Guide · Getting around
How to buy Chinese high-speed rail tickets
The mechanics of booking trains in China with a foreign passport and a foreign card. Simpler than it looks, once you know the four things that trip people up.
Chinese high-speed rail is excellent — fast, punctual, cheap and comprehensive — and buying tickets is straightforward once set up. The problems visitors hit are always the same four things, and none of them are difficult.
Shanghai is the best-connected city in the country for rail, with high-speed lines running to Beijing in about four and a half hours, Hangzhou under an hour, Nanjing just over an hour, Suzhou half an hour.
Your passport is your ticket
There are no paper tickets in the ordinary sense. You book against your passport number, and you enter and exit the station by tapping your passport at the gates.
This means the passport you book with must be the one you carry. There is no transferring a booking to a different document.
Where to book
The official system is 12306, available as an app with English support. Registration requires a phone number and passport verification, which sometimes needs time to clear — set it up before you need it.
Third-party apps (Trip.com and similar) work well for foreign cards and English interfaces, charging a small service fee. This is the pragmatic choice for a short trip.
Station counters also sell tickets with cash or card, but popular services sell out.
How far ahead
Tickets generally go on sale about 15 days ahead. For ordinary weekday Suzhou or Hangzhou services, same-day or next-day is fine.
For weekend mornings, public holidays and Beijing sleeper trains, book the moment tickets release. Chinese public holidays sell out in minutes.
Arriving at the station
Shanghai Hongqiao and Shanghai station are both large. Arrive 45 minutes early for the first time, 30 minutes for anything domestic.
Security screening happens on entry. Then you need your passport to get through the departure gate, which usually opens 15–20 minutes before departure and closes about 3–5 minutes before.
Your gate number appears on the departure boards. Platform numbers for high-speed services often appear quite late — check the board, not your ticket.
Which Shanghai station
Shanghai Hongqiao serves most high-speed services including Hangzhou, Suzhou and Beijing; it is connected to metro lines 2, 10 and 17. Shanghai station (north) serves more conventional services and some high-speed; metro lines 1, 3 and 4.
Check your ticket carefully. They are 20 km apart and going to the wrong one will cost you the train.
FAQ
Questions
Everything on this site is written and re-checked on the ground. When something changes, this page changes.
Can I use a foreign credit card?
Yes on third-party apps and increasingly on 12306. Set it up in advance rather than at the ticket machine.
Do I need to collect a paper ticket?
No. Your passport is the ticket. You can request a printed receipt but you do not need one.
What if I miss my train?
Most tickets can be exchanged once for a later service on the same day, usually at a counter. It depends on the fare type.
Is there luggage space?
Yes — overhead racks and space at the ends of carriages. Large suitcases are common and there is room, but arrive early to claim it.
Are trains punctual?
Remarkably so. Chinese high-speed services run close to schedule, which is why arriving late is a real problem.
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