My major problem last time at Beijing main station wasn't the ticket pick up but getting back to the hotel from the station.

The subway station only has one entrance although exits are plentiful so you have to queue with huge crowds at rush hour.

And of course the cab drivers would all tell me they wouldn't drive by the meter as there was a major event in town but only pre-arranged fare. I was able to negotiate this down to almost reasonable levels but still overpriced.

In total, rather awful experience and both Beijing main station and south station are poor cousins of their Shanghai counterparts.

I guess the capital wants to show it regards it's rude and brusque Maoist soul dear and does not want to make any concessions to customer service or other capitalist degenerate weaknesses.