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Beijing Main Station (metro Bejingzhan)
Beijing West Station(Beijing West station (called Beijing Xi or Xizhan)
It’s not hard to purchase tickets your self at the train station, but don’t forget to take your passport along with you.
In major towns for example Shanhai or Beijing it is best to try to find the specific English-speaking ticket window for people from other countries.
When do reservations open? Bookings for top D- or Z-category express trains open up ten to twenty days previous to departure, however reservations for other trains simply open five to ten days before departure. You can not purchase tickets before a reservation open up. If the train you would like starts off its journey elsewhere and calls at your boarding station already well into its journey, tickets may possibly be accessible a couple of days before departure. The precise rules differ by town and by train.
Which routes could be ordered at which stations? China Railways do not have a central computer booking system, merely local booking systems dependent in each town that are not associated with one another. So a train station can usually only sell you a ticket for a voyage beginning at that station, not for trips starting somewhere else. For instance, the ticket office at Beijing can sell you a Beijing-Shanghai ticket but can’t sell you a Shanghai-Xiaman ticket. Yet, at main town you are able to occasionally buy a return ticket for key routes. For instance, in Beijing you can buy a ticket from Beijing to Nanjing and also from Nanjing back to Beijing. But generally, you will need to book your return journey when you are getting to your destination. However, it is now claimed that Beijing West station can sell tickets for any train route in China, not only those departing Beijing.
Tickets are advised booked a minimum of two to three days earlier, apart from peak periods (the Spring Festival, May Day first , National Day first October) booked as soon as reservations open up.
