Booking China HSR tickets with a foreign passport

Yes — a foreign passport is one of the documents China Railway accepts, and you can buy high-speed tickets online with it on the official 12306 app or English website. The part that catches people out is the order of operations: passport holders must complete an identity check before any ticket can be purchased, and that check is not something you can finish at the station five minutes before departure.

1. Get the account verified first

1. Register on the Railway 12306 app or the 12306 English site and select passport as your document type.
2. Enter your name, nationality and passport number exactly as they appear in the passport. The system verifies automatically where it can; if it can't, you upload a photo of the passport information page and a person reviews it. Because that step is manual, leave time for it rather than starting the process on the day your tickets go on sale.
3. If verification stalls and you are already in China, take the passport to a staffed ticket window at any railway station. Window staff can complete the verification in person.

2. Buy the ticket

Tickets go on sale 15 days before departure, including the travel date, and every station releases at its own hour. The app shows the exact time for your departure station and lets you set a reminder. Since 30 August 2026, more than 200 trains on the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed and conventional lines also accept reservations 17 to 60 days ahead, with results confirmed 16 to 20 days before departure.

Pay on the app or English site with a foreign bank card or a mobile payment app; at a station window you can also use RMB cash. Passport holders cannot use the self-service ticket machines — those take only the Foreign Permanent Resident ID Card. If your train is sold out, join the waitlist: up to six live orders at a time, each covering three travel dates and up to 60 train-and-date combinations.

3. Board with the same passport

There is no paper ticket. Scan the passport you booked with at the gate; if the reader rejects it, join the staffed lane and show the same document.

4. Changes and refunds

Cancelling eight or more days before departure costs nothing, 48 hours to eight days costs 5% of the fare, 24 to 48 hours costs 10%, and inside 24 hours costs 20%. A mistaken purchase is refunded free within 30 minutes of payment if departure is still more than four hours away, once per calendar day. One change per ticket is allowed — and if the new travel date falls inside the Spring Festival period, the refund fee becomes 20% however early you cancel.

Only tickets bought through 12306 carry any guarantee of being honoured or refunded; no third-party platform is authorised to sell or refund China Railway tickets. If you want cover for the non-refundable parts of a trip, compare the main travel-insurance policies before you commit to a rail leg.

Last checked: 2026-09-20