Before you go · 7 min read
Hotels, trains and flights: Trip.com, Booking and 12306 – your passport is your ticket
In short: the easiest way to book hotels, trains, flights and attractions in China is one app, Trip.com. The catch: in some language versions of Trip.com (Polish, for example) trains and attractions don't show up at all, so use it in English. Every ticket needs your passport number, and the passport itself is your ticket: you show it at the station, at the airport and at the museum entrance. Attractions usually open bookings only a week or two ahead, so save your travellers' details in your Trip.com account in advance.
We recommend Trip.com from our own experience: we had hotels, trains and attractions in one app, and everything worked smoothly.
Correct as of October 2026. Booking rules, railways and airports in China change, so check them with the carrier and in the app before you travel.
Trip.com, Booking or 12306?
| App | What for | Our verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Trip.com | hotels, trains, flights, attractions | our pick: everything in one app, in English |
| Booking.com | hotels | works in China; check that the hotel accepts foreign guests |
| 12306 | trains (the official China Railway app) | simple, but set up your account before you fly |
Trip.com is a Chinese company (formerly Ctrip), so it has a huge choice of hotels and attractions in China, and you pay with a regular card. Booking works well if you have discounts there, and 12306 is a good backup for trains.
Trip.com: use the English version
This is the most important tip in this article: in the Polish version of Trip.com there are no tabs for trains and attractions. If you use Trip.com in a language other than English, switch the website or app to English, and the Trains and Attractions & Tours tabs will appear.
As soon as you create your account, save the details of everyone you're travelling with: full name exactly as in the passport, passport number and expiry date. Then for every booking you just tick the travellers, click and pay.
Hotels: check that they accept foreigners
Every hotel in China has to register foreign guests with the police, so you always show your passport at check-in. Since 2024 the authorities have banned hotels from turning foreigners away for lack of a special permit, but in practice it still happens, especially in cheap hotels in smaller cities.
- Read the hotel's policies before you book on Trip.com or Booking. Look for information on whether it accepts guests from abroad.
- Not sure? Message the hotel or Trip.com customer service before you pay.
- Choose free cancellation whenever you can. If the front desk turns you away after all, it's easier to find somewhere else.
NoteWhen you enter China, you fill in an arrival card and have to give the name or address of the hotel where you're staying. Enter the full address of your first hotel and keep the booking confirmation handy. You can fill in the card online before you fly, and it's free. We explain how in our article China visa-free.
Attractions: book a week or two ahead
For popular attractions in China, such as museums, palaces and national parks, you need a ticket for a specific day, issued to your passport number. Most of them can be booked at most 2 weeks ahead, and some only a week before. The most popular places sell out fast, so it's worth buying on the day sales open.
- Save your travellers in your Trip.com account with their passport numbers before sales open.
- Check when tickets go on sale for the attractions on your route, and note the dates.
- On the day sales open, pick the date, tick your saved travellers and pay. It takes a minute.
- Show your passport at the entrance. The passport is your ticket, not a printout.
Trains: Trip.com or 12306?
China's high-speed rail is the most convenient way to travel between cities. You can buy tickets in two places:
- 12306 is the official app and website of China Railway, available in English. It's simple to use, but you need to create your account before you fly. Your passport goes through verification, which takes anywhere from a few minutes to a few days. If something goes wrong, you can also confirm your identity at a station ticket office.
- Trip.com (in the English version) sells the same tickets. That's what we recommend for trains: it works smoothly, and you have everything in one app together with hotels and attractions. It's very convenient.
Train tickets go on sale about 15 days before departure. On popular routes and during holidays they sell out fast, so buy them right away.
For journey times and fares on specific routes – for example Beijing to Xi’an, Chengdu to Chongqing or Shenzhen to Hong Kong – see our China train guides: times, second-class fares and stations in Chinese for the taxi driver.
TipFor every ticket and every entry pass, double-check your passport number. One wrong digit and the gate won't let you through, because the ticket is tied to your passport.
At the station: arrive an hour early
Chinese railway stations are huge and crowded, and before you get in, you go through a security and passport check, a bit like at an airport. Chongqing East station in Chongqing is even said to be the largest railway station in the world: its floor area is about 1.22 million m². That's about twice the Pentagon, or around 170 football pitches.
That's why you should get to the station an hour before departure, especially the first time. This is how you get from the entrance to the train:
Foreign passports don't always work at the automatic gates. If yours doesn't, go to the staffed lane: look for the sign 人工通道.
In Chinese人工通道 réngōng tōngdào "staffed lane", the gate where an inspector checks your passport by hand.
Flights: allow plenty of time and bring a power bank with the 3C mark
You can buy domestic flights on Trip.com just like trains, also with your passport number. As with stations, get to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Airports are big, and the security queues can be long.
NoteOn domestic flights in China you can't carry power banks without the 3C (CCC) mark or with an unreadable label. Such a power bank will be taken away at security. Check the label on yours before you travel, or buy a power bank with the 3C mark in China.
Your passport is your ticket
In China you don't print tickets. Your passport number and the passport itself are your ticket: at the station, on the train, at the airport and at the entrance to attractions. So:
- Always carry your passport with you, don't leave it at the hotel.
- Enter your passport number carefully with every purchase and compare it with the document.
- Enter your name exactly as in your passport, without abbreviations.
- Take a photo of your passport's photo page and keep it on your phone, just in case.
Checklist before you fly
- Create a Trip.com account, switch it to English and save the details of all your travellers.
- Book your hotels and check that they accept guests from abroad.
- Note the full address of your first hotel for the arrival card.
- Check when tickets for attractions go on sale, and buy them on the first day.
- Buy train tickets about 15 days before departure (or create and verify a 12306 account).
- Check that your power bank has the 3C mark.
- Always keep your passport with you.
It's best to pay for the big expenses, hotels and trains, in advance by card through Trip.com. That way you avoid the Alipay fee on payments over ¥200, which we explain in our article How to pay in China.
Don't want to figure it all out yourself?
Each of our travel plans includes connections between cities with times and prices, a "Train tickets step by step" guide, and addresses of hotels and attractions in Chinese. The routes are designed so you spend as little time as possible getting from place to place. See our China travel plans.
