1. You can't "change the date." You need to buy a new ticket and refund the existing, two separate transactions. To refund the current ticket, you must have it in hand and show the ID's for whomever is printed on the ticket, but you can do this operation at a remote ticketing office as well as at the station. There will be a 5% penalty of the face value. If you are arriving on the 17th, it may be difficult to impossible to get another sleeper for the 19th to replace what you already have. At major train stations, there will be a separate window (tuipiao) for returns, and usually there is not much of a line.

2. Book it, don't wait. Guilin-Beijing route is not going to get any better during this time of year--it's peak season even though the national holiday is formally over. If you wait, you may get shut out entirely.

3. Not possible through the ticket window process, and you're not set up for online. You'll have to wait until the 10 day advance period opens up, and buy from wherever you are. If that's Xi'an, then so be it. Note: Xi'an also has remote ticketing offices so you don't necessarily have to buy at the station.

Flying into SHA today. Land around 515pm. Expect to be out around 545pm. If I need to go to Pudong, is the consensus line 2 (green line) or taxi?

I'm guessing route will be from Hongqiao to Yan An Gao Jia down through the tunnel into Lujiazui...

I should be able to snag a seat on the green line before it gets ridiculous at People's square etc.

Price is not an issue, only time.

You should come meet us at Big Bamboo first; it's burger night! In either case, I would go for the taxi. Line 2 during rush hour isn't fun.

Line 9 is another option to Lujiazui. Just have to figure out how to get on that one first. New carriage and relatively quiet.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with Moondog on this one :cool: Line 2 is your best bet, if time is your priority. If you have carry-on luggage only, you could walk all the way to the train station (+500m) and enter the subway there. It is the first busy station on line 2, so there you might be able to get a seat for your 50 minutes ride.

5:45PM will be peak time at Hongqiao, so getting a taxi will be the first hurdle. Expect waiting time anywhere between 15-45 minutes.

If you decide to take the taxi ride, I would advise to forget the tunnel, it is completely blocked with traffic at that time. You will lose a lot of time there.

Instead make use of Nanpu Bridge and on the Pudong side direct the driver to Pudong Nan Lu and Puming Lu. (that is if you need to be in the vicinity of Lujiazhui subway station/ Pearl tower area)

I have to say, as a non-Shanghai resident but sort of ultra frequent visitor: Deeply , deeply resent both line 1 and 2. Will do my utmost to avoid those any time of day, but especially rush hour.

After several hundred rides just can't stand those sharp elbowed farmers and migrant workers with their huge rice sacks and toolbags anymore. Give me any alternative routing and I'll gladly take it, be it on the subway, bus, taxi or limousine.

-I never count on getting a seat at the train station because during busy times it's a battle, so --when I take the subway from T2-- I simply suck it up and stand until I reach a transfer station
-Hongqiao to Lujiazui on the subway is more like 35 minutes v. 40 minutes for the taxi (even during rush hour)
-I like to take the subway to the airport, due to its predictability, but when I'm inbound to SH, I don't care about the extra 5 minutes, which are sometimes an extra 20 minutes; I'd much rather chill in the back of taxi with my computer then deal with Line 2

Sometimes, I'd walk in the opposite direction one stop because I know that station would be much less busy. For example, if you know Shenzhen, Dongmen is a major shopping district. Thus, the Dongmen bus stops are often an unnecessary 头疼. So, if heading northeast, I'd walk southwest to the Menzhenbu bus stop on Shennan Donglu.

Sure, this could work anywhere in the world, depending on the time, but in the rest of the world, I also don't typically see twelve (scheduled) buses going to the same stop.

ID check at train atation entrance
 

Just a heads up to avoid use of your secretary's ID card for convenience.

Last week and again today I had a business travel by train (Shanghai Honfqiao - Nanjing South and back).

On both trips my train ticket was checked against my passport number.

At Hongqiao they check at the entrance port to the platform, causing some delay. Looks like they only check Beijing trains.

At Nanjing Nan they check you at the entrance, so everybody get's checked. One unlucky fellow laowai got refused to enter and she had to go downstairs to the ticket office to change her ticket (and miss her original train)

Let's hope this stops after november 18 ;)

Give your secretary your passport. Even a photocopy.

We're all familiar with this approach, but if the secretary is already set up in the system, it is often easier for her to simply book using her ID (similar to using a stored profile in Expedia). I've been busted doing the ID/ticket mismatch drill before, but have always been told not to let it happen again.

You mean the secretary is setup through the 12306 website? It's trivial to book with any ID in that system.

And when they didn't match what happened?

Airline questions are best asked in the appropriate airline fora, so posts asking airline related questions have been moved to the proper fora.

JDiver
senior moderator

I know this post is 5-month old but what was the significant about November 18, 2012 with respect to this?