"Z" Train: Beijing to Xian
 

Traveling to Beijing from the USA next month and interested in taking one of the fast "z" trains to Xian. Think they have something called a "2 person deluxe soft sleeper." from research i have done. Question: Can these tickets be bought in advance from the US and if so does some know of a reputable website from which this can be done? Thanks!

Direct online ticketing from the Ministry of Railways website will likely not be an option for you since it requires Chinese reading ability and a Chinese-bank issued credit/debit card. You would have to use a more user-friendly third-party site such as www.travelchinaguide.com (there are others as well). They will add a per-ticket commission which may or may not be worth it to you. However, the advance ticket sales only begins 10 days ahead of departure (12 days for direct Railways site), so even a third-party agent will just be taking an order for you, and will have staff fulfill once the sales period for your ticket dates opens up. Your name and passport number will be needed for all ticketing--many agents will want you to scan/email or fax relevant page copies. Agents will not guarantee ticket procurement around major Chinese holiday periods.

The Z trains to Xi'an are popular but the 2-person deluxe soft sleepers, somewhat less quick to sell out since they are expensive (on a par with flying). So if you will be in Beijing for several days to a week before traveling to Xi'an, it may be possible to just wait and deal with purchase once you arrive--with backup plan such as alternate train, regular soft sleeper, or flying as your Plan B in case of sellout. June is not a particularly heavy travel month in China.

If you want fast trains, take the"D" trains, which are faster, but if you're more into comfort, take the "Z" deluxe soft sleeper.

Source: A Chinese person's brain (me)

Not a great idea on the Beijing-Xi'an route to take a D. There is only one of them, a daytime train, and it's only 2-3 hours faster than the overnight Z trains. Not to mention you blow a valuable daytime period traveling on what's not a particularly scenic route, and still have to pay for a hotel room. If not flying, much better to spend this journey asleep in reasonable comfort.

To the OP: If you want a deluxe soft sleeper, you'll need the Z19 train. The other overnight Z train (Z53) usually carries only regular soft sleeper, which is also fine but you'll be sharing with 2 strangers.

Obviously, 3 strangers in soft sleeper and 1 stranger in deluxe soft sleeper.

Well it wasn't obvious to me. I assumed he was traveling with a companion, though why I assumed that, I have no idea. If traveling alone (and a male), regular soft sleeper might be a better idea. Unless you want to gamble that if you get a deluxe soft, you might end up by yourself in the compartment since most Chinese would rather fly if ticket price is about the same as the deluxe train. As a female traveling alone, I prefer hard sleeper if available.

checking flobow's previous posts (3) looks like solo
traveler?

Z train
 

Yes, traveling with my wife which is why I was looking into the deluxe soft sleeper.

:D
Never mess with jiejie's intuition! :p :D