Is there somewhere in 北京 airport I can deliver to & collect a train ticket

[banjo67xxx]

Hi,

 

I'm going to be arriving at 北京 airport 16:05 on New Year's Eve 30th Jan 2014 and as the trains might be full, I'd like to pre-book a train to 济南 (Shandong Air aren't operating flight SC1152 that day). Looking at the details on http://pages.english.ctrip.com/webhome/purehtml/en/faq/train.html#04 it appears that you cannot get e-tickets for trains so I need to get it delivered to someone at the airport who can hold it for me until I get there. Does anyone know if there's a concierge service run by the airport or maybe one of the in-terminal hotels or another business that could be trusted to keep hold of a train ticket for 3 weeks until I arrive and collect it?

 

Or would be it best just to get my wife to post it to me in England and hope the international postal service is quick enough (it does seem to take 2-3 weeks for post from China from previous experience, so it might be a close call), or of course there's EMS (they quote 8 days).

 

Another option would be for my wife to buy 2 tickets, 1 one-way for me and 1 return for her, and then come to 北京 to meet me, but I want her to be able to enjoy more time in the restaurants with her family instead of spending most of her day on the train.

 

Thanks,

Banjo.

[gato]

Yes, you can buy train tickets online at this website:

http://www.12306.cn

You'll need to pick up your tickets at the train station's ticket counter by presenting your passport.

[banjo67xxx]

Thanks. My wife's just bought the ticket, as I had problems trying to register a foreign address/credit card. I've got the booking reference and I'll pick it up from the ticket office on the day.

[gato]

Great! Have a good trip. Do a hike on 济南's 千佛山 or visit Mencius's home town (it's a less crowded tourist destination than the more famous hometown of Confucius) if you have a chance.

[langxia]

I doubt that the trains will be full on that night, I once took the train on new years eve and except me and a friend there was one guy in our carriage. Because we had tickets for the upper beds they told us we could choose to sleep where ever we wanted

Beside the people working I think there were around 10-20 people on the whole train...

[banjo67xxx]

I've taken my mum up 千佛山 and we've been to 张家界 and 九寨沟. Also my wife and had a short break in 桂林 too. It's quite amusing seeing the reaction on Chinese people's faces when they see my 老外 mum clambering over rocks and then find out she's 83 years old.

 

Just one last question, as we've allowed plenty of time for flight delays and traffic jams, how easy is it to change the train ticket to an earlier train if things go smother than expected?

[roddy]

According to this, which claims to be up to date regulations, you should at least be able to return your original ticket for a 20% admin fee and then buy a new one - shouldn't break the bank. 

[roddy]

Banjo, did you get your ticket ok?