travel by train inside China by the student visa

Of course train travel is permitted on a student visa. I doubt there is (Or ever was) any kind of Chinese visa that precluded train travel (Except the 24 - 72 hour Transit Without Visas - and then only theoretically). Furthermore: when you buy your ticket at a train station, you have to show your passport but nobody even looks at your visa. They just need your name and passport number to identify you on the ticket. In fact; I hold two nationalities and, therefore, two passports, and I have used the passport that doesn't even have a Chinese visa in it to buy train tickets. Not an eyebrow has been raised thus far.

Of course train travel is permitted on a student visa. I doubt there is (Or ever was) any kind of Chinese visa that precluded train travel (Except the 24 - 72 hour Transit Without Visas - and then only theoretically). Furthermore: when you buy your ticket at a train station, you have to show your passport but nobody even looks at your visa. They just need your name and passport number to identify you on the ticket. In fact; I hold two nationalities and, therefore, two passports, and I have used the passport that doesn't even have a Chinese visa in it to buy train tickets. Not an eyebrow has been raised thus far.

Thank you for your input!. I just wonder how I should add my train trip in the itinerary section of my visa application. I believe embassy may require the train tickets.. Chinese Customs may ask same question when I will be crossing Kazakhstan / China border. I found that I can book train online via ctrip app.. I believe chinese embassy will accept it as my itinerary proof. The train travel my take up 3 days, so I need somehow to reflect this information in my visa application or I don't need to disclose my train trip at all.

You can certainly buy domestic train tickets on ctrip. But international tickets? It's your international ticket into China that you sometimes have to provide with your visa application.

Oh! I see.

So, you have to enter China on a tourist visa and change it into a student visa when you get to Shanghai?? That does seem rather inconvenient.

A direct train between Urumqi and Shanghai will take about 2 days but it wouldn't be a bad idea to get off somewhere around half-way (E.g Xian) to break it up a bit, at least.

It seems to me confusing as well. It's stated as student visa. which needs to be converted to multi entry visa in Shanghai once I get registered in my university.
i'm afraid it's far not a trouble free way to travel across china for first time traveler like me and i do it on my own(solo traveler).

You only need the visa to enter China. For domestic travel you just need your passport. You do not need to provide internal transportation with your visa application, only the international travel part.

There are 2 completely different issues here.

First is putting something on your visa application that allows it to get approved. Fake plane tickets are the preferred option to get around fussy consulate staff.

Second is what you actually can do with a valid passport and Chinese visa. You can ride any train not heading into the Tibet Autonomous Region with your passport and visa. To get international train tickets from Kazakhstan you will also need to have an entry left on your visa.

Treat the problems separately and you will find things much easier.

Agree, don't mix up the two issues of 1) getting the visa with 2) traveling on the visa. These days, #1 is definitely the harder of the two. There is also some confusion on your part about visas. It sounds like you need to apply for a student visa (X1 or X2 depending on length of your study course). Your university should give you the correct documentation to do that. You cannot get a tourist L visa then convert it to a student X visa in China. You may be confusing this with something else, see a couple of paragraphs below.

I did not think that for X visas, any evidence of international tickets in/out of China was required. Just the application form and the correct paperwork from your school. So check the application requirements first for Student Visas wherever you are going to apply. If they confirm that you don't need to provide any air tickets in/out, then that is a major hassle averted. Normally you would fill out the application as if you are studying the entire time in Shanghai--certainly don't mention plans to enter at or visit Xinjiang.

Now for the part you may not realize: while you can travel through and around China (except Tibet) on an X student visa, there are some timing issues. If you are getting an X1 visa (study period > 6 months) then that will have to be converted to a Residence Permit within 30 days after you arrive in China. The RP will then function as a multiple entry visa for however long they issue it for. The problem for you is that it can take up to 3 weeks to process an RP including the medical exam. So you really need to get to Shanghai as soon as possible after you enter China, so this process can start, with the school's assistance. They will have your passport for some to all of that processing time period, so you would not be able to travel very far from Shanghai.

If your time period is short term (< 6 months) then you'll be getting an X2 visa which is normally single entry but good for the duration of your study period. These are not converted to Residence Permits and therefore a lot less hassle up front since there is no process other than entering China, at which point you can travel around within China, until you need to show up and register at the university. You would not be able to exit and re-enter China if it is the standard single-entry.

Note that your X visa may be issued with dates that do not allow you a long period of time in China before you start official studies. I therefore suggest that you go through the application process and see what you get, then finalize your plans to enter and get to Shanghai. I have a feeling you are not going to have time for the Grand Tour of China that you expect to have.

Hi ， Thank you for detailed comment. I will apply for X1 visa... and indeed I didn't realize that proceeding of RP may take that long. and yeah 30 days is my limit.. Ok. I will apply for visa and see how things go