Buying train tickets in china

Hi, I am Monica, an intern in InternChina. Today, I want to talk about how to get a train ticket in china. It’s not as hard as it seems! Just keep calm and follow these steps.

1. Where can you get a train ticket?

You can purchase train tickets from three places: online, at the train station or from a ticket booth.
We usually use the websites like Ctrip.com or Qunar.com to buy tickets online.

Several Chinese words you’ll need to buy a train ticket:
Train ticket :火车票 huoche piao
Train number: 车次 che ci
Soft sleeper:软卧 ruan wo
Hard sleeper: 硬卧 ying wo
Soft seat: 软座 ruan zuo
Hard seat: 硬座 ying zuo
First-class seat:一等座 yideng zuo
Second-class seat:二等座 erdeng zuo
Business-class seat:商务座 shangwu zuo
Window seat:靠窗的座位 kaochuang de zuowei
Pathway seat: 靠过道的座位 kao guodao de zuowei

2. How to get to the train station?

There are three ways to get to the train station in general, taxi, bus and subway.
Unfortunately, subway is still in construction in some cities; otherwise, it will be the best option. If your train is very early in the morning, I have to say you are lucky. It means you don’t need to worry about the traffic. However, if your train is some time during the day or around the peak-hour traffic, I strongly recommend leaving at least one hour earlier. Maybe you would arrive too early but at least you wont miss your train! And in some cities there is more than one train station and it can be quite hard to find the right platform.

3. What should you do after you arrive your destination?

Before you arrive, you should make sure that you have an address written in simple Chinese with you, the address of the first place you want to go from the train station. The best option would be to take a bus or the subway. If you have a lot of luggage with you or there is no right bus or subway to take, make sure you have the address with you and take a taxi away from the train station. Show the address to the taxi driver and everything should be fine.