China's Top High-Speed Train Routes: Stations, Times and Fares

The train routes most visitors to China actually ride are Beijing–Shanghai, Beijing–Xi'an, the short hops from Shanghai to Hangzhou, Suzhou and Nanjing, Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong, and a southwest set: Chengdu–Chongqing, Xi'an–Chengdu and Guangzhou–Guilin. Below, each route gets its stations, how many trains run in a day, the fastest and the typical journey time, the fare range by seat class, and whether a night train makes sense. All of these routes run on high-speed lines, and for every one of them the train is easier than flying. Pick your train here, then book it with our step-by-step booking guide.

Which routes to take, and how to read the numbers

China's rail network is big enough that almost any trip between major cities has a fast train option. By the end of 2025 the country had 165,000 km of railway, 50,400 km of it high-speed line, according to China State Railway Group. The routes in this guide are the ones that link the cities first-time visitors usually combine.

Most train counts, times and fares below come from the official 12306 timetable for one sample travel day, Thursday 12 November 2026; the few figures from other sample days say so. Your travel day will look very similar, but timetables change a few times a year and many fares float by date and time, so treat the numbers as a guide to scale and check the exact train on 12306 when you book. Three things in each route section matter more than any single number:

• Which station. Most big cities have several railway stations, and the same route can leave from several of them with very different journey times.
• How many trains. A route with 100+ trains a day works like a shuttle, and you can decide on the day. A route with under 20 sells out on holidays, so book as soon as your dates are fixed.
• Fastest versus typical. The headline "fastest" time usually belongs to one or two trains with few stops. Most trains on the same route are slower.

When does flying make more sense? On every route in this guide the train wins once you count the trip out to the airport, security and the wait at the gate, because the stations are inside the cities. Flying starts to win when the fastest train is longer than six or seven hours. Chengdu to Shanghai is a good example: on 29 October 2026 the fastest train from Chengdu East to Shanghai Hongqiao takes 10 h 6 min, and most take 11 to 14 hours. For a route like that, see our domestic flights guide. For the bigger choice between train, plane, bus and ferry, our China transportation overview compares them all.

Beijing–Shanghai

This is the busiest long-distance route visitors use. Trains run on the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed line, 1,318 km long and open since 30 June 2011. The main pair of stations is Beijing South (北京南, Běijīng Nán) and Shanghai Hongqiao (上海虹桥, Shànghǎi Hóngqiáo). On the sample day 38 trains are scheduled from Beijing South to Shanghai Hongqiao, all of them G trains, leaving between 06:18 and 19:24.

The figure you see quoted everywhere, "about four and a half hours", is true only for some trains. The fastest, G25, takes 4 h 18 min because it stops only at Nanjing South, but a typical train (half are faster, half slower) takes about 5 h 52 min. Only 14 of the 38 trains take under five hours; most of the rest take five and a half to six hours because they stop at many more stations, and the fast trains cost a little more in second class (¥661–692 against ¥598–621 on the sampled trains). G13 stops at Jinan West and Nanjing South and takes 4 h 28 min, while G547, the first train of the morning at 06:18, stops 11 times and takes 5 h 53 min.

So when you pick a train, look at the journey time column, not just the departure time. Saving an hour and a half is worth the small extra fare if you want an afternoon in Shanghai. If you are in no hurry, the slower trains are cheaper and just as comfortable.

Fares on this line change with the season, the time of day and the train, so two trains on the same day can show different prices for the same seat. The price 12306 shows at checkout is the one you pay.

A few more things to know about this route:

• Shanghai Station is a second arrival point. Beijing South also sends 6 G trains a day to Shanghai Station (上海站) instead of Hongqiao; the fastest, G5, takes 4 h 33 min. Pick whichever of the two is closer to your hotel.
• Going north. Shanghai Hongqiao to Beijing South also has 38 trains on the sample day, and the fastest, G12 and G32, take 4 h 24 min.
• Getting to and from the stations. Beijing South is on metro Lines 4 and 14. At Shanghai Hongqiao you can take metro Lines 2, 10 or 17 from Hongqiao Railway Station stop. Our metro guide covers paying for the metro in both cities.

Night trains. Overnight sleeper trains run in both directions. D7 (19:18) and D5 (21:21) run from Beijing Station (北京站) to Shanghai Station, each taking about 12 hours, and a berth in a second-class sleeper costs ¥440–510, or ¥601–646 in a first-class sleeper. Other night trains use different stations again: D9 runs from Beijing South to Shanghai South, and D17 from Beijing Station to Shanghai Songjiang. None of them uses Hongqiao, so match the arrival station to your hotel. The night train makes sense if you want to save a hotel night and you sleep well on trains; if you don't, a daytime train under five hours is the better trip. More on this in the picking a train section below.

Many visitors break this trip in the middle. Nanjing South is on the line, and the classic first-trip loop adds Xi'an; our Beijing–Xi'an–Shanghai route guide shows how to put the three cities together.

Beijing–Xi'an

The daytime high-speed trains run from Beijing West (北京西, Běijīng Xī) to Xi'an North (西安北, Xī'ān Běi). On the sample day 17 G trains make that trip, leaving between 07:00 and 19:00; the fastest, G351 and G365, take 4 h 10 min with only two stops on the way, and a typical train takes about 4 h 25 min. That is far fewer trains than Beijing–Shanghai, so this is the route in this guide where you should book early, especially around Chinese public holidays.

Station tips for this route:

• Use Beijing West for daytime trains. A few trains leave from Beijing Fengtai, Qinghe and Beijing North instead, but these take 5 h 42 min or more. Beijing West is on metro Lines 7 and 9.
• Coming back, Xi'an North to Beijing West has 18 G trains on the sample day; the fastest, G324 and G352, take 4 h 10 min.
• Xi'an North to the city centre. Metro Line 2 runs from Xi'an North to the Bell Tower without a change.
• Xi'an has a new east station. Xi'an East (西安东) opened on 30 June 2026 and mainly handles trains heading south and west. A few Beijing trains end there, such as the D15 night train from Beijing West, so read the station name on the ticket.

Night trains. Overnight sleeper trains such as D39, D41, D43 and D19 leave Beijing West in the evening and take roughly 12 hours, with second-class sleeper berths at ¥300–320 and first-class sleeper berths at ¥458–488. There is also the conventional Z179, which leaves Beijing West at 18:20 and takes 12 h 31 min, with a soft sleeper berth at ¥398.5. These night trains arrive at Xi'an Station (西安站), the old station near the city wall, not at Xi'an North. For Beijing–Xi'an the sleeper is a better deal than on Beijing–Shanghai: a second-class berth costs less than a daytime second-class seat, and you arrive close to the old town.

Stopping in Luoyang. Luoyang, home of the Longmen Grottoes, sits on this line. Its high-speed station is Luoyang Longmen (洛阳龙门), not Luoyang Station; on 29 October 2026, 13 G trains run from Beijing West to Luoyang Longmen. Between Xi'an North and Luoyang Longmen, the fastest trains on that day take 1 h 15 min. That makes a one- or two-night stop easy to add.

If you continue west from Xi'an toward Dunhuang, our Silk Road route guide covers the next legs.

Shanghai to Hangzhou, Suzhou and Nanjing

These are short trips with a lot of trains, so you rarely need to book days ahead outside holidays. The main thing to get right is the station, because both ends of each route have more than one.

Shanghai to Hangzhou

Leave from Shanghai Hongqiao. On the sample day 109 trains run from Hongqiao to Hangzhou East (杭州东, Hángzhōu Dōng), the fastest in 45 minutes, with second class at ¥57–87 depending on the train. Shanghai South also has 44 trains to Hangzhou East, but Shanghai Station has only 4, taking about an hour and a half. Fares on this line float between a published maximum and a minimum, so check the price on the train you choose. From Hangzhou East, metro Line 1 reaches Longxiangqiao on the east shore of West Lake in six stops. Our Hangzhou guide covers the city itself.

Shanghai to Suzhou

Suzhou has two main stations, and the one you want is usually Suzhou Station (苏州站), on the north edge of the old town, where metro Lines 2 and 4 take you into the garden area. Suzhou North (苏州北) is on the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed line, about 10 km from the old town.

• From Shanghai Station to Suzhou Station: 101 trains on the sample day, the fastest in 25 minutes and most in 32–48 minutes, with second class on G, D and C trains at ¥29–46.
• From Shanghai Hongqiao to Suzhou Station: 52 trains, the fastest in 25 minutes, second class ¥31–46.
• From Shanghai Hongqiao to Suzhou North: 67 trains, mostly 23–30 minutes, second class ¥38–40. The ride is short, but you then need about 10 km more to reach the old town.

Shanghai Station to Suzhou also has slow K trains, where a hard seat costs ¥14.5. They are slower, and the G and D trains do not cost much more. Our Suzhou guide covers the gardens and old town.

Shanghai to Nanjing

Nanjing South (南京南) is the station to aim for. On another sample day, 5 November 2026, 169 trains run from Shanghai Hongqiao to Nanjing South, the fastest, G94, in 59 minutes and a typical one in about 1 h 38 min, with second class at roughly ¥98–167. Nanjing Station, the city's older station, gets far fewer trains from Hongqiao. Nanjing South is on metro Lines 1 and 3 among others, so getting into town is easy.

Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong

Between Guangzhou and Shenzhen trains run almost like a metro, with well over a hundred a day between the main stations. The catch is that each city has several stations, and the choice changes your journey time a lot.

Guangzhou to Shenzhen. The fastest option is Guangzhou South (广州南) to Shenzhen North (深圳北): 159 trains on the sample day, the fastest in 29 minutes and most in about 36–38 minutes, with second class at ¥74.5. If your hotel is in central Shenzhen, Guangzhou South to Futian (福田), which is underground in the city centre, has 15 G trains taking 43 minutes or more, at ¥82 in second class. Guangzhou South is a big interchange with four metro lines, and Shenzhen North connects to metro Lines 4, 5 and 6.

The older intercity line runs from Guangzhou East (广州东) to Shenzhen Station (深圳站), next to the Luohu border crossing. Almost all of its 62 daily trains are C trains, and the non-stop ones take 57 minutes at ¥72 in second class. That is slower than going from Guangzhou South to Shenzhen North, so this line is about station choice: use it if you are staying near Guangzhou East or heading to Luohu, and use Guangzhou South otherwise.

To and from Hong Kong. Trains to Hong Kong West Kowloon (香港西九龙) leave from Futian, Shenzhen North and Guangzhou South. From Futian there are 60 trains on the sample day, taking 14–16 minutes, at ¥68 in second class; Shenzhen North has 87, taking 18–32 minutes, at ¥75. From Guangzhou South, 37 G trains go to West Kowloon, the fastest in 47 minutes and most in about an hour, with second class at ¥187–215.

Leaving Hong Kong, MTR sells the same trains in Hong Kong dollars, converting the yuan fare at a rate reset on the 1st of every month, so check the current MTR high-speed rail fare page. At West Kowloon you go through ticket checks, security and both border controls before boarding; the counters open 90 minutes before departure and the ticket check on level B1 closes 30 minutes before; the whole process usually takes 30–45 minutes, and passport holders should allow more.

For the cities themselves, see our Guangzhou and Shenzhen guide and our Hong Kong and Macau guide.

Chengdu–Chongqing, Xi'an–Chengdu and Guangzhou–Guilin

These three routes link the southwest with the rest of an itinerary. Each has the same trap: the destination city has two or three stations, and they are not equal.

Chengdu–Chongqing

All trains below leave from Chengdu East (成都东), which is on metro Lines 2 and 7, six stops from Chunxi Road on Line 2. In Chongqing you have three choices:

• Chongqing West (重庆西): 58 trains on the sample day, the fastest in 1 h 6 min and a typical one in about 1 h 32 min, with second class on G trains at ¥141–158.
• Chongqing North (重庆北): 46 trains, the fastest in 1 h 17 min but a typical one in about two hours; D trains here start from ¥85, the cheapest way to make the trip.
• Shapingba (沙坪坝): 17 G trains, the fastest in 1 h 2 min, at ¥148 in second class.

Pick the station by where you are staying in Chongqing, not by the train. Chongqing North links to metro Lines 3, 4 and 10, Chongqing West to the Loop Line and Line 5, and Shapingba is on the Loop Line. Our Chongqing guide helps you work out which side of town suits you.

Xi'an–Chengdu

This is the link that lets you go from the Terracotta Army to the pandas in one day. On the sample day 68 trains run from Xi'an North to Chengdu East, a mix of G and D trains; the fastest, G321, takes 3 h 5 min without a stop, most take 3 h 42 min to 3 h 55 min, and G and D trains cost almost the same, for example ¥300 on G321 and ¥285 on D1915 in second class. So on this route, just pick the departure time you like. Do not book from Chengdu West: trains from there to Xi'an are only slow K trains of 14 hours or more. Our Chengdu guide covers the city.

Guangzhou–Guilin and Yangshuo

This is the most scenic of the routes here. Toward the end of the trip the line enters limestone hill country, so try for a window seat. From Guangzhou South there are three useful stations:

• Yangshuo (阳朔): 28 trains on the sample day, the fastest in 1 h 50 min, second class ¥151–191. If you are staying in Yangshuo, go straight there and skip Guilin; the station is outside the town itself, so check how you will get from the station to your hotel.
• Guilin West (桂林西): 40 trains, the fastest in 2 h 4 min, second class ¥169–223. It has the most trains, but it is about 10 km outside the city.
• Guilin North (桂林北): 20 trains, the fastest in 2 h 9 min, second class mostly ¥182–220.

From Shenzhen North there are far fewer direct trains, only 7 to Guilin North, 6 to Guilin West and 4 to Yangshuo on the sample day, so changing at Guangzhou South is often easier. Direct trains also run from Hong Kong West Kowloon to Guilin, taking just over three hours. See our Guilin and Yangshuo guide for the Li River and the countryside.

Picking a train: station, train type, seat class, night or day

Station first. Before you compare trains, decide which station you want at each end. A short metro ride to the right station saves more time than the fastest train to the wrong one. The traps in this guide are: Shanghai Station versus Hongqiao for Hangzhou, Suzhou Station versus Suzhou North, Guangzhou South versus Guangzhou East, Chongqing North versus Chongqing West, the three stops for Guilin and Yangshuo, and night trains, which mostly use Beijing Station, Shanghai Station and Xi'an Station rather than the high-speed stations the day trains use. On 12306 and in any booking app, the station name is printed on every train in the list, so read it before you pay. Our train station guide explains how to find your way once you are inside.

Train letters. Each train number starts with a letter. On the long routes here, the daytime trains are nearly all G trains; Beijing–Shanghai and Beijing West–Xi'an North are G-only on the sample day. As a rough guide, G and D trains run on the high-speed network, C trains are short intercity services, and K, T and Z trains are older conventional trains, which is where most sleeper berths are, though some D trains also run overnight as sleepers. The letter alone doesn't tell you which train is faster. Every Beijing–Shanghai train is a G train, yet G25 takes 4 h 18 min while G547, with 11 stops, takes 5 h 53 min. Between Xi'an and Chengdu, G and D trains cost nearly the same. Compare the journey time shown for each train rather than the letter. Our high-speed train guide explains the train types in more detail.

Seat class. Second class is fine for any of these routes. First and business class give you more space for a lot more money. The price steps are large on long routes: Beijing South to Shanghai Hongqiao is ¥598–692 in second class, ¥1,005–1,107 in first and ¥1,995–2,420 in business, depending on the train. On short hops the gaps are small; Shanghai Hongqiao to Suzhou North is ¥38–40 in second class and ¥65–68 in first. If you want to treat yourself, a short route is the cheap place to try first class. Our seat class guide shows what you get in each.

Night or day. A night train is worth it when three things line up: the trip is long enough to fill a night, you sleep reasonably well on a moving train, and the arrival station suits you. Beijing–Xi'an fits best: about 12 hours, a berth costing less than a daytime seat, and an arrival near the old town. Beijing–Shanghai is less clear: the sleeper takes about 12 hours, against just over four hours on the fastest day train. For the short routes, the day train is the only sensible choice.

Booking, refunds and boarding

Tickets go on sale 15 days before travel, counting the travel day. You can buy on the official 12306 app or website with your passport, or through an agency such as Trip.com if you prefer an English app you may already use; our booking guide covers both, along with refunds and changes. On the day, a passport holder goes through the staffed lane at the ticket gate, because passports can't be read by the automatic gates; see our station guide for how much time to allow, and our luggage rules guide before you pack. Official rules are on the 12306 English FAQ.

To sum up: decide the station at each end first, then pick a train by journey time, not by letter. Book Beijing–Xi'an and holiday trips as soon as your dates are fixed. Outside holidays and weekends, the busiest short hops (Shanghai to Hangzhou, Suzhou or Nanjing, and Guangzhou South to Shenzhen North) work like shuttles you can book a day ahead; routes with few trains, such as Guangzhou South to Futian, are worth booking earlier. Consider a night train for Beijing–Xi'an. When you have your train, follow our booking guide to buy it.

Last updated: November 2026