Reliable and highly recommend you book train tickets through China Travel
Booked my return fast train tickets via China Travel. The service of the
tickets and communication was good. If you’re planning your trip in China from overseas and are a
bit confused by the multiple sellers on line, conflicting advice, and uncertain if you actually get
a ticket, or a QR code or just use your passport as a ticket. Read on (current info 2025).
Some of the confusion about buying tickets for fast trains in China is more easily understood when
you remember the train network has doubled in size almost every two years for the past decade. So
the systems the train authorities run for selling tickets has changed about every two or three years
as well. So there is a lot of outdated info on the web, but confusingly it’s not that old. Maybe
only two years old web posts are no longer relevant. So you need to read the current websites to get
the current method for ticketing. As of 2025 here’s what I know.
There are no more paper tickets issued or QR codes for fast trains in China. All ticketing is
replaced (as far as my experience is) with use of your passport in the scanners at the ticket gate.
The scanner reads your passport number and name details and bingo, the gate opens for you. For
Chinese people they use their national ID cards, but for foreigners - passport is the way to go.
This is super simple and efficient but…. If you hold more than one passport as some people do,
remember to book your tickets under the exact same passport as what you will travel on. Otherwise
the scanner won’t match you to your booking.
The China Travel Service email after you purchase the tickets will record your passport number and
allocate you designated seats in the desired class of travel. As a tip for first timers, if you’re
weighing up to save money on 2nd class or pay more for first class in terms of price vs comfort,
just go 2nd class. There’s not a lot of difference and seats in 2nd class (they are very good as
well). Perhaps the only time I think about first class is on a trip over four hours. And of course
Business Class on China Trains is the top top seat, like a mini cocoon pod. And the price for those
is pretty expensive.
Book early for trains. They get super busy and you can end up missing out. China Travel is a
reliable booking partner and can help if the train you want is over booked. Sometimes they will
suggest you buy a ticket from a stop earlier than where you want to get on. This sounds odd at
first, but is a reflection of the way the tickets are sold and optimized by the train company. They
prefer fully sold trains so sometimes buying a blank sector (for a tiny amount extra) means China
Travel can get you a seat on the actual sector you want to travel on, even when the online booking
system shows there are no seats available between the two stations you want to travel between. This
is probably the No1 reason for booking through China Travel only their type of service can know this
detail.