Buying a train ticket to depart from a different station.

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hongkongexpat
hongkongexpat

Buying a train ticket to depart from a different station.

I'd be grateful for advice from someone used to buying train tickets in China. I've done so many times, but not recently.

I know that I cannot buy China train tickets online, but am I right in thinking that it is now possible to buy a ticket departing from a station other than the one I'm buying my ticket from?

In my case, my wife and I want to take the Guangzhou-Sanya train departing this Friday evening May 9, but CTS here in Hong Kong does not sell tickets for this train. So I'm now thinking to make a quick trip from HK to Shenzhen station tomorrow May 8 to see if they can sell me this ticket for a train originating from Guangzhou.

If not possible, we will have to try our luck at Guangzhou station on Friday just 2 hours before the train leaves. Maybe it will be sold out by then, so I'd rather by the tickets early if I can

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woolf135
woolf135

I think what you want is the Yudi (余地) window at the Shenzhen train station. I might have that wrong though, I forget what it's called in Chinese.

Anyway, it should be possible to buy Guangzhou tix in Shenzhen.

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889
889

You want the 异地票 yidi piao window at Shenzhen station, and yes, they should offer tickets from Guangzhou to Sanya, at a 5RMB commission over the normal price.

There's some mystery about ticket sales in China, and I suspect, but don't know, that the number of tickets allotted as 异地票 yidi piao is limited. Thus it's possible that tickets on a particular train might be available in Guangzhou, yet sold out in Shenzhen.

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woolf135
woolf135

Ah, yidi, I knew yudi didn't look right (nor does it make any sense)

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hongkongexpat
hongkongexpat

That worked out very well, thanks both for your help. This morning I got one of my students in HK to write in Chinese "Where is the .异地票 yidi piao window", along with the details of the tickets I wanted. This afternoon, within 10 minutes of arriving at Shenzhen station, I got my soft sleeper tickets at RMB 5 commission each on top of the normal price.

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