Chinese train tickets
Chinese trains link virtually all main cities and towns in China, and are a safe, comfortable and civilised way to travel, even for families or women travelling alone.
They have 4 classes: soft seat, soft sleeper, hard seat, hard sleeper.
Short distance trains normally have just hard class seats, although some inter-city trains also have soft class seats. Long distance trains have soft & hard class sleepers.
Soft sleepers have comfortable 4-berth compartments with full bedding provided.
Hard class sleepers have bunks in open-plan dormitory cars, usually arranged in bays of 6 (upper, middle and lower) on one side of the aisle, with pairs of seats on the other side of the aisle for daytime use.
Soft sleeper is recommended for most visitors to China, but budget travellers often use hard class, which is quite acceptable.
The most important trains on the Beijing-Shanghai, Beijing-Hong Kong, Beijing-Xian and some other routes have deluxe soft class with 2-berth compartments with private toilets as well as the normal 4-berth soft class. Most long-distance trains have a restaurant car serving full meals. The best ‘Z’ category trains are even more modern, see the pictures further down this page.
More details of Cabin types of Chinese train.
Always arrive at the station in plenty of time before the departure of your train. In major cities, especially Beijing, stations can be large and busy, and it may take a while to find your train. In some cases there are security checks (including airline-style luggage checks) to go through before boarding.
More details of How to take train in China.
How to buy train tickets in Hong Kong?
You can book departures from Hong Kong to Beijing and Shanghai by email at the official (cheap!) ticket office price through KCRC (Kowloon Canton Railway Corporation) Customer Services. Visit their website at http://www.mtr.com.hk (click ‘customer site’ then ‘intercity passenger services’ then ‘more information’.
Note that the online booking system on their intercity trains home page is only for the HK to Guangzhou intercity trains, for the Beijing & Shanghai through trains you’ll need to email their customer services department. When looking up times and fares on their website, remember that Hong Kong is shown as ‘Hung Hom’).
You will be given a reference number and can then pick up and pay for tickets at Hong Kong’s ‘Hung Hom’ station in Kowloon. Note that Hong Kong ticket office does not accept credit cards, only cash. However, there is an ATM just round the corner from the station.
I need to buy a train ticket Hong Kong to Guangzhou on Nov 30. Ticket should be delivered to the hotel I will stay in Hong Kong. I will arrive on Nov 29. Anyone knows who can buy this ticket and send it to my hotel?