12306 train tickets: verify your passport first, then count back 15 days

🚆 12306 train tickets: verify your passport first, then count back 15 days If you're planning China trains, don't start on ticket day. THE TRAP Tickets on the official 12306 system normally go on sale only 15 days before departure — so a booking site offering a confirmed seat months ahead is holding a request, not a ticket. And you cannot buy until your identity is verified, which is not instant. THE FIX Register on the English site (12306.cn/en) with your foreign passport well before sale day, and let the verification clear — sources report anything from same-day to a few working days for a manual photo review. Use the name exactly as on your passport, and bring that same original passport to travel: on domestic routes it is your ticket, with no paper ticket to collect. If an automatic gate won't read it, use the staffed lane beside it. ONE MORE TRAP Online sales run roughly 05:00 to 01:00 Beijing time (to 23:30 on Tuesdays), so don't assume you can buy at any hour. Check the date calendar inside 12306 itself for the last day on sale for your route. — Kat

12306 train tickets: verify your passport first, then count back 15 days

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