Beijing Travel Answers

In Beijing, you can buy tickets at Beijing main station (metro Bejingzhan), or Beijing West (Beijing Xi or Xizhan, metro Junshibowuguan).  At Bejing main station, the ticketing office for foreigners is on the north west corner of the 1st floor, accessed via the soft seat waiting room.  It is open 05:30-07:30, 08:00-18:30, 19:00-23:00.  At Beijing West station, the foreigners ticketing office is on the 2nd floor, open 24 hours.  Alternatively, you can buy train tickets at BTG Travel & Tours, on Fwai Dajie between the New Otani and Gloria Plaza Hotels, open 08:00-20:00. My apologies, I can not reply on T151 train.

You can buy tickets when you are in bejing. Two spots I recommend are: the railway station (北京火车站 咨询电话51019999 北京西站咨询电话：51826273)where the train pulls out, and ticket office by Haidian Road, (海淀路售票处 人民大学东门外 Tel:62552066). From website: http://www.51766.com, you can inquiry transport information via train. The below result is generated by consult train schedule from beijing to xi'an online. 您查询的是北京到西安的车次情况,共有10趟直达列车。 车次 发出 抵达 始发时间 到达时间 里程 硬座 软座 硬卧上铺 硬卧中铺 硬卧下铺 软卧上铺 软卧下铺 1363 北京西 西安 22:48 次日14:34 1200 ￥76 ￥135 ￥152 ￥158 ￥164 ￥250 ￥262 T7 北京西 西安 16:35 次日05:08 1200 ￥154 ￥243 ￥263 ￥272 ￥281 ￥411 ￥429 T231 北京西 西安 17:33 次日06:40 1200 ￥154 ￥243 ￥263 ￥272 ￥281 ￥411 ￥429 T55 北京西 西安 16:50 次日06:12 1200 ￥154 ￥243 ￥263 ￥272 ￥281 ￥411 ￥429 T69 北京西 西安 19:24 次日08:15 1200 ￥154 ￥243 ￥263 ￥272 ￥281 ￥411 ￥429 K117 北京西 西安 11:29 次日02:50 1200 ￥154 ￥243 ￥263 ￥272 ￥281 ￥411 ￥429 T151 北京西 西安 14:23 次日03:25 1200 ￥154 ￥243 ￥263 ￥272 ￥281 ￥411 ￥429 T75 北京西 西安 18:53 次日07:50 1200 ￥154 ￥243 ￥263 ￥272 ￥281 ￥411 ￥429 T41 北京西 西安 18:27 次日06:50 1200 ￥154 ￥243 ￥263 ￥272 ￥281 ￥411 ￥429 Z19 北京西 西安 20:28 07:58 1200 ￥无硬座 ￥无软座 ￥无硬卧 ￥无硬卧 ￥无硬卧 ￥无软卧 ￥429 "Z" train means that it is express and direct, no stops at any midway station. They generally run from sunset to the next sunrise. "T" train only means express, so it is slightly more slow than "Z" train but faster than "K" train (general fast) It is only 2 km to Xi'an Railway Station to your hotel (Grand Mercure). You can contact the hotel for help (tel: 029-87928888) Have a good journey! A guy from Shanghai, China.

Thanks all for your valuable advice!

telphone 51019999 is just for consulting, not for ticketing. Beijing train station has ticketing call:010-962586, but it's so expensive, 3 RMB per minute. You can find a lot of train ticket agences and call them to book ticket and send up to door, but you'd find those who near your hotel in BJ. Here's are some agence telephone: 010-68056669, 010-86452517 / 86452516, 010-86452902 / 86452903, 010-89116757 / 89116756. It's travel season, so you'd book ticket to Xi'an 2-3 days ahead.

WOW... its funny how complicated people's answers can be when theyre trying to make a point! STEP ONE. Go to any train agency or flight agency(they sometimes have a train desk tucked round the corner!) and ask them about the train details. You should normally get your ticket five days in advance to secure availabiity. STEP TWO. If you dont wish to pay an extra 20yuan per ticket as service fee, go to the train station direct and buy it from there..you will queue for a long time though! STEP THREE. I stayed at the Grand Mercure about two months ago. Great hotel and well situated. Either ring them up in advance and see if they have a hotel bus to pick people up from the station in, or as someone else suggested just take a taxi. Yes, there wil be taxis waiting..there are ALWAYS taxis waiting somewhere in China. Have a great tme! I usually take the overnight train there so cant comment on the T151.