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Before you read a train ticket, you should get some basic knowledge:
1. Chinese use 24-hour time system
We do not use AM and PM, so you should read the departure time on Chinese train ticket in 24-hours time system.
From 00:01 AM to 12:59 PM, we also use 00:01 to 12:59.
But from 01:00 PM to 11:59 PM, you should transfer the time system in your mind, we use 13:00 to 23:59.
Which means:
12-hour time system |
24-hour time system |
00:01 - 11:59 AM |
00:01 - 11:59 |
12:00 - 12:59 PM |
12:00 - 12:59 |
01:00 PM |
13:00 |
02:00 PM |
14:00 |
03:00 PM |
15:00 |
04:00 PM |
16:00 |
05:00 PM |
17:00 |
06:00 PM |
18:00 |
07:00 PM |
19:00 |
08:00 PM |
20:00 |
09:00 PM |
21:00 |
10:00 PM |
22:00 |
11:00 PM |
23:00 |
11:59 PM |
23:59 |
00:00 |
00:00 |
2. Carriage, seats and sleepers Chinese-English bilingual
中文(Chinese character) |
English |
硬座 |
Hard Seat |
软座 |
Soft Seat |
商务座(高铁、动车) |
Business Calss Seat (in High-speed Train) |
一等座(高铁、动车) |
First Calss Seat (in High-speed Train) |
二等座(高铁、动车) |
Second Calss Seat (in High-speed Train) |
软卧 |
Soft Sleeper |
硬卧 |
Hard Sleeper |
上铺(软卧,硬卧) |
Upper Bunk (Soft Sleeper and Hard Sleeper are Both with Upper Bunk ) |
中铺(硬卧) |
Middle Bunk (Hard Sleeper Only) |
下铺(软卧,硬卧) |
Lower Bunk (Soft Sleeper and Hard Sleeper are Both with Lower Bunk ) |
3. Go to the correct railway station/ Get the correct railway staion info on ticket
In China, the railway station will named by the city, but now there are more than one stations in a city, so in most of the city/county/town, we will have a railway satation named by the city, the others add a direction (east, south, west, north) to tell they are other stations in this city.
Please note:
* Not all the railway stations in China have English signs, if you travel alone, please learn what is the city's Chinese characters.
* Not all the railway station signs translate the direction into English, some of them are in Chinese Pinyin (Chinese phonetic alphabet).
* Please read carefully which sation you will go to take your train, and which station the train will arrive on your destination city if you arrange a pick-up service.
*Learn direction in Chinese phonetic alphabet and Chinese characters:
中文(Chinese character) |
拼音(phonetic alphabet) |
English |
Sample |
东 |
Dong |
East |
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南 |
Nan |
South |
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西 |
Xi |
West |
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北 |
Bei |
North |
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4. Blue ticket take self-service entrance and red ticket take manual ticket checking entrance (in the same entrance gate).
Let us see the sample of Chinese railway ticket: