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Beijing to Moscow - Trans Siberia Train

Beijing to Moscow - Trans Siberia Train

Old Mar 1, 2012, 10:18 pm
  #1  
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Beijing to Moscow - Trans Siberia Train

Have always wanted to do a train trip to Moscow from Beijing and I finally have time to do so.

So I have done some research on how to buy tickets for trains from Beijing to Moscow but there are all quoted in USD and specially catered to tourists?

I know this train is a regular scheduled train.

I want to know if there's any place I can go physically in Beijing to buy the tickets and pay in RMB?

How much does it cost in RMB? All I see are prices quoted in USD. For a hard sleeper, roughly 700usd and for a soft sleeper 1043 use from this site. http://www.cits.net/china-travel-new...ain-rates.html

Beijing Station?

Thanks for any inputs!
tycosiao is offline  
Old Mar 1, 2012, 10:59 pm
  #2  
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My cousin did this several months ago, and managed to lose his train ticket within an hour of procuring it. I went with him to CITS to inquire about the possibility of a refund, and IIRC, the value was around y6,000. But, sadly, he never saw any of that. Instead, he picked up the train in Ulan Bator for about half the above amount. He used Young Pioneer Tours, and provided me with mixed reviews (e.g. low mark up, he got to visit Chernobyl, but somewhat reminiscent of a frat party); to their credit, they sold his second train ticket to him at cost because they felt pity for him.

Originally Posted by tycosiao
Have always wanted to do a train trip to Moscow from Beijing and I finally have time to do so.

So I have done some research on how to buy tickets for trains from Beijing to Moscow but there are all quoted in USD and specially catered to tourists?

I know this train is a regular scheduled train.

I want to know if there's any place I can go physically in Beijing to buy the tickets and pay in RMB?

How much does it cost in RMB? All I see are prices quoted in USD. For a hard sleeper, roughly 700usd and for a soft sleeper 1043 use from this site. http://www.cits.net/china-travel-new...ain-rates.html

Beijing Station?

Thanks for any inputs!
moondog is online now  
Old Mar 2, 2012, 5:04 am
  #3  
 
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No, you cannot buy tickets for the international Beijing-Ulan Bator (and onward) train at Beijing Station nor any other station or remote ticketing agent. For individual ticket purchase, you'll need to go through CITS or another agent. I'm not a CITS fan, try this one which has a reputation as being fair, honest, and reliable (though I have not personally used, only secondhand reports):
http://www.oceantravelcn.com/trainTickets.asp?classid=3

I think you are going to find prices are standardized for this and are indeed expensive. And that most agencies will have the same policies on cancellation and penalties thereof, so be committed before you lay down the funds. The international Trans-Mongolian/Trans-Siberian is very popular June thru September so book well in advance.

Prices are quoted in USD not so much for tourists (though these days most non-tourists going this distance just fly). But when dealing with tickets that normally would be denominated in three journey segments in renminbi, tugruks, and rubles, none of which are freely convertible, it's easier just to pick a universal currency and use that to quote. You can certainly pay for the ticket in RMB--they'll just use whatever USD-->RMB exchange rate is in effect at the time you transact.

There are cheaper ways to get from Beijing to Moscow using a series of local trains. Be very careful though, as this may require more time than a Russian transit visa will give you. For taking local trains and possible additional time that could take, you'd best have a Russian tourist visa--which is very difficult to get outside your home country.

Last edited by jiejie; Mar 2, 2012 at 5:10 am
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