FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Train travel in China: How do I book a train from Guilin to Beijing?
Old Jun 20, 2006, 8:49 am
  #3  
Loren Pechtel
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 38,320
Originally Posted by jedison
We've had the best luck contacting the hotel we will be staying at in a particular town and having them obtain the tickets, usually through their in-house travel agent. The Chinese typically queue up the day before to get tickets. This seems ridiculous but my in-laws swear it's the only way they can buy them. Huge lines form right before New Years in train stations all over China to buy tickets at midnight.
The one time we took a train in China it was done this way--go stand in an insane crowd. "Queue up" hardly applies to Chinese behavior in lines.

In our case this worked as there was no language barrier--my wife is a native speaker. I wouldn't recommend trying to buy them at the train station if you don't speak the language.
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