Beijing Travel Forum

I will be traveling from Beijing to Shanghai by train in february. Will it be very difficult to get hard seat or soft seat-tickets because of the chinese new year? How long in advance do I have to order the tickets? I will be landing in Beijing on feb 2 and plan on going to Shanghai on feb 7. Is it too late to buy the tickets when I land in Beijing on the 2'nd? Thanks.

Since you're travelling before Chinese New Year, it shouldn't be as difficult. The trains will be getting more crowded, but the worst of the rush will probably start that weekend. As for the weekend of the 18th? Don't even think of going near a train. Aside from everything being completely sold out, last year they were selling adult diapers for train travel, because you can't usually get to the bathroom it's so crowded!

For the express Z train from Beijing to Shanghai, you can start buying tickets a little earlier, so I don't know what the availability will be like. Other trains don't start selling the tickets until a week before. Usually you would be fine buying tickets 5 days out, but the beginning of the holiday might cause problems. Definitely try to buy the tickets as soon as you get to Beijing, unless you can find a travel agent who can do it for you before you leave.

Also, keep in mind that you usually can't buy roundtrip train tickets, so if you need to get back to Beijing, you may not be able to buy the return trip until you reach Shanghai!