How to Read a China Train Ticket: Samples and Illustration

China Railway Corporation issues two kinds of train tickets: the red paper one and the blue electrical one which can be checked through the automatic ticket checking machine. The information in the two different train tickets are similar and both in Chinese. Then how to read a China train ticket to get the useful information. Here we translate China train ticket samples from the top to bottom and left to right to help you.

Ticket Number

The ticket number is in red and is located in the left top of the ticket. Usually, every ticket has its unique number which consists of numbers and letters.

Boarding Gate

In the right top corner of the ticket, there is the information about where you should have your tickets checked before boarding.

Departure and Arrival Stations

The departure and arrival stations are printed in the biggest font, so it is quite easy to spot them. Below the characters is the pronunciation of these two stations in pinying respectively.

Generally speaking, the railway stations of China are named as city name + its direction in the city, such as 西安北站means “Xi’an North Railway Station” .

Train Number

The train number is between the departure and arrival stations, consisting of a letter and some digits or just some digits. The train number with the letter G, D or C stands for high speed trains and others means the train you are going to take is traditional ones with relatively lower speed.

Departure Date and Time

Under the Chinese pinyin of the departure station, the departure date and time is shown as Year/ Month/ Date/ Hour/ Minute. One need to pay special attention to the departure time to avoid missing the train.

Carriage Number and Seat/Berth Number

This is below the pinyin of arrival station. The first one is the carriage number, then the cabin number and after is the berth position. If it is a ticket high speed train, the first one is the carriage number and then seat number.

Seats in high speed trains are numbered as digits + an English letter, while in normal speed trains, seats are numbered with digits only. In sleeper cars, the berths has three locations: upper, middle or lower. “上铺” means “Upper Berth”; “中铺” means “Middle Berth” and “下铺” means “Lower Berth”. The berths are titled as cabin number + berth location. For example, 06号上铺means upper berth in cabin no.06.

Seat Class

It is printed below the Carriage Number and Seat/Berth Number and there are several kinds as follows:

High Speed Trains	Normal Speed Trains
高级软卧: Deluxe Soft Sleeper	高级软卧: Deluxe Soft Sleeper
动卧: New Type Sleeper	软卧: Soft Sleeper
软卧: Soft Sleeper	硬卧: Hard Sleeper
商务座: Business Class Seat	软座: Soft Seat
特等座: VIP Class Seat	硬座: Hard Seat
一等座: First Class Seat	无座: Standing Room Ticket
二等座: Second Class Seat

Ticket Price

The price, in the units of Chinese currency, is right below the departure date and time.

In the following row, there is a sentence saying “Valid for this train on the printed date”.

Passenger’s Certificate Number and Name

Passenger’s certificate number and name are arranged at the seventh row with number in the left and the name after.

There are two sentences in the lower left of the ticket, suggesting passengers to buy train tickets and handle freight through the official websites of China Railway Corporation, 12306.cn and 95306.cn respectively, with the former for passenger transportation and the latter for freight.

Printing City

In the bottom of the ticket, information about in which railway station the ticket was printed is presented.

Dimensional Code

It is on the bottom right of the ticket, used for checking the authenticity of the ticket and record passenger’s information.

Tips on Identifying the Authenticity of China Train Ticket

1. Observe the train ticket; see if the ticket has the mark of “中国铁路” or “CR”. Pay attention to the price, if there is only one “0” after the decimal point, then it is a fake ticket. Moreover, the authentic train ticket has no trace of change or filling.
2. Hold the ticket in hand to feel whether the ticket is coarse or not. The authentic one feels neat and smooth. In addition, if the color in the ticket sticks in your hand, the ticket must be printed by others.
3. Put the ticket under the sun; if the ticket has the water mark of China Railway Corporation, the ticket should be authentic.
4. The easiest method is to roll the ticket and then put it in hand. The authentic train ticket can resituate itself.
5. Don’t buy tickets from unreliable travel agencies and people. You may get the fake train ticket in great chance.