If you have entered China and want to travel to Beijing from another city, you can choose to travel by train or air. If you have a Chinese driving license, you can also drive to Beijing. Here is a guide for foreigners on how to buy train and air tickets in China.
I. How to buy airplane tickets
You can purchase tickets for air travel in China with your passport, or diplomatic identity card issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or foreigner's permanent residence permit. You can directly place an order on the official website of the corresponding airline company by providing the valid document information. When taking a domestic flight, you are required to use the same document during the whole process including booking, check-in and security check.
II. How to buy train tickets
In China, real-name ticket purchasing is required. Ticket buyers should purchase a ticket with the original or a copy of the passenger's valid identity document. And the passenger should present his or her valid identity document used for ticket purchasing to enter the station and take the train. In order to comply with the regular measures for pandemic prevention and control unveiled by local governments, as well as to avoid repeated ticket purchase and returning the ticket, the pre-sale period is now 15 days. There are currently four ways to purchase train tickets as follows.
1. Purchase at ticket windows
Documents that can be used to purchase tickets: valid passport, foreigner's residence permit, foreigner's entry-exit certificate, diplomat card, consular certificate, foreigners' identity certificate issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the statement regarding a lost passport issued by the local public security authorities.
Opening hours: 24 hours a day
Methods of payment: When purchasing at the ticket windows, you may pay by cash, or the card issued by the bank which offers POS services, or the card with the UnionPay logo, or make payment via WeChat, Alipay. Please use one bank card to pay for the ticket.
2. Purchase at automatic ticket machines
Documents that can be used to purchase tickets: foreign permanent resident ID card
Opening hours: 24 hours a day
Methods of payment: You can pay for the ticket by cash or the cards of the banks identified on the machines, as well as the debit and prepaid cards (excluding credit cards) with the UnionPay logo issued by other banks.
Notes: After purchasing tickets, please collect your changes and bank card. Ticket vending machines only accept cash in denominations such as 5 CNY, 10 CNY, 20 CNY, 50 CNY and 100 CNY. Please use relatively clean paper money.
3. Book tickets over the phone
Please give a call to China Railway at 95105105 for ticket booking. It only provides Chinese language services.
Identity documents for booking tickets: Foreign permanent resident ID card and valid passport that can be used according to regulations.
Opening hours: The 95105105 hotline provides services between 05:00 and 23:00 everyday. Tickets for trains that departure in the 4th day after purchasing till the last day of presales period can be purchased.
Payment: Tickets successfully booked before 12:00 should be payed before 12:00 on the next day of booking, while tickets booked after 12:00 should be payed before 24:00 on the next day. With the order number provided by the ticket hotline, passenger can make payment at any ticket windows or train ticket outlets with original valid identity documents.
4. Book tickets online
The website and mobile app of China Railway (12306.cn) are convenient ways to buy tickets. The platform also offers English version, providing services such as registration, login, one-way ticket purchase, ticket change, change of arrival, ticket refund, and order inquiry.
Identity documents for booking tickets on 12306.cn (Chinese version): Foreign permanent resident ID card and valid passport that can be used according to regulations.
Identity documents for booking tickets on 12306.cn (English version): Valid passport that can be used according to regulations.
Opening hours: 12306.cn offers information inquiry services throughout the day, and ticketing service is available between 5:00 and 23:30 everyday.
Payment: 12306.cn accepts various payment methods. Apart from payments through banks, Alipay, WeChat, the platform also accepts VISA, MasterCard, JCB, and Diners payments. Prices of tickets on display and under transaction are all measured in CNY, and international payments are accepted by Bank of China.
Notes: For foreign passport users, please fill in the English name on the passport in the order of the name. If one's name is over 30 characters, then he or she shall to enter 30 consecutive characters starting from the first English character in the name (space and punctuation are not required to entered), and case of characters is not distinguishable.