Booking train tickets in China?
Nov 29, 2018, 3:43 pm
#47
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,333
I went to the Chengdu east station to buy a ticket to Guanghan. Unfortunately, being devoid of any Mandarin skills, the whole process was a complete waste of time. I showed the clerk my destination (in Chinese), which prompted a series of questions that she must have realized that I would be unable to answer. Eventually, she showed me a timetable on the screen, showing the next train in 2.5 hours (much longer than I wanted to wait). I relented and told her I wanted the first train, which she confirmed. Then another series of questions I could not answer. I had already handed over my passport and had the money ready, but she clearly wanted something else. I ended up saying the hell with it and hopping in a taxi. I was already annoyed by the endless, repetitive security lines, the lack of clear signage, and the fact that there the only board showing the departing trains was exclusively in Chinese. Even the bus station occasionally alternated between Roman characters and Chinese on the departure board, so you can at least have an idea of what bus you want to be on.
Buying a return ticket to Chengdu from the Guanghan north station was absolutely a breeze, probably in part due to the fact that just about all the trains from there are heading to Chengdu. But it was also because whole process was much less convoluted or painful at the much smaller station. The signboard at Guanghan even had Roman characters.
The moral of the story is that if you do not know Mandarin, buy your tickets in advance for departures from any major train station. I know there is at least one company that sells tickets online in English, with a service charge that is often more than the ticket.
And before you jump all over me for not being fluent in Mandarin, this was my very first trip to China (mainland), and the trip was only for 3 days. BTW, I have been to 10 countries this year, involving a total of 9 languages, so obviously 'learning the language' is very poor advice. Better advice would be for China to invest a couple thousand RMB into adding English menus to the bus and train ticket machines, which avoids having clueless tourists tying up the ticket counters trying to communicate with gestures. The subway ticket machines all have this feature already. They can easily have the machines print out vouchers that clearly indicate in English how to get a passport/visa verification to active the tickets, if that is the only reason they don't want foreigners using the kiosks. I don't expect the world to learn English, but I do expect places that cater to travelers to at least offer something vaguely recognizable to people familiar with the lingua franca of the world. Perfect English is unnecessary, but Roman characters or at least a little pinyin would be very beneficial for the 80% of the world that does not read Chinese. Learning 45,000 characters for a weekend getaway is a bit much. Of course, China has more than enough of their own tourists with plenty of money to spend, so they don't mind telling the rest of the world to go to hell.
Buying a return ticket to Chengdu from the Guanghan north station was absolutely a breeze, probably in part due to the fact that just about all the trains from there are heading to Chengdu. But it was also because whole process was much less convoluted or painful at the much smaller station. The signboard at Guanghan even had Roman characters.
The moral of the story is that if you do not know Mandarin, buy your tickets in advance for departures from any major train station. I know there is at least one company that sells tickets online in English, with a service charge that is often more than the ticket.
And before you jump all over me for not being fluent in Mandarin, this was my very first trip to China (mainland), and the trip was only for 3 days. BTW, I have been to 10 countries this year, involving a total of 9 languages, so obviously 'learning the language' is very poor advice. Better advice would be for China to invest a couple thousand RMB into adding English menus to the bus and train ticket machines, which avoids having clueless tourists tying up the ticket counters trying to communicate with gestures. The subway ticket machines all have this feature already. They can easily have the machines print out vouchers that clearly indicate in English how to get a passport/visa verification to active the tickets, if that is the only reason they don't want foreigners using the kiosks. I don't expect the world to learn English, but I do expect places that cater to travelers to at least offer something vaguely recognizable to people familiar with the lingua franca of the world. Perfect English is unnecessary, but Roman characters or at least a little pinyin would be very beneficial for the 80% of the world that does not read Chinese. Learning 45,000 characters for a weekend getaway is a bit much. Of course, China has more than enough of their own tourists with plenty of money to spend, so they don't mind telling the rest of the world to go to hell.
Nov 29, 2018, 4:08 pm
#48
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 3,097
Yes, this is the problem with the hand-the-slip-of-paper-in-Chinese approach at the station. It only works if the slip of paper is complete AND if exactly what you want is available. But as soon as the clerk says there are no seats left, will you take a standing ticket, you'll be at sea.
So booking on ctrip or the like clearly makes sense if you can't handle Chinese. You'll still have to pick-up your paper ticket at the counter, but that requires no Chinese, just your passport and the confirmation number (which must be correct, of course).
As to English, in the late '70s and the '80s, foreign tourism was very important to China as a source of foreign exchange, and foreign tour groups were a common sight throughout the country. But in recent decades domestic tourism has almost completely taken over, and foreign tourists, frankly, don't count for much anymore. That anything is being done at all for foreigners these days is a bit of a surprise.
So booking on ctrip or the like clearly makes sense if you can't handle Chinese. You'll still have to pick-up your paper ticket at the counter, but that requires no Chinese, just your passport and the confirmation number (which must be correct, of course).
As to English, in the late '70s and the '80s, foreign tourism was very important to China as a source of foreign exchange, and foreign tour groups were a common sight throughout the country. But in recent decades domestic tourism has almost completely taken over, and foreign tourists, frankly, don't count for much anymore. That anything is being done at all for foreigners these days is a bit of a surprise.
Last edited by 889; Nov 29, 2018 at 4:20 pm
Nov 30, 2018, 7:17 am
#49
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: China and Canada
Posts: 1,886
I went to the Chengdu east station to buy a ticket to Guanghan. Unfortunately, being devoid of any Mandarin skills, the whole process was a complete waste of time. I showed the clerk my destination (in Chinese), which prompted a series of questions that she must have realized that I would be unable to answer. Eventually, she showed me a timetable on the screen, showing the next train in 2.5 hours (much longer than I wanted to wait). I relented and told her I wanted the first train, which she confirmed. Then another series of questions I could not answer. I had already handed over my passport and had the money ready, but she clearly wanted something else. I ended up saying the hell with it and hopping in a taxi. I was already annoyed by the endless, repetitive security lines, the lack of clear signage, and the fact that there the only board showing the departing trains was exclusively in Chinese. Even the bus station occasionally alternated between Roman characters and Chinese on the departure board, so you can at least have an idea of what bus you want to be on.
Buying a return ticket to Chengdu from the Guanghan north station was absolutely a breeze, probably in part due to the fact that just about all the trains from there are heading to Chengdu. But it was also because whole process was much less convoluted or painful at the much smaller station. The signboard at Guanghan even had Roman characters.
The moral of the story is that if you do not know Mandarin, buy your tickets in advance for departures from any major train station. I know there is at least one company that sells tickets online in English, with a service charge that is often more than the ticket.
And before you jump all over me for not being fluent in Mandarin, this was my very first trip to China (mainland), and the trip was only for 3 days. BTW, I have been to 10 countries this year, involving a total of 9 languages, so obviously 'learning the language' is very poor advice. Better advice would be for China to invest a couple thousand RMB into adding English menus to the bus and train ticket machines, which avoids having clueless tourists tying up the ticket counters trying to communicate with gestures. The subway ticket machines all have this feature already. They can easily have the machines print out vouchers that clearly indicate in English how to get a passport/visa verification to active the tickets, if that is the only reason they don't want foreigners using the kiosks. I don't expect the world to learn English, but I do expect places that cater to travelers to at least offer something vaguely recognizable to people familiar with the lingua franca of the world. Perfect English is unnecessary, but Roman characters or at least a little pinyin would be very beneficial for the 80% of the world that does not read Chinese. Learning 45,000 characters for a weekend getaway is a bit much. Of course, China has more than enough of their own tourists with plenty of money to spend, so they don't mind telling the rest of the world to go to hell.
Buying a return ticket to Chengdu from the Guanghan north station was absolutely a breeze, probably in part due to the fact that just about all the trains from there are heading to Chengdu. But it was also because whole process was much less convoluted or painful at the much smaller station. The signboard at Guanghan even had Roman characters.
The moral of the story is that if you do not know Mandarin, buy your tickets in advance for departures from any major train station. I know there is at least one company that sells tickets online in English, with a service charge that is often more than the ticket.
And before you jump all over me for not being fluent in Mandarin, this was my very first trip to China (mainland), and the trip was only for 3 days. BTW, I have been to 10 countries this year, involving a total of 9 languages, so obviously 'learning the language' is very poor advice. Better advice would be for China to invest a couple thousand RMB into adding English menus to the bus and train ticket machines, which avoids having clueless tourists tying up the ticket counters trying to communicate with gestures. The subway ticket machines all have this feature already. They can easily have the machines print out vouchers that clearly indicate in English how to get a passport/visa verification to active the tickets, if that is the only reason they don't want foreigners using the kiosks. I don't expect the world to learn English, but I do expect places that cater to travelers to at least offer something vaguely recognizable to people familiar with the lingua franca of the world. Perfect English is unnecessary, but Roman characters or at least a little pinyin would be very beneficial for the 80% of the world that does not read Chinese. Learning 45,000 characters for a weekend getaway is a bit much. Of course, China has more than enough of their own tourists with plenty of money to spend, so they don't mind telling the rest of the world to go to hell.
Nov 30, 2018, 9:18 am
#50
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,009
The moral of the story is that if you do not know Mandarin, buy your tickets in advance for departures from any major train station. I know there is at least one company that sells tickets online in English, with a service charge that is often more than the ticket.
...
And before you jump all over me for not being fluent in Mandarin, this was my very first trip to China (mainland), and the trip was only for 3 days. BTW, I have been to 10 countries this year, involving a total of 9 languages, so obviously 'learning the language' is very poor advice.
...
And before you jump all over me for not being fluent in Mandarin, this was my very first trip to China (mainland), and the trip was only for 3 days. BTW, I have been to 10 countries this year, involving a total of 9 languages, so obviously 'learning the language' is very poor advice.
Nov 30, 2018, 3:57 pm
#51
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 38,410
I went to the Chengdu east station to buy a ticket to Guanghan. Unfortunately, being devoid of any Mandarin skills, the whole process was a complete waste of time. I showed the clerk my destination (in Chinese), which prompted a series of questions that she must have realized that I would be unable to answer. Eventually, she showed me a timetable on the screen, showing the next train in 2.5 hours (much longer than I wanted to wait). I relented and told her I wanted the first train, which she confirmed. Then another series of questions I could not answer. I had already handed over my passport and had the money ready, but she clearly wanted something else. I ended up saying the hell with it and hopping in a taxi. I was already annoyed by the endless, repetitive security lines, the lack of clear signage, and the fact that there the only board showing the departing trains was exclusively in Chinese.
Dec 1, 2018, 1:27 am
#52
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Bangkok
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Titanium, BAEC Silver, TK Miles & Smiles Elite
Posts: 2,208
There is only really one moral for foreigners buying train tickets in China and that is to buy them in advance on an English-language app on your phone. There are two (at least) in English that show live train seat availability and the confirmation reference (needed to collect your ticket) is sent to you when the booking is made which can be minutes later. The service charge is well worth it for such convenience. The Chinese trip.com app and Chinatraincbooking are both great and you can pay using normal payment methods too.
Every time I travel by train I book my seats in advance and collect the tickets as much in advance as possible and certainly never on the day of travel to reduce the inherent risk and anxiety and anger that would otherwise result. I don't speak a word of Chinese. As noted above, once you have your ticket you can see the departure time, platform and seat number clearly enough. Impressive is the fact that the ticket has the platform number on it already and you don't need the departure board apart from to confirm the departure time, train number and platform are still what's on the ticket. Which they are. Don't need Chinese for any of this.
Travelling by train in China is like Switzerland. If you de-risk it sufficiently.
Every time I travel by train I book my seats in advance and collect the tickets as much in advance as possible and certainly never on the day of travel to reduce the inherent risk and anxiety and anger that would otherwise result. I don't speak a word of Chinese. As noted above, once you have your ticket you can see the departure time, platform and seat number clearly enough. Impressive is the fact that the ticket has the platform number on it already and you don't need the departure board apart from to confirm the departure time, train number and platform are still what's on the ticket. Which they are. Don't need Chinese for any of this.
Travelling by train in China is like Switzerland. If you de-risk it sufficiently.
Dec 1, 2018, 2:10 am
#53
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,009
Buying tickets at offsite locations is kind of idiot proof, especially for people that have a minimal (and, I mean rudimentary) grasp of the language.
Dec 1, 2018, 4:05 am
#54
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 3,097
The language issue is identical, regardless where you try to buy your ticket. Only difference at a local ticket office is lack of a crowd behind you pressuring you to finish your business. So maybe you can fiddle with Google Translate or something, and maybe the clerk will have a bit more patience. But not idiot-proof by any means.
By the way, I'm pretty sure they use Pinyin to input ticket information, so I don't think you have to use characters for the destination on your request slip. Of course you can just speak slowly. And risk getting a ticket to Xuzhou when you're heading to Suzhou.
By the way, I'm pretty sure they use Pinyin to input ticket information, so I don't think you have to use characters for the destination on your request slip. Of course you can just speak slowly. And risk getting a ticket to Xuzhou when you're heading to Suzhou.
Last edited by 889; Dec 1, 2018 at 4:25 am
Dec 3, 2018, 7:43 am
#55
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: HKG
Posts: 1,314
Using Pinyin also runs into the problem of which Suzhou do you want to travel to.
Dec 3, 2018, 7:52 am
#56
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 3,097
Well, 12306 works on Pinyin, and "suzhou" brings up a dropdown from which you select 宿州 or 苏州.
Of course it's also possible they run things on an advanced OS like XP, which lets you switch input methods with a click.
Of course it's also possible they run things on an advanced OS like XP, which lets you switch input methods with a click.
Last edited by 889; Dec 3, 2018 at 7:57 am
Dec 3, 2018, 11:45 pm
#57
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,218
Traveling by train in China is completely different from traveling by train in Switzerland. There are no massive train stations in Switzerland the size of airports, there are no bullet trains in Switzerland, there are free seats on almost every train in Switzerland whilst every train in China is packed to the gills. You can find a nice coffee at every Swiss station, You don't need to go through 3 or 4 ticket/security checks in Switzerland and last but not least nobody will ever be watching a movie on a train in Switzerland without using headphones.
Dec 4, 2018, 1:43 am
#58
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Bangkok
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Titanium, BAEC Silver, TK Miles & Smiles Elite
Posts: 2,208
Traveling by train in China is completely different from traveling by train in Switzerland. There are no massive train stations in Switzerland the size of airports, there are no bullet trains in Switzerland, there are free seats on almost every train in Switzerland whilst every train in China is packed to the gills. You can find a nice coffee at every Swiss station, You don't need to go through 3 or 4 ticket/security checks in Switzerland and last but not least nobody will ever be watching a movie on a train in Switzerland without using headphones.
Dec 5, 2018, 3:10 pm
#59
Join Date: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,333
Once you have your ticket it has a train number on it. Armed with that the Chinese-only train board tells you what you need to know. I would have no qualms about taking a train without a word of English to be seen--but buying the tickets is another matter. That generally involves questions that are going to be very hard to answer.
I do have Google translate and free int'l roaming, but it is definitely not an ideal tool for use at a busy ticket window (or just about anywhere else where speaking is required). It works OK for translating menus and signs that are very near by, but the syntax issues and complexity of compounding Chinese characters leaves a lot to be desired in regular usage. Plus the Sichuan dialect is not the same as the standard Mandarin, further muddling the comprehensibility of it all.
Dec 5, 2018, 3:21 pm
#60
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,009
Unfortunately, the destination board in the ticketing hall is the one place where there is no English, so buying the ticket is indeed the sticking point. I am sure that her question was a very legitimate one, but ultimately something that probably could be ignored for a clueless passenger, especially on a 15 minute train ride where travel class is definitely not a worthwhile distinction.
I do have Google translate and free int'l roaming, but it is definitely not an ideal tool for use at a busy ticket window (or just about anywhere else where speaking is required). It works OK for translating menus and signs that are very near by, but the syntax issues and complexity of compounding Chinese characters leaves a lot to be desired in regular usage. Plus the Sichuan dialect is not the same as the standard Mandarin, further muddling the comprehensibility of it all.
I do have Google translate and free int'l roaming, but it is definitely not an ideal tool for use at a busy ticket window (or just about anywhere else where speaking is required). It works OK for translating menus and signs that are very near by, but the syntax issues and complexity of compounding Chinese characters leaves a lot to be desired in regular usage. Plus the Sichuan dialect is not the same as the standard Mandarin, further muddling the comprehensibility of it all.
In case you haven't noticed, none of us actually like buying tickets at train station ticket windows (so you have some sympathy), but I do think your statements are a bit hyperbolic.