Terms of Service — China Train Ticket Bookings

1. Who we are and what these terms cover

This site is operated by Train Tickets China, a sole-trader business acting as an independent ticketing agent. We are not China Railway and we do not claim to be — we buy tickets from China Railway on your behalf. References to “we”, “us” and “our” mean that business. References to “you” mean the person placing a booking.

These terms apply to the booking service we provide through https://www.trainticketschina.com, including any booking placed by email. By placing a booking you confirm that you are at least 18 years old, that you have read and accept these terms, that you accept our Privacy Policy, and that you have authority to agree to them on behalf of every passenger named in the booking.

If you do not accept these terms, please do not place a booking. If we change these terms, the version in force on the date you booked is the version that applies to that booking.

2. What the service is

We are a booking agent, not a railway operator. We purchase tickets from China Railway (12306) in your name and against your passport number, and we pass on the confirmation the railway issues. We do not own or operate trains, do not set timetables, and cannot override China Railway’s rules on fares, seat allocation, refunds or boarding.

The service is a one-off transaction per booking. We do not sell subscriptions, do not hold a payment method on file, and do not charge you again unless you place another booking.

Because the ticket is a service delivered immediately once issued — the seat is reserved in the railway’s live inventory the moment we complete the purchase — the cancellation and refund position in section 7 applies rather than a general right of return.

3. Your account and your details

You do not need an account to book, but you are responsible for the accuracy of everything you give us. The passenger name and passport number must match the passport that will be presented at the station, character for character. Chinese rail tickets are real-name tickets: the document number cannot be changed after issue, and a ticket issued against the wrong number cannot be used.

If you discover an error after paying, contact us immediately. Where the railway still permits it, we will cancel and reissue, but the original ticket is subject to China Railway’s refund deductions and our service fee is not returned, because the booking work has already been done.

You are responsible for keeping the email address on the booking reachable. It is the only channel we use to send confirmations and to reach you if a train is adjusted.

You must not use the service to book on behalf of someone who has not authorised you to use their passport details.

4. Prices

The price you see is the China Railway fare plus our booking service fee, shown as a single total before you pay. There is no separate charge added after checkout, no card surcharge and no per-passenger extra.

Our service fee is a fixed amount in one of three bands, decided by the dollar value of the ticket. It is not a percentage, so it does not grow with the fare:

The fee is charged once per ticket and is the same for adults and children and in every seat class — only the fare differs. The fare and fee are added together and rounded up to a whole dollar, and that rounded figure is the price shown in search results and the amount charged to your card. The same rule is published on its own page at /pricing/, with worked examples.

Fares are set by China Railway in Chinese yuan. Where we quote in another currency, the conversion uses the rate displayed on this site at the time of booking and may move between your quote and your payment.

Prices are shown inclusive of applicable taxes to the extent we are required to collect them. If a tax authority requires us to add a tax, it will appear as a separate line before payment.

If we cannot obtain your ticket, the service fee is not kept — see section 7 for when the fee is refunded and when it is not.

5. Payment

Card payments are processed by Waffo Pancake, our payment processor, on its own hosted checkout. The amount charged is the single total set out in section 4 — nothing is added at the payment step.

Card details are entered on the processor’s hosted checkout and are never transmitted to or stored on our servers. Waffo Pancake is responsible for card data security at PCI-DSS standard.

A booking is not confirmed until payment has cleared and the ticket has been successfully issued in China Railway’s system. If payment succeeds but the ticket cannot be issued — for example because the train sold out between your search and our purchase — we will tell you within one business day and offer an alternative train, a different seat class, or a full refund of the amount you paid.

If we cannot obtain a ticket at all, you pay nothing. We do not keep the service fee on a failed booking.

The descriptor on your statement will show Waffo Pancake. If you do not recognise the charge, please contact us before contacting your bank — see section 8.

6. Changes and cancellations by you

Changes and cancellations are governed by China Railway’s rules, not by us. The deduction increases as departure approaches and is steepest inside the final 24 hours before departure; after the train has left, the ticket generally cannot be refunded at all.

To change or cancel, contact us with your booking reference and passport details. We will tell you the exact deduction China Railway will apply before we act, so you can decide. Changes are also subject to seats being available on the new train.

If you miss your train, go to the station ticket office and ask about moving to a later service the same day. Station staff can sometimes do this where capacity allows. Missing a train does not by itself entitle you to a refund, and we cannot guarantee a transfer.

Our service fee is not refundable once a ticket has been issued, because the work of checking details, purchasing and issuing has already been carried out. Where China Railway itself cancels the train, our service fee is returned in full.

7. Refund policy

This section sets out when you get your money back and how much. It applies in addition to any right you have under the consumer law of your own country, which we do not restrict.

Before a ticket is issued. If we have taken payment but have not yet issued a ticket, you may cancel for a full refund of everything you paid, including the service fee. This covers the window between your payment and our purchase in China Railway’s system, and it also covers the case where we cannot obtain a ticket at all.

Seven-day first-booking guarantee. If this is your first booking with us and you have not yet travelled, you may request a full refund of the fare within seven days of the ticket being issued, less only the deduction China Railway itself imposes for the cancellation. We return our service fee in full under this guarantee. The guarantee does not apply once you have boarded, or where a ticket is non-refundable under China Railway’s rules at that point.

Duplicate charges. If a payment error causes you to be charged twice for the same booking, the duplicate is refunded in full.

Service disruption. If China Railway cancels your train, you may choose a full refund or a change to another service. If we are unable to deliver a confirmed ticket you have paid for, you receive a full refund.

What is not refundable. A journey already travelled. A ticket cancelled inside China Railway’s no-refund window. A booking cancelled because the passenger details proved false or because the booking was fraudulent. The service fee on a ticket we successfully issued and you chose to cancel outside the seven-day guarantee.

How to claim. Email traintickets@trainticketschina.com with your booking reference, the passenger name and the reason. We acknowledge within two business days, confirm the amount China Railway will deduct, and process the refund within five to ten business days of your agreement. Refunds go back through Waffo Pancake to the card you paid with; how quickly it appears on your statement depends on your bank.

8. Billing disputes

If you believe a charge is wrong, email traintickets@trainticketschina.com before raising a chargeback with your bank. We reply within two business days and aim to resolve a confirmed billing error within five business days. A chargeback opened without contacting us first usually takes longer to resolve than a direct message, because the payment processor freezes the transaction while it investigates.

9. Timetables, delays and cancellations by the railway

Timetables, train numbers and seat availability are controlled by China Railway and change several times a year, sometimes at short notice. Frequencies and journey times shown on this site are indicative and are not a contractual commitment to a specific departure.

Where China Railway cancels or substantially delays a service, we will help you claim whatever China Railway allows, including a refund or a change where its rules provide for one. We are not liable for consequential costs such as hotels, onward flights, tours or missed connections. Travel insurance is the appropriate way to cover those risks.

10. Acceptable use

You agree not to use this service to book with another person’s identity without their authority, to submit false passport details, to resell tickets commercially without our written agreement, to attempt to disrupt or reverse-engineer the site, or to use the service for any purpose that is unlawful in China or in your own country.

We may decline or cancel a booking where we reasonably believe any of these has happened. Where a booking is cancelled for this reason, China Railway’s deductions apply and the service fee is not returned.

11. Our liability

We are responsible for carrying out the booking service with reasonable care: checking your details, purchasing against the correct train and date, and passing on an accurate confirmation. If we fail to do that, we will either put it right or refund what you paid us for that booking.

We are not liable for the railway’s own acts and omissions — a delayed train, a changed platform, a timetable revision, a refusal to board, or a refund rule applied by China Railway. We are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, including missed flights, accommodation or tours.

Our total liability in connection with any booking is limited to the total amount you paid us for that booking. Nothing in these terms limits liability for fraud, for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be excluded.

12. Data and privacy

We collect the passenger details needed to issue a ticket and the contact details needed to send it. How we store, use and delete that data is set out in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these terms.

Card data is handled exclusively by Waffo Pancake, our payment processor, and never reaches our servers. Booking records are retained for as long as needed for the journey and for any refund or dispute, then deleted as described in the Privacy Policy.

13. Ending the agreement

These terms apply from the moment you place a booking and continue until the booking is complete and any refund or dispute is settled.

We may decline or cancel a booking where the details are false, where payment is reversed, where we suspect fraud, or where these terms have been breached. Where we cancel for a reason that is not your fault, you receive a full refund.

You may ask us to delete your booking records at any time by emailing traintickets@trainticketschina.com. We will do so except where we must retain a record for tax, accounting or dispute purposes.

14. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the People’s Republic of China, which is where the booking service is operated and where the railway contract is made. Nothing in this clause removes the protection of mandatory consumer law in the country where you live.

Before starting formal proceedings, please email traintickets@trainticketschina.com so we can try to resolve the matter directly.

15. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. The version in force when you place a booking governs that booking, and we keep earlier versions available on request. Material changes are announced on this page with a new version number and effective date.

16. Contact

All enquiries — bookings, refunds, billing disputes, privacy requests and legal notices — go to traintickets@trainticketschina.com. We aim to reply within one business day and always within two. This is the only support channel we operate, and it is monitored.

All train routes we cover

Every route below has a dedicated page with live timetables, USD fares and a direct booking link.