Originally Posted by
travelinmanS
Since you'll need to wait in line at the ticket window to pick up the tickets you booked online, then I'd advise an hour before. Make sure you are waiting in the correct line as only one of the many ticket lines at the ticket counter is for picking up tickets booked online. 2 hours is overkill. If you already had tickets in hand then I'd go with Moondog's advice but since you don't you'll need more time.
Oops. I missed that part. I thought the main reason to use one of those agencies was because they sent the tickets to you.
Fortunately, there is another alternative to the train station scrum. Any remote kiosk (I usually use the one near JA Temple) can print tickets for a fee of Y5. I didn't believe it the first time Ctrip advised me to do this, but it works like a charm.