Rail first-time guide
In short
Book with the exact passport you will carry: on the 12306 English site it is the only accepted document, and it is checked at station entry, at boarding and on the way out. Cancelling is free 8 days or more before departure, then 5%, 10% inside 48 hours and 20% inside 24. Changing trains is free more than 48 hours out. A printed itinerary sheet is not a ticket.
Plan first transfer firstApplies to
Foreign visitors using 12306, Trip.com, passports, high-speed rail stations, intercity routes, luggage, hotel transfers, and first-time China itinerary planning.
Check before you rely on it
The refund, change, identity and security rules on this page were read off the 12306 English FAQ on July 25, 2026. Timetables, station procedures and platform access still change, and a third-party agent can add its own fee on top of the railway's. Open the FAQ, linked beside each block below, before acting on a number.
Information checked:
The train is usually comfortable. The traveler friction is identity, passport matching, station choice, ticket management, luggage, and arrival buffers.
Rail friction
Most first-time anxiety is not about the seat. It is about matching the booking, passport, station, and timing.
On 12306's English site a valid foreign passport is the only accepted identity document, and it is checked three times: station entry, boarding, and exit. One document can hold only one ticket for the same train on the same date.
Neither an itinerary sheet nor a reimbursement receipt can be used as a ticket. Travellers who print one and leave the passport in the hotel safe do not board.
Free at 8 days or more before departure, 5% beyond 48 hours, 10% inside 48, 20% inside 24. The full ladder, and the change ladder beside it, are further down this page.
Large cities may have several rail stations. The wrong station can turn a good itinerary into a missed train, and a change made after the train leaves is only free if you stay on the same day.
12306 English FAQ · read July 25, 2026
China Railway publishes the whole ladder. Both tables below are its numbers, not an estimate, so you can decide at 2am without opening another site.
| When you refund | Fee | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 8 days or more before the departure date | No service fee | The 8-day mark is inclusive. Cancel here and the ticket price comes back whole. |
| Inside 8 days, more than 48 hours before departure | 5% of the ticket price | The first fee step. If plans are already shaky, this is the cheapest point to decide. |
| 24 to 48 hours before departure | 10% of the ticket price | Fee doubles inside 48 hours. A destination change is also no longer possible past this line. |
| Less than 24 hours before departure | 20% of the ticket price | Highest fee band before the train leaves. |
| After the trip has started | No refund | Special circumstances may be handled within 2 hours after departure with the approval of the chief of the station. |
The minimum refund fee is 2 RMB.
Information lookup and refunds run 24 hours.
Open source: 12306 endorsement and refund FAQPage read
| When you change | Fee | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| More than 48 hours before departure | Free | Pay or reclaim the fare difference only. |
| 24 to 48 hours out, to a train leaving before 24:00 the same date | Free | Staying inside the original travel date is what keeps this free. |
| 24 to 48 hours out, to a later date | 5% of the lower fare | The percentage is taken on the lower of the two fares. |
| Less than 24 hours before departure | 15% of the lower fare | Compare against the 20% refund fee before deciding whether to change or cancel. |
| Missed the train, changing to another train the same day | Free | Missing the train is not automatically the end of the ticket. |
| Missed the train, changing to a next-day or later train | 40% of the lower fare | The most expensive outcome on the page. Same-day is worth chasing at the station. |
A ticket can be changed only once, and after a destination change no further change is allowed.
A destination change must be requested through 12306.cn or a designated station ticket window at least 48 hours before the original train departs.
Ticket sales and change services run 05:00 to 01:00 the next day, and 05:00 to 23:30 on Tuesdays.
Open source: 12306 endorsement and refund FAQPage read
New for February 2, 2026 travel dates
Rebooked, multi-ride, pre-ordered, waitlisted, air-rail, waterway-rail and group tickets are excluded.
Open source: 12306 English FAQPage read
Page read
How many days ahead tickets go on sale is not stated on the 12306 English FAQ, so this page does not give a number. Check the booking screen for the earliest date it will sell you.
Station security
Rail screening is not airport screening, and the published quantities are small enough to catch a normal wash bag. Repack before you leave the hotel.
| Item | Limit |
|---|---|
| Free cabin luggage, adult passenger | 20 kg |
| Free cabin luggage, child | 10 kg, including a child travelling free |
| Free cabin luggage, diplomat | 35 kg |
| Largest single item, high-speed train | 130 cm total dimension, 20 kg per item |
| Largest single item, conventional train | 160 cm total dimension, 20 kg per item |
| Nail polish or hair dye | 20 ml |
| Spray bottle or aerosol | 120 ml |
| Lighters or boxes of matches | 2 |
All passengers and the belongings they carry go through a security check: bags through dangerous-goods inspection, people through a security gate. Expect to queue.
Firearms, explosives, sharp instruments, flammable materials, toxic chemicals and radioactive substances are prohibited categories, not quantity limits.
Folding wheelchairs for passengers with disabilities are exempt from the allowance, and guide dogs go through inspection with their owner.
Open source: 12306 English FAQ, miscellaneous sectionPage read
These limits are China Railway's, for trains and railway stations. No city metro operator publishes an equivalent list in English, so do not assume the same millilitres apply at a subway gate.
First rail checklist
In short
Refund and change fees, the 30-minute free-refund window, missed trains, the document checked at the gate, and what security takes.
No service fee if you refund 8 days or more before the departure date. Inside that: 5% of the ticket price more than 48 hours out, 10% between 24 and 48 hours, and 20% under 24 hours. The minimum refund fee is 2 RMB. Once the trip has started there is no refund, though special cases may be handled within 2 hours of departure with the station chief's approval.
For travel dates from February 2, 2026, a registered 12306 user who bought through the official website, app or Alipay mini-program with electronic payment or points gets one free refund on one order per day, if the refund is requested within 30 minutes of purchase and at least 4 hours before departure. Rebooked, multi-ride, pre-ordered, waitlisted, air-rail, waterway-rail and group tickets are excluded.
Once. Changes are free more than 48 hours before departure, and free 24 to 48 hours out if the new train leaves before 24:00 on the original date. Otherwise it is 5% of the lower fare 24 to 48 hours out and 15% under 24 hours. A destination change has to be requested at least 48 hours before departure, through 12306.cn or a designated station window, and after it no further change is allowed.
Not necessarily. A change made after the original train departed is free if you switch to a train the same day. Switching to a next-day or later train costs 40% of the lower fare. Refunds are not available once the trip has started.
On the 12306 English site a valid foreign passport is the only accepted identity document, and rail ticketing is real-name: you show the document used to buy the ticket at station entry, at boarding, and on the way out. Neither an itinerary sheet nor a reimbursement receipt counts as a ticket.
Everyone and their bags are screened. China Railway limits nail polish or hair dye to 20 ml, spray bottles to 120 ml, and lighters or matchboxes to two, and prohibits firearms, explosives, sharp instruments, flammable materials, toxic chemicals and radioactive substances. Free cabin luggage is 20 kg for an adult and 10 kg for a child, with a maximum single-item dimension of 130 cm on high-speed trains.
Common first-timer rail pairs include Shanghai-Suzhou, Shanghai-Hangzhou, Beijing-Xi'an, Chengdu-Chongqing, and Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong. Each still needs station and passport checks.
The refund ladder, change rules, identity requirements and security limits on this page all come from here. Open it to confirm a fee before you act on it.
Open 12306 FAQDo not stack a first rail leg on top of an unresolved airport-to-hotel transfer.
Open transfer guideUse route pages after rail, station, and first-night buffers are clear.
Open itinerariesNext move
Read enough to make the decision smaller, then open the checklist, search a specific question, choose a setup tool, or share the page with the person planning with you.
Use the checklist when the question has shifted from research to preparation.
Search by the actual problem: Alipay, eSIM, transit visa, first transfer, vegetarian food, or a city name.
Open recommendations when the task is clear enough for a short list to be useful.