China - Buying train tickets from outside of China

There was an old thread on train tickets but the last post was 2006 so maybe time for a refresh and more general thread.

What's the best way to get train tickets outside of China?

What's a reasonable fee to pay an agent or hotel for the service of buying a ticket?

These guys (http://www.chinatraintickets.net/) are asking 140 RMB in service fees per ticket. That seems high considering a ticket is often around that price and fees for multiple tickets shouldn't necessarily be per ticket as per transaction. Are there better choices?

Is the window for buying tickets still open at 10 days out?

Thanks!

BTW, any Beijing FTers...I'd be glad to buy dinner or lunch on May 6th or 7th if you happen to be able to pick up tickets for me.

BTW, any Beijing FTers...I'd be glad to buy dinner or lunch on May 6th or 7th if you happen to be able to pick up tickets for me.

Feel free to send me an email (no PM, please), and we can discuss.

140rmb is a ripoff but is there an agency which charges less?


Is there one agent which charges reasonable fees?

I did find Gray Line Tours at the Marriott City Wall (citywall@dtitours.cn) that will book tickets for more like a 30-35 rmb fee per ticket. They're near the main train station so you may have to pick up from them. China Train Tickets is claiming their price includes Customer Protection and some other add-ons that sound like bunk.

If you have a Chinese friend, they might be able to help you use the official online ticket reservation site: 12306.cn (http://www.12306.cn/). You can use 12306.cn to make reservations up to 11 days in advance. ^

Or, if you can read Chinese and happen to have a Chinese bank card, you can reserve your own tickets through the site from outside China without any problems.

The Westin Xi´an just bought eight tickets for me at a rate of 50 RMB per piece. Had to fax them passport copies and CC card copy though.

If you have a Chinese friend, they might be able to help you use the official online ticket reservation site: 12306.cn (http://www.12306.cn/). You can use 12306.cn to make reservations up to 11 days in advance. ^

Or, if you can read Chinese and happen to have a Chinese bank card, you can reserve your own tickets through the site from outside China without any problems.

^

If you have a Chinese friend, they might be able to help you use the official online ticket reservation site: 12306.cn (http://www.12306.cn/). You can use 12306.cn to make reservations up to 11 days in advance. ^

Or, if you can read Chinese and happen to have a Chinese bank card, you can reserve your own tickets through the site from outside China without any problems.

Thanks!

I totally forgot about this option.

I've lived in China (off and on for four years) and found train.qunar.com (http://train.qunar.com/) to be a very good site for buying train tickets. Sadly, they don't have an English version yet, but if you need help buying tickets, I'll be here for at least two more years. I'm glad to help.