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How to Collect a Train Ticket
After booking with online agencies，foreign travellers can only pick up their train tickets at the ticket counters of railway stations.A valid ID certificate like passport used for booking is required for the collection.
Self-service ticket machines at the stations only recognize Chinese IDs and cannot print online bookings for foreign passengers，so do ticket outlets outside the station.
Self-service Ticket Machine
To save time，you are recommended to use the ticket delivery service if the booking agency offers it.
Some Tips for Picking Up Tickets at Railway Stations
Required documents for collection:original document used for booking and ticket pick-up number.When picking up tickets for others，you need to have their original documents and pick-up numbers，too.
There may be long queues at ticket counters，especially during Chinese public holidays like National Day holiday(October 1—7)，Chinese New Year(January to early March)，and summer vacation(end of June to early September).To ensure a smooth trip，you are suggested to pick up your ticket the day before your departure if time permits.If you have to collect it on the day of departure before boarding，you'd better get to the station as early as possible(at least 2~3 hours prior to scheduled departure time).
If you decide to pick up the ticket before boarding，make sure you go to the right station.Many cities have more than one railway station.So read the confirmation letter sent by your booking agency carefully.Actually，it is advised to print out the confirmation letter in advance，as well as the address of the station and its transportation information in both Chinese and English，in case you need to ask for help from the locals.
Usually，tickets can be collected from any regular ticket counters in train stations（excluding ticket change，refund and transfer counters）.Some stations have special counters for tickets collection，in Chinese characters“取票窗口”or“取票专口”，which can save you much time.For example，in Xi'an Railway Station，counters 25 and 26 in East Ticket Hall and counter 9 in West Ticket Hall are especially for ticket collection.
Some stations also have English counters，which save trouble for foreign passengers.In Beijing West Railway Station，it is counter 16 in East Ticket Hall of north square.
If you have booked multi-trip tickets and want to collect them from a ticket office，it's better to collect them all at the first departure station to save time.When collecting tickets of trains departing from other cities，a service fee of CNY5 per ticket is charged by the station.This is not included in the booking agency's service charge and it should be paid in cash on spot.For example，if you have booked three tickets of Beijing West—Xi'an，Xi'an—Shanghai，and Shanghai—Guilin，you can pick up them all in any of the railway stations in Beijing and the service fee levied by the station will be CNY10(for Xi'an—Shanghai and Shanghai—Guilin which are not originating from Beijing).However，you can collect them on an automatic ticket machine without any extra charge.
Many stations have installed self-service ticket machines.Foreign/Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan passengers should not queue at them.They can only recognize Chinese ID cards issued by the Public Security Bureau of PRC.
If you have any questions concerning ticket collection in the train stations，go to the information desk.Almost all stations have an information desk in conspicuous places to help passengers out.
Opening Time of Ticket Counters in Railway Stations
Generally，there is one or more ticket counters in railway stations opening 24 hours a day and 7 days a week for passengers'convenience.However，in some stations，all ticket counters are closed at late night if there is no train arriving or departing.For instance，stations specializing in bullet trains，which usually stop running at late night，such as Beijing South Railway Station，whose ticket counters opened 06:00—23:00.Another example is the relatively small and remote stations，like Jishou Railway Station(close to Phoenix Ancient Town)，ticket collection only opened 08:00—21:00.But there is no need to worry.The closed counter(s)will open 1~2 hours ahead of departure even at late night if there is a train departing.