online that offer to purchase tickets for you for a commission, like chinahighlights.com. However, they are also quite hard to navigate.
How to Buy Train Tickets in China: Complete Guide 2025
Quick Summary:
🚆 Best Booking Method: Trip.com app for convenience and advance booking
⏱️ When to Book: Tickets are released 2 weeks in advance
⚠️ Peak Periods: Summer holidays and Chinese New Year
🔍 Top Alternatives: 12306.cn (official site and app), travel agencies
💡 Pro Tip: Use Trip.com's pre-booking feature to secure tickets as soon as they're released
After extensive experience traveling through China by train, including the memorable Qinghai-Tibet railway journey with our family, I've learned the ins and outs of securing train tickets—even during the busiest travel periods.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- How to Buy Train Tickets Online
- Comparing Booking Methods
- Do You Need to Buy a Train Ticket for Your Child?
- Conclusion
Introduction
If you want to buy train tickets in China, this post will give you a comprehensive answer on how to do it.
For Chinese people, trains tend to be the preferred mode of transport for long-distance travel. And for good reasons—they are comfortable, reliable, fast, and relatively cheap. They're also environmentally friendly, though that's a lesser concern for the average person.
Because trains are so popular, they become a scarce resource during busy travel periods like summer holidays or Chinese New Year, which is the peak time for domestic travel. During these periods especially, don't even think that you might be able to get a ticket at the train station. So, as a foreigner, how do you buy train tickets?
How to Buy Train Tickets Online
The Best Way: Trip.com
The easiest way by far is a website called Trip.com. While not as popular in the West, it seems to be the go-to website/app for train/flight and hotel bookings in Asia, and in China in particular.
Key Advantages of Trip.com:
- Automated API to the ticketing website
- Purchases tickets the moment they become available (tickets are released 2 weeks in advance)
- Allows you to pick preferences (seat type, departure time)
- Continues purchase attempts until tickets are secured or sales close
- Automatic refunds if tickets aren't purchased
- Offers ticket cancellation (requires passport photo upload)
I highly recommend using the Trip.com app—it's super easy and practical.
Official Website: 12306.cn
Even though the official ticketing website has an English language version, it is not easy to navigate. Unlike any website in the West, it shuts down booking functionality for maintenance (or some other reason) every day between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. Beijing time (which is 5 p.m.-11 p.m. Central European time).
For that reason, for a while we thought that it simply doesn't work, only to discover by accident one night that it does in fact work.
Online Travel Agency
There are multiple travel agencies online that offer to purchase tickets for you for a commission, like chinahighlights.com. However, they are also quite hard to navigate.
12306.cn Mobile App
This is the new way you can book tickets for your next trip to China. There is a mobile app developed for the Chinese railway. This way you can book the tickets directly on your phone, directly from the ticketing system.
I haven't used the app yet. The interface looks relatively good and it does offer an English language option. The prices seem to be exactly the same—Trip.com has a booking fee on top of that.
The 12306.cn app does not allow you to reserve your tickets in advance—which is a huge advantage of Trip.com as you will be guaranteed that they will attempt to buy a ticket as soon as it becomes available as opposed to you trying to get the tickets when they go on sale.
Given that you cannot pre-book tickets on the official app, you cannot also specify multiple trains/comfort classes hoping that one will be available—you just buy whatever is there at the time when you access the app.
Comparing Booking Methods
| Method | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Trip.com | Pre-booking available, English interface, multiple payment options | Extra booking fee |
| 12306.cn Website | Official source, no markup | Limited hours (5am-11pm Beijing time), complex interface |
| 12306 App | Direct booking, no markup, English interface available | No advance booking feature |
| Travel Agencies | Human assistance | Higher fees, harder to navigate |
12306.cn app vs Trip.com app interface
Do You Need to Buy a Train Ticket for Your Child in China?
For information about buying train tickets for children in China, please check my dedicated article:
Magda Sawyer
Conclusion
Buying tickets for trains in China has gotten much easier thanks to modern online solutions. However, the main issue of high occupancy remains. Since tickets are released only 2 weeks in advance, I highly recommend using Trip.com's pre-booking feature to secure your tickets as soon as they become available, especially for popular routes and travel during peak seasons.
The verdict: Trip.com is still the easiest way to buy tickets in China, especially for foreigners!
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Magda Sawyer
Magda Sawyer
Magda Sawyer
Last updated: February 2025
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