Are you sure there is no special ticket stock that could only be sold at the departure city? They told me in Changsha there are no tickets for Nanchang Beijing (and I talked with a english speaking agent at the ticket counter). Next afternoon in Nanchang there was a lot tickets available for this route. It was a Z Train and I got good sleep in it. The Kunming Zhangjiajie Train use his horn almost every minute, but this Z Train didnt.
They also ask for my passport to give me a ticket from Chansgha to Nanchang, I got all other train tickets without registration.

Can't confirm that. I did this in the opposite direction on 01. Jan 2012. Minibus from Zhangjiajie Village Bus Station to Zhangjiajie City Bus Station (11RMB), then bought a ticket on the official ticket counter for Zhangjiajie City to Changsha Bus Station. Price was 94RMB, last bus was 19:00 that day. Because I finished Tianmen Mountain earlier I ask if I could get on the 17:30 bus with my ticket and it was no problem. It was a big bus and even 20% of the seats was occupied. It was a good and less crowded highway and it take just 3.5 hours. At Changsha Bus Station West you have to get on Bus 315 to Changsha Railway Station, 3RMB.


Sure, that could be a point. But even things like the Hongkong Lightshow was so boring, not worth to spend time for that. You could only see half of the lasers and they wasnt synchron with the music. So everyone who was on the peak was very disappointed about it.
And you lived in Nanchang before? Of course its not a City like Beijing, but there was enough to do to fill two days. Even the Hotel was a expecience because it was on the campus and the reception has a big rack of condoms in front of it. This must be the place where the students go to get some privacy for a couple of hours. But it was cheap, just 40RMB/night. And I didnt thought thats its so free to live there. You couldnt see any security or police, I didnt have to register myself and the students was really clever, they know exactly whats wrong in their country.
It was just hard to find a warm place, no restaurant use a heater, everything was cold.
And this was the first time I got really freightend in China. We goes to a muslim restaurant (my friend is muslim so it was necessary). There was no guest in it, just two guys who looks like thiefs. Every minute someone came in the restaurant and give his hand to one of this mans to say hello. After that he put something in his jacket, every time. Both of us was worried the food could be poisoned, so we eat just a little and went away very fast

Next time I will know it. I didnt thought that it will be so hard to get on subway so I tried this first. To walk back from subway to Train Station was no real option for me, so I waited for a empty train. Just some minutes before 9 it was possible to get on.