How to Book China Train Tickets as a Foreigner: 12306, Trip.com & Stations

Short answer: Book China train tickets with your passport as your ID, either on the official 12306 app or website (no service fee, but passport verification first) or on Trip.com (full English, accepts foreign cards, small service fee per ticket). Tickets normally go on sale 15 days before departure. There is no paper ticket to collect on most high-speed trains — your passport is your ticket: scan it at the station gate, find your carriage and seat, and go.

Last updated: 29 October 2026. App menus, booking windows and refund rules change, so follow the labels in the app on the day you book if a step looks slightly different. Real-device screenshots will be added later; this guide is text-only for now.

Before you book: three things to get right

1. Your passport details, exactly as printed. Every ticket is tied to a passport. A middle name dropped, a hyphen changed, or a number mistyped can stop you at the gate. Copy from the passport data page, not from memory.
2. The right station, not just the right city. Big cities have several stations. “Beijing South” (Beijingnan) is not “Beijing” station, and “Shanghai Hongqiao” is not “Shanghai” station. Check which station your train actually leaves from, and allow time to reach that station, not just the city.
3. The train letter. G trains are the fastest high-speed services (up to about 350 km/h on the best routes); D trains are slower electric multiple-unit services; C trains are short intercity services; K, Z and T trains are older conventional trains, including overnight sleepers. For a first trip, G and D trains cover almost every classic route.

Booking routes compared

If you have not set up payments yet, do that first: see How to Set Up Alipay for Foreigners and How to Set Up WeChat Pay for Foreigners. Train booking is much smoother once a payment app works.

How to book on 12306 (official, no fee)

1. Install “Railway 12306” from your app store, or use 12306.cn and switch to the English version. Confirm you have the official app, not a clone.
2. Register. Choose your nationality, enter your name exactly as on your passport, passport number (no spaces or punctuation), expiry date, date of birth, and an email address. Activate the account from the email 12306 sends.
3. Verify your identity — do this days before tickets go on sale. 12306 tries to verify automatically. If that fails, upload a photo of your passport data page for manual review, or take your passport to a staffed ticket window at any station for instant verification. Guides report verification taking anywhere from about an hour to 3 days, so do not leave it to the morning tickets open. Some guides report you can buy a small number of tickets while verification is pending — do not rely on this; get verified first.
4. Search. Enter departure and destination stations, your date, and pick a train. Check the departure station, arrival station, duration, and seat class before you pay.
5. Pay. Alipay or WeChat Pay is the most reliable route for foreign visitors. If a foreign card fails on 12306, that is common — it is not necessarily a problem with your card. Try the payment app, or book the same train on Trip.com.
6. Save the order. Note the train number, date, carriage and seat, and the order number. You will need the order number if a gate fails to read your passport.

How to book on Trip.com (easiest for first-timers)

1. Open Trip.com, choose Trains, and enter your route and date.
2. Enter each passenger’s passport details exactly as printed.
3. Choose your seat class (see China High-Speed Train Seat Classes for what each class is actually like).
4. Pay with an international card or a payment app. Trip.com also offers pre-booking: it will try to grab the ticket the moment sales open, which helps on popular routes and holiday dates.
5. Save the confirmation and order number, and bring the passport you booked with.

Trip.com costs a little more per ticket, but for a first trip the English support and foreign-card checkout are often worth it — especially if 12306 verification is still pending.

The booking window: when tickets go on sale

• Normal window: tickets normally go on sale 15 days before departure. Some guides describe this as 14 days because they count differently (excluding the day of sale) — the practical rule is the same: be ready about two weeks out, and book popular routes (Beijing–Shanghai, Beijing–Xi’an, Shanghai–Hangzhou) as soon as sales open, especially around Chinese public holidays.
• Online sales hours: guides report online sales running from 05:00 to 01:00 Beijing time the next day (05:00 to 23:30 on Tuesdays, according to one 2026 guide). Searching timetables is available around the clock.
• New pilot reservation service: since July 2026, China Railway has reportedly been piloting advance reservations on more than 200 Beijing–Shanghai high-speed and conventional trains, with requests submitted 60 to 17 days before departure and orders confirmed 20 to 16 days ahead. This is a pilot, not a general rule — check in the 12306 app whether it applies to your train.

At the station: no paper ticket, just your passport

1. Arrive 30 to 45 minutes early. Major stations are huge, with security checks at the entrance (bags through an X-ray) and large waiting halls organised by train number.
2. Find your train number (for example G1, D311) on the departure board, and go to the waiting area for that train.
3. Board by scanning your passport at the gate. On most high-speed trains there is nothing to print and no QR code to show — the gate reads your passport and pulls up your reservation. If the gate fails, show your passport and order number to the attendant, or use the staffed manual-check window, which most stations have for foreign passengers.
4. Find your carriage and seat. The carriage number and seat are in your booking. Luggage goes on the overhead rack for small bags, or in the luggage area at the end of the carriage for large suitcases.

One warning: the passport you travel with must be the passport you booked with. If you renew your passport between booking and travel, contact the booking platform before departure — a new passport number will not match the old ticket.

Refunds and changes: what we can and cannot promise

Refunds and changes are handled in the app or platform you booked with, before departure, and the exact fee depends on how close to departure you cancel, the ticket type, and the platform. Guides agree on the shape of the rule — earlier changes cost less than last-minute cancellations, and third-party platforms may add their own handling fee — but published fee percentages differ and change, so this guide does not present a single fee table as fact. Before you pay, read the refund and change terms shown for your specific ticket in the app, and keep the booking confirmation until after you travel. If you booked through Trip.com, change or refund through Trip.com, not through 12306, and vice versa.

Common first-timer mistakes

• Booking to the wrong station in the same city.
• Leaving 12306 passport verification until the day tickets go on sale.
• Typing a name that does not match the passport exactly.
• Assuming a foreign card will work on 12306 without a payment app as backup.
• Arriving at a mega-station with only minutes to spare.
• Booking an overnight sleeper when you meant to book a daytime high-speed train — check the train letter and departure time, not just the price.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to print or collect a ticket?
On most high-speed trains, no. Your passport is your ticket. Keep the order number as a backup in case a gate fails.

Can I book without a Chinese phone number?
Yes. 12306 accepts an international phone format and an email address for registration, and Trip.com works with a home phone number and email.

How early should I book?
As soon as tickets go on sale, about 15 days before departure, for popular routes and holiday periods. For quiet midweek routes, a few days ahead is usually fine.

What if my 12306 verification is still pending?
Wait for it if you can, or book through Trip.com, or verify in person at a station ticket window with your passport. Do not book the same journey twice on two platforms — cancel one if you do.

Can I change my seat class after booking?
Generally you change or refund the ticket and rebook, subject to the refund and change terms shown for that ticket. Check availability first — the class you want may be sold out on that train.

Next on this site: First Time in China — home, China High-Speed Train Seat Classes, How to Set Up Alipay for Foreigners, and How to Set Up WeChat Pay for Foreigners.