How to Book China Train Tickets on 12306 (Step by Step for Foreigners)

TL;DR

• 12306 (website 12306.cn/en or the Railway 12306 app) is China Railway’s official booking channel. Its English version accepts foreign passports only, and it adds no booking fee.
• Register, then verify your passport before you try to buy. Verification can be automatic, done by uploading a passport photo, or done at a station ticket window.
• Tickets normally go on sale 15 days ahead (counting today). Each departure station has its own release time.
• Payment: international cards (Visa and Mastercard are confirmed), UnionPay, and Chinese payment methods.
• Refunds are free 8 or more days out. After that the fee is 5%, then 10% from 48 hours out, then 20% from 24 hours out (minimum ¥2). You can change a ticket once.
• Tickets are electronic. You enter the station with the same passport you booked with. Paper reimbursement vouchers ended for trips from 1 October 2025. Receipts are now electronic.

12306 isn’t as polished as an overseas travel app, but it sells every China Railway ticket at the official price. Below is the full process, from opening an account to walking through the gate.

Before you start

You need:

• A valid foreign passport. The 12306 English website states that it accepts “only valid foreign passports.” If you hold a Mainland Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao Residents, use the Chinese platform instead.
• An email address. When the English version launched, the account form asked only for an email and no mobile number. An activation link is sent to that address.
• A payment card. More on this below.
• Time. Get verified a few days before you need tickets. 12306 doesn’t publish how long manual verification takes.

Service hours (Beijing time): ticket sales and changes run 05:00 to 01:00 the next day, and 05:00 to 23:30 on Tuesdays. Searches and refunds work 24 hours a day.

Step 1: Create your account

1. Install Railway 12306 (铁路12306) from the App Store or Google Play, or open www.12306.cn/en.
2. The app opens in Chinese. Tap 我的 (My) at the bottom right, then the settings icon at the top right, then Language Settings → English, and confirm.
3. Tap Me → Register.
4. Tap Scan to entry to read your passport with the camera, or type the details in. Enter your name as it appears in the passport, surname first, then given names, up to 30 characters. If your name is longer, enter the first 30 characters, counting spaces.
5. Finish the form and submit it. Open the activation email and click the link. Your account is now active.

Step 2: Verify your identity

Railway tickets in China are sold under each passenger’s real name, so foreigners must complete identity verification before buying. Official guidance gives three ways:

1. Automatic online check. Enter your name, nationality and passport number as instructed, and the system verifies you automatically.
2. Manual review. Upload a photo of your passport’s information page. MTR’s guide says that if your status shows “Verification failed,” you should tap Reupload the photo of passenger’s ID document. Then upload a photo of the passport and a photo of yourself holding it.
3. In person. Take your passport to a ticket window at any railway station and have it verified there.

Online passport verification started on 28 November 2023. Before that, every foreigner had to go to a station counter. To check your status, go to Me and tap the icon at the top left.

Timing: China Railway doesn’t publish a turnaround time for manual review. Travellers report anything from minutes to several days. Verify early, and keep the station-window option as a backup.

Step 3: Add passengers

You can book for other people as well. Go to My → Passengers → Add a passenger and enter each person’s name, passport type and number exactly as they appear in the passport. The English platform only accepts foreign passport holders as passengers, and each passenger must pass verification too. Under 12306’s FAQ, an account can book for passengers whose status is “verified” or “ready to be verified.”

Other rules from the official FAQ:

• One ID can hold only one ticket per train per day.
• Children: ages 6 to under 14 need a discounted child ticket, and ages 14 and up pay full fare. Each paying adult can take one child under 6 free if the child doesn’t use a separate seat.

Step 4: Search and choose a seat class

Enter the departure city, arrival city and date, then tap Search. Results show the train number, times, duration and seats left in each class. Fares are in renminbi (¥) only.

The main seat classes:

Class	Chinese	Where you’ll see it
Business Class	商务座	G/D high-speed trains
First Class	一等座	G/D/C high-speed trains
Second Class	二等座	G/D/C high-speed trains, the standard option
Soft sleeper / Deluxe soft sleeper	软卧 / 高级软卧	Overnight trains, including some high-speed sleepers
Hard sleeper	硬卧	Conventional overnight trains (Z/T/K)
Hard seat / Soft seat	硬座 / 软座	Conventional trains
No seat (standing)	无座	Sold when seats run out

Booking window. 12306 says online and station presale is 15 days, counting today. Sales are staggered by region, and railway groups can adjust the window temporarily. Each station also has its own daily release time. In Beijing, for example, Beijing West opens sales at 08:00 and Beijing South at 12:45. MTR adds that online sales normally close 30 minutes before departure, though cut-offs for trains leaving mainland stations depend on the station.

60-day reservations (pilot). Since 20 July 2026, more than 200 trains on the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed line and the Beijing–Shanghai railway have taken reservation requests 17 to 60 days before departure through the app’s “Ticket Reservation” (预约购票) section. A request is not a ticket. The system tries to fill requests 16 to 20 days before departure. If yours is filled, you must pay before 23:00 that day. This is a pilot on that corridor only, and I couldn’t confirm whether the English interface shows it.

Step 5: Book and pay

1. Tap Book on your class and add passengers. MTR notes that the system assigns seats and seat preferences are not guaranteed.
2. Check the details and tap Pay. Payment has a time limit. Beijing Daily reported in January 2026 that online orders must be paid within 30 minutes or they are cancelled automatically.
3. Choose a payment method:
   • International Card. MTR lists Visa and Mastercard. When the English site launched in 2020, it supported Visa, Mastercard, JCB and Diners, with charges processed in RMB.
   • China UnionPay
   • Chinese bank cards and mobile payment apps. The government’s guide for foreigners confirms that 12306 takes “Chinese or foreign bank cards as well as mobile payment apps.” Alipay and WeChat Pay are among 12306’s own payment methods.
4. Wait for Payment Successful. A confirmation email goes to your registered address.

Don’t cancel unpaid orders repeatedly. If an order is cancelled more than three times, you can’t buy online for the rest of that day.

When it’s sold out: the waitlist (候补)

12306 runs a free official waitlist. You submit a request for the trains and classes you would accept, and prepay the highest fare among them (sleepers are charged at the lower-berth price). The system then tries to fill the request around the clock, as returned or newly added tickets match it. Official rules:

• Up to 6 active waitlist orders per account. Each order can cover 3 travel dates and 60 train-and-date combinations in total.
• The request must end at least 20 minutes before departure.
• If the request isn’t filled, or you cancel it, the prepayment is refunded in full. If it’s filled with a cheaper ticket, the difference comes back automatically.
• Before using it, you need a person-to-ID consistency check (人证一致性核验).

12306 says waitlist fill rates are above 70%. 12306 doesn’t say whether a foreign-passport account sees the waitlist button in English mode. If it’s there, it works under the rules above.

Changing a ticket (改签)

According to 12306’s English FAQ, you can change a ticket once: the date, train, seat class or arrival station. Seats must be available.

When you change	New train	Fee
More than 48 h before departure	Any train in the presale window	Free
24–48 h before	Departs by 24:00 on the original date	Free
24–48 h before	Later date	5% of the lower fare
Less than 24 h before	Later date	15% of the lower fare
After your train leaves	Another train the same day	Free
After your train leaves	Next day or later	40% of the lower fare

Arrival-station changes must be made at least 48 hours before departure, and the ticket can’t be changed again afterwards. A ticket changed after departure can’t be refunded.

Refunds (退票)

12306’s English FAQ sets these fees, based on time before departure:

• 8 days or more: free
• More than 48 hours: 5%
• 24–48 hours: 10%
• Less than 24 hours: 20%
• Minimum fee ¥2. No refund after departure, except in special cases at the station.

Two exceptions to know:

• Changed tickets. If you changed a ticket 48 hours to 8 days before departure onto a train at least 8 days away, refunding it still costs 5%. If the changed ticket falls in the Spring Festival peak, the refund fee is 20%.
• Free refund for a mistaken purchase. For travel dates from 2 February 2026 onward, an order paid online can be refunded free once per day. You must cancel within 30 minutes of paying and at least 4 hours before departure. This doesn’t apply to changed, waitlisted or pre-ordered tickets.

Online refunds go back to the original payment method.

At the station: e-tickets and your passport

Your ticket is linked to your passport, so there’s nothing to collect. Official guidance says foreign travellers enter and exit through automatic or manual gates using the original ID they booked with. Shanghai’s government describes it as swiping your passport at the automatic check-in machine or showing it at the manual gate. Not every automatic gate reads every foreign passport. If one rejects yours, use the staffed lane (人工通道).

Bring the exact passport you booked with. A printed itinerary sheet or receipt is not a ticket and won’t get you through the gate. Check-in closes before departure, and the time varies by station, so leave extra time for security and queues.

Receipts: paper vouchers are gone

For trips on or after 1 October 2025, China Railway issues electronic receipts (fapiao) and no longer issues paper reimbursement vouchers. You can apply within 180 days of the trip, or of a refund or change, through 12306, at a ticket counter or at a self-service machine. At a counter, show the passport you booked with and ask for a QR-coded receipt slip (扫码开票单). Scan it with the Railway 12306 app to get the e-receipt. If you just want a printed record of the trip, stations can still print a trip information slip (行程信息提示单). It isn’t a receipt.

Alternatives to 12306

• Station ticket windows. You only need your passport. You can pay by Chinese or foreign bank card, RMB cash or mobile payment, according to government guidance.
• Trip.com and other agencies. They’re easier to use in English. Trip.com’s own comparison lists 12306 as “no extra fees” and itself as “possible extra fees,” so check the price breakdown before paying. 12306 calls itself the only official online channel and says it hasn’t authorized any third-party platform.

FAQ

Do I need a Chinese phone number to use 12306? No. The English version registers with an email address, and activation happens by email.

How far ahead can I buy tickets? Usually 15 days, counting today, from your departure station’s release time. The only exception is the 60-day reservation pilot on some Beijing–Shanghai trains, which takes requests 17 to 60 days out.

Can I use a foreign credit card? Yes. Choose “International Card” at checkout (Visa and Mastercard are confirmed). UnionPay and Chinese payment methods are also offered.

My verification failed. What now? Re-upload a clear photo of your passport information page and a photo of yourself holding the passport. Or take your passport to any station ticket window and have it verified there.

What happens if I miss my train? On the day of travel, you can change for free to another train leaving that same day, if seats are available. Changing to a later day costs 40% of the lower fare. You can’t refund the ticket after it’s been changed.

Do I need to print anything? No. Your passport is your ticket. Print a trip information slip only if you want a paper record, and request an electronic receipt if you need one for expenses.