Obstacles to Buying a Train Ticket
But the first step in all of this is booking a ticket and here is where China is lagging behind the rest of the world. First, the only way to book a train ticket is for you, or someone on your behalf, to go physically to the station from which you're departing and buy you a ticket.Second, train seats aren't released very far in advance and there's really no telling when seats go on sale. Generally, you can buy tickets two weeks prior to your departure date. But if you're thinking about booking now for next year, forget it.
This is all rather a pain, especially if you're backpacking through China around Chinese New Year and you want to make sure you get that soft sleeper from Beijing to Shanghai for the twelve-hour trip.
Overcoming the Train Ticket Obstacles
Obviously, if you've got the time, you can go to the station yourself and book your tickets. But if you can't, then agents can act on your behalf.If you're not physically in China, find yourself a good travel agent in China to book things for you. A Chinese agent will be cheaper than your agent back home and probably a little more flexible. Of course there will likely be a nominal fee on top of the ticket price, but this is worth the peace-of-mind as well as the time saved.
Your agent can courier you the tickets to wherever you are but the thing to do is just to have them hold on to the tickets until you arrive in China and then have them sent to wherever you're staying.
Another way to go about booking tickets without your physical presence is to ask your hotel concierge to do it. Even if you're at a small inn without a concierge, they will likely be able to help you out. Again, especially for that small inn with no official concierge, you can probably talk them into going for you for a small fee.
