Domestic Air Tickets

Tickets can be purchased from hundreds of airline offices and travel agencies (including hotel travel agents) around town (though few take credit cards); try to book several days in advance of your flight. Tickets are often substantially discounted, so shop around. Buy tickets at a discount online at CTrip ( 400 619 9999; http://english.ctrip.com) or eLong (www.elong.net). Discounts can be harder to come by during the main holiday seasons (Chinese New Year, first week of May and October) and on weekends.

Tickets

Although procuring tickets for nearby destinations (Suzhou, Hangzhou etc) and high-speed train tickets is reasonably straightforward, never assume you can casually stroll to the train station and hand over your credit card for a hard-sleeper ticket for a same-day departure to distant destinations.

» You will need your passport when buying a ticket (the number is printed on your ticket) at all train ticket offices.

» Never aim to get a hard-sleeper (or increasingly, soft-sleeper) ticket on the day of travel – plan a few days ahead.

» Most tickets can be booked in advance between two and 10 days (and sometimes longer) prior to your intended date of departure.

» Automated ticket machines at Shanghai Railway Station require Chinese ID and your passport will not work; you will need to queue at the ticket window.

» Prepare to queue for a long time at the train station.

» Tickets purchases can only be made in cash.

» As with air travel, buying tickets around Chinese New Year and during the 1 May and 1 October holiday periods can be very hard, and prices increase on some routes.

» Tickets on many routes (such as to Lhasa) can be very hard to get in July and August so prepare to take a flight to distant destinations.

» Try to use train ticket offices outside of the station.

» Avoid black-market tickets – your passport number must be on the ticket.

» There are no refunds for lost train tickets, so hold on to them tightly.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14