Thorn Tree travel forum

1

Yes, it's possible to buy this type of ticket at Shenzhen Station. It's called a "yi di piao" ("different place ticket") and several windows marked "yi di piao" are set aside for selling them. There's a 5RMB fee.

China Travel Service in Hong Kong also sells train tickets out of Guangzhou, but not necessarily for all trains. There's a hefty mark-up, but probably less than the cost of heading to Shenzhen and back yourself.

2

Thanks for the info, 889.

Just a further query -
1. How many days in advance would I be able to buy the ticket? (Its just that I don't want to go to Shenzhen and find out I've gone too early, or go to late and find all the hard-sleepers already sold out! Ideally, I'd like to go and buy the ticket on the day they go on sale.)

3

The advance purchase rules for Chinese trains always seem to be changing -- and can be different for different stations and different trains and different periods -- so I'm not sure of the latest rules, but if you show up 4 days before departure you should be able to buy a ticket.

In any event, given that you're in Hong Kong I suggest you first drop into one of the many China Travel Service offices and see what their fares and rules are.

4

Just an update - I just went and checked with CTS, and this is how their prices compare with what you'd pay at the train station, to give people some idea of what markup CTS applies to train tickets -

Guangzhou -- Chongqing
1076 16:38-15:00 CTS HK$431 Train station ??
K356 10:50-20:29 CTS HK$493 Train station Y443
K202 16:15-14:03 CTS HK$456 Train station Y385

The above prices are all for hard sleeper. CTS charges the same for all bunks, whilst the train station prices are for the lower bunk.
According to the person I spoke to at CTS, they can only confirm the ticket 3 days before departure. When I was enquiring, the lady looked at a big list of trains and their prices, so it does seem that CTS does sell tickets for quite a number of Chinese train services.

5

Purchased in Guangzhou, the 1076 is 391RMB hard-sleeper lower berth.

6

Just thought I'd let everyone know how I went, in case anyone else needs to get Chinese train tickets in Hong Kong.

I went to CTS in Hong Kong, about one and a half weeks before the departure, and asked them to book a hard sleeper on K202 for me. They gave me a receipt, and told me to come back 3 days before departure, to collect my ticket. The lady said it was not certain that they could get a ticket for me, but that I had a good chance. So, as instructed, I came back to collect my ticket, but they said that they had all sold out. So they refunded me in full.

By this time, I had no time left to go to China before my departure and get the ticket myself. Thus, I had to try and buy my ticket on the day. First caught the KCR to Shenzhen, and tried to buy my Guangzhou to Chongqing ticket there. But the clerk told me (I'm guessing, my Chinese is patchy), that I could only by tickets for the next day (and NOT the current day), and told me to go to Guangzhou. So I went to Guangzhou, and went to the ticket office there about one and a half hours before departure. At this stage, I wasn't very optimistic of getting a hard-sleeper ticket. But lo-and-behold, not only did I find an English speaking window, but there were hard-sleepers available.

On the train itself, it was clear that it wasn't full (many of the top hard-sleepers seemed empty). So, I have no idea why CTS in Hong Kong couldn't get me a ticket. Anyway, the lesson I learnt is this -

DO NOT rely on CTS in Hong Kong to get you Chinese train tickets.

7

25st. You should cut and paste your comments on a new posting so people learn from your experience. It would seem they just did not bother to go and get tickets.

http://www.usefilm.com/photographer/28275.html

8

Even though the ticket system is now computerised, there's still some kind of a quota system in place, so CTS might -- I say might -- have sold its quota to other passengers instead of you; same in Shenzhen. Plus people return tickets for refund, so it's always worth trying the station ticket windows before departure if you've got the time.

It seems common these days that top bunks aren't sold on many trains except at peak periods.