Originally Posted by
chornedsnorkack
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....
It's done with reasonable frequency by foreigners and upper class Chinese who don't mind spending the extra cash (most ordinary Chinese care more about saving money than privacy). When traveling with 2 friends in soft sleeper, we've often purchased the extra berth and partied in peace. Many middle class Chinese will buy a regular sleeper ticket for a child unless the child is very small. If you want your child to have a place of his own, buy a regular (adult) sleeper ticket and ignore child ticket. These berths in all classes are too small/narrow for two humans to share, unless humans are both 4 years old or under. Bottom line: if you purchase an adult ticket/berth, that spot is yours for the journey whether you sleep in it, put a child in it, or keep it empty. The train staff don't have the right to take away your purchased (empty) berth and give it to someone else. On the unlikely chance someone tries, stand your ground. Carriage/berth assignment is done at purchase, so once sold, that particular spot is no longer in the official database/ticket inventory for that train, for segments you purchased.
1) Make sure all the tickets you purchase are in the same compartment!
2) When the ticket taker comes around to the compartment to temporarily swap your tickets for cards/tokens, give her all the tickets even for empty berths or child-occupied. If she notices a "missing" person, just point down the hall and pantomime "bathroom"--though likely she won't notice or question. She puts the actual tickets in slots in her master book to signify those berths are taken for which segments, and to know which people to notify when to get off (some people get off at intermediate stops). And gives you a card or token with carriage/berth number on it. DO NOT LOSE THESE. She'll come back around during the last hour to swap card/token back for your tickets, which you must keep and show at the exit of the arrival station.
3) Understand that particularly when totalling the cost of buying empty berths for 4 people (assuming a soft sleeper compartment), you might want to price out 3 flight tickets (2 adult + 1 child with seat), as in this situation, plane may come out competitive, especially if you are thinking about soft sleeper on bullet trains, which can be quite expensive compared to conventional slower trains.