Originally Posted by
Chinatrvl
Totally unlikely.
When you buy four adult tickets you should definitely be fine - since you will receive four allocated berths. I presume you can just order four adult tickets at your hotel and nobody will ever check or even care, since you're overpaying and not trying to sneak in an 'adult' with a kid's ticket.
The key is getting four, numbered berths (which you probably won't get when buying two adults and two kids - but I don't know).
For example, a standard family of two parents and one child who are used to having the child sleep in separate bed (or crib) and privacy of own room, and who can afford to pay for comfort once a year in their capacity of having found a fortune in Shanghai or Shenzhen (or being laowai) might get 4 numbered berths (3 adult and 1 child ticket) for actual headcount of 2 adults and 1 infant.
Is purchasing an empty berth for privacy of compartment something that people often get away with, or something which is expressly allowed so that the family would have grounds to stand on if challenged? Which they might well be if the train is otherwise completely packed because all other migrants want to visit their grandparents during the same holidays....