Can foreigners buy train tickets on 12306 with a passport?
Yes. The 12306 English FAQ says foreign passengers can buy real-name tickets with valid passports, and that the 12306 English site accepts only valid foreign passports. For most visitors, the passport is the document to use. You need a registered account, and the identity check (below) has to pass before you can buy.
The Chinese online-booking FAQ lists more ID types for 12306.cn: the PRC ID card, PRC passport, Hong Kong and Macao residence permits, Taiwan residence permits, Mainland Travel Permits, the foreign permanent resident ID and the foreign passport. A 2024 Ministry of Commerce guide narrows it for foreigners: on the 12306 website, app and booking phone line, you can use the foreign permanent resident ID or the foreign passport. Other documents, such as an exit-entry permit or a consular temporary travel document, are listed only for station windows, railway ticket agents and buying on the train. A self-service ticket machine takes the permanent resident ID, not the passport.
The MTR High Speed Rail page says the English version of the website and app is a simplified version for foreign passport holders only. People with Hong Kong or Macao permits, Taiwan permits or PRC ID cards use the Chinese platform. The MTR FAQ adds that an account registered on the English platform can also buy on the Chinese platform.
How to register on 12306 and verify your passport
The MTR page recommends registering in the mobile app. Search "12306" in the App Store or Google Play and install the latest version, because MTR says the app is upgraded from time to time. Four steps, as MTR describes them:
- Tap ‘Me’ at the bottom right, then ‘Register’.
- Fill in your details. You can tap ‘Scan to entry’ to scan your passport, or type them in. Enter the name as on the passport, surname first, then given name, up to 30 characters. If your name is longer, enter the first 30 characters, spaces included.
- Finish registration. An activation email goes to the address you registered. Clicking the link opens the 12306 home page, which means activation worked. So you need an email address you can open.
- Check your verification status: tap ‘Me’, then the icon at the top left.
The MTR page says the app opens in Simplified Chinese. To switch, tap 我的 (My) at the bottom right, tap the ‘Set up’ icon at the top right, tap ‘Language Settings’, choose ‘English’, then tap 確定 (Confirm).
The English FAQ doesn't list the registration fields or say whether a non-Chinese mobile number works. The MTR page doesn't mention a phone number at all. The Chinese online-booking FAQ describes a two-way phone check in which you text "999" from the registered mobile number to 12306 and type in a six-digit reply within ten minutes. The Chinese FAQ doesn't say whether that applies to the English platform.
The passport check
A 2024 Ministry of Commerce guide says foreign passengers must complete identity verification before buying, in one of two ways:
- Log in to the 12306 English website or app, enter your name, nationality and document number, and the system checks automatically. You can also submit a photo of the passport information page online, and the back office checks it by hand.
- Take your valid passport to a station ticket window.
12306's identity-verification notice names three statuses: 已通过 (passed), 待核验 (being verified) and 未通过 (not passed). It says users in the last two cannot buy online and must verify at a station window with the original ID. Foreign-passport users can also verify by uploading a photo of the document on 12306. The pages disagree on 待核验: the English FAQ and the Chinese online-booking FAQ speak of buying for passengers in that state, while the notice says those users cannot buy. So buy once your status shows passed. If it doesn't pass, go to a station window. MTR's page adds that if the app shows "Verification failed", you can re-upload a photo of your passport and a photo of yourself holding it.
How to pay on 12306 as a foreigner
The 2024 Ministry of Commerce guide says foreign passengers buying on the 12306 English website or app can pay with Alipay, WeChat and UnionPay bank cards. At a station ticket window the same three work, plus cash.
The Chinese online-booking FAQ lists the tools on the main site: online banking of seven named Chinese banks, UnionPay online banking, UnionPay quick payment, Alipay and WeChat Pay. Pay one order with one tool, in one payment. Once the site holds your seats, pay within the time it shows, or the seats are cancelled.
None of these pages says whether a foreign-issued card can be paid directly on 12306, so don't count on it. Set up one of the named options before you need it. If you are stuck, a ticket window takes cash.
How many days before departure can you buy a China train ticket, and when is 12306 open?
A 12306 announcement sets the pre-sale period at 15 days, including the day of purchase. It is an older notice (its web address dates it to May 2022) and it ties the change to epidemic-control arrangements. The English FAQ doesn't state the pre-sale period, so check the date calendar on 12306 for the last day on sale. For cross-border Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong tickets, the 12306 cross-border FAQ also says 15 days including today, and says the railway announces any change in advance.
Hours below are Beijing time, the time the railway's rules use.
| Service | Hours |
|---|---|
| Ticket sales and changes | 5:00 to 1:00 the next day |
| Tuesday, English FAQ | 5:00 to 23:30 |
| Tuesday, Chinese FAQ and MTR page | 5:00 to midnight |
| Refunds and information queries | 24 hours a day |
The pages disagree on Tuesday's closing time, so don't plan around the last half hour. None of these FAQ pages gives the clock time at which tickets for a given day go on sale. 12306's menu has a 起售时间 (sale start time) lookup among its common queries.
How to get into the station with a 12306 ticket on a foreign passport
The ticket is electronic. The English FAQ says you keep the ticket information and the valid ID you bought with, and show that ID to check in, exit and board. The railway rules in force from 1 June 2026 say the same: the boarding document is the valid ID used at purchase, and stations check ticket and ID.
The Ministry of Commerce guide says to bring the original of that ID, go through the automatic gate or a staff-assisted channel to enter and leave the station, and cooperate with ticket checks on the train.
- Leave extra time. The English FAQ warns of queues at the ticket window, security check, ID verification counter and ticket gate. The security check is compulsory.
- Stations can stop ticket checking early before departure and announce the time at the station.
- The itinerary sheet (行程单) can be printed or downloaded on 12306, or printed at designated windows or machines. Neither it nor a reimbursement receipt works as a ticket.
For cross-border Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong trains only, 12306 says you can check in with the matching ID and no ticket exchange. Don't assume the same for other lines. Which station to use is a separate question: see Beijing railway stations for the capital.
Child tickets on 12306: age or height?
Go by age. The railway's rules, in force from 1 June 2026, say:
- A child aged 6 up to under 14 buys the child ticket. Age 14 and over buys a full-price ticket. Age is counted on the date of travel.
- Each ticketed adult can take one child under 6 who doesn't take a separate seat, free of charge. Extra children pay the child fare.
- If you bring a free child, you must declare it when you buy the ticket. The free child's own valid ID is their boarding document.
- A free child who takes a seat alone needs a child ticket.
- The child ticket has the same date, train and seat class as the adult's ticket, and the destination can't be farther than the adult's.
The English FAQ gives a child ticket as 50% of the seat fare and published subsidiary fares. A child using a berth alone pays the full berth fare, plus half the air-conditioning fare if applicable. The same FAQ page still carries older height wording too: one child under 1.2 m free with an adult, 1.2 to 1.5 m a child ticket, above 1.5 m full price. It then adds the age rule "from January 1, 2023". The 2026 rules have no height rule, so we'd use age.
The English FAQ says a child with no ID can be bought for using the accompanying adult's ID, with name, ID type and number all belonging to the same person. Otherwise add the child's valid ID to My Passengers. The rules say children under 14 should travel with an adult, with a few exceptions.
What is the 12306 advance booking (预约购票) trial?
It is a trial, not the normal way to buy. According to a China Railway Group news item of 24 August 2026, from 20 July the railway added an advance-booking service on more than 200 trains on the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed line and the Beijing-Shanghai conventional line. You fill in a booking request in the 12306 mobile app. The group's passenger transport centre said it connects ticket demand before the pre-sale period starts.
The request window was day 60 to day 17 before departure. A 26 September 2026 statement, reprinted by the Shanghai government site from China Railway Group, changes it in steps:
- 26 September: you can book trains up to 24 November.
- 27 September to 26 October: a transition, with 24 November as the furthest bookable date.
- From 27 October: day 30 to day 17 before departure.
You make the request in the ‘预约购票’ section of the 12306 mobile app. The statement says fulfilment, refund, change and other rules are unchanged. Neither the China Railway news item nor that statement gives the number of orders per account, whether you pick an exact or a flexible train, the day a request is fulfilled, the payment deadline or any refund fee for this booking. If you only travel on other routes, ignore it and buy as above.
Other 12306 rules worth knowing
- One ticket per ID. A valid ID can buy only one ticket for the same train on the same date, according to the English FAQ.
- Buying for others. Add them to My Passengers with their name, ID type and number exactly right. You can then buy for them once their ID information shows the status the site asks for.
- Account lock. The Chinese FAQ says more than 3 unpaid or cancelled orders in one day blocks the account until the next day.
- Official channels only. The English FAQ says the railway will not handle ticketing problems that occurred on other websites.
For refund and change fees, see 12306 refund and ticket change fees. Planning a route? Our guides to Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hangzhou cover what to do once you arrive.
