Living in China
How to Refund or Change a China Train Ticket (2026 Fee Rules)
By the 17Talk teaching team - certified Mandarin teachers, 8+ years of classroom experience, 3,500+ students in 40 countries
Last updated:
Quick answer
China Railway publishes the tiers, and they are simple: refund more than 8 days before departure and you pay nothing; between 48 hours and 8 days you pay 5% of the fare; 24 to 48 hours, 10%; less than 24 hours, 20%. The minimum fee, when one applies, is RMB 2. Changing a ticket has its own scale: free if you are more than 48 hours out, if you switch to a train on or before your original travel date, or if you move to another train the same day before midnight; but moving to a later date costs 5% between 24 and 48 hours, 15% inside 24 hours, and 40% after departure. Refunds must be made before the departure time printed on the ticket, and you need the ID document you booked with - your passport. If you paid cash or already printed a reimbursement receipt, refund online first and collect the money at a station window within 180 days.
The refund fee tiers
Everything depends on the clock, not on the price of the ticket or the reason you are cancelling. China Railway's notice on refund and change fees sets out four bands, and the wording is precise: more than 8 days before departure costs nothing, and each following band adds a percentage of the fare.
| When you refund | Fee |
|---|---|
| More than 8 days before departure | No fee |
| 48 hours or more, less than 8 days | 5% of the fare |
| 24 hours or more, less than 48 hours | 10% of the fare |
| Less than 24 hours | 20% of the fare |
How changing a ticket differs
Changing is not simply a cheaper refund, but in many situations it is free, which is why it is worth knowing the scale before you cancel anything.
| What you want to do | Fee |
|---|---|
| Change more than 48 hours before departure | No fee |
| Change to a train on or before your original travel date | No fee, even inside 48 hours |
| After departure, change to another train the same day before midnight | No fee |
| Inside 48 hours, move to a later date (24-48 hours) | 5% of the lower of the two fares |
| Inside 24 hours, move to a later date | 15% |
| After departure, move to the next day or later | 40% |
Three traps that cost people money
1. The 8-day workaround does not work. If you change a ticket that is inside 8 days to a train that is more than 8 days away, and then refund that, you are still charged 5%. The rules close that door explicitly.
2. Spring Festival changes are charged at the harshest rate. If the changed ticket falls inside the Spring Festival travel period, the refund fee is charged at the less-than-24-hours rate, which is 20%.
3. After departure you lose the refund, but not all of the flexibility. Once the train has left, refunds are off the table - what remains is a same-day change before midnight, which is free, and changes to the next day or later, which cost 40%.
Doing it with a foreign passport
The 12306 app and website handle most refunds and changes, and the station window handles everything. The document that matters is the one you booked with: for a foreign traveller, that is the passport, and it is what you show at the window.
If someone else goes to the window for you, the rules require both documents - the agent's own ID plus the passenger's booking document. Refunds go back the way the ticket was paid for, so a card purchase returns to that card and a QR purchase returns the same way.
When you cannot get a refund at all
Four situations are excluded by the rules: after the train has departed from your boarding station; tickets that were themselves changed after departure; supplementary charges; and the extra fare on an on-board ticket (with narrow exceptions where a student verification or lost document had to be sorted out).
The practical version: cancel before the printed departure time. The clock on the ticket is the deadline, not the time you arrive at the station.
Getting the money, and the receipt
If you paid by card or by QR, the refund follows that path. If you paid in cash, or if you already printed the reimbursement receipt for your employer, the money cannot come back automatically: you refund online first, then collect the cash at a designated station window within 180 days, showing the passenger's ID document.
When a refund fee is charged at the window, the station issues a refund-fee reimbursement receipt (退票费报销凭证), which is what you submit if you are claiming the cost back. Roundings are tidy rather than exact: fees are counted in half-yuan steps, anything under 2.5 jiao is dropped, and the minimum fee is RMB 2.
One last comparison worth doing before you cancel: if your new plan falls on the same day or an earlier date, changing is usually free while refunding is not, and if your new plan is more than 8 days away, a refund costs nothing at all.
Common questions
Is it free to cancel a train ticket more than 8 days ahead?
Yes. Refunds made more than 8 days before departure carry no fee. From 48 hours to 8 days it is 5% of the fare, 24 to 48 hours is 10%, and inside 24 hours it is 20%.
What is the smallest refund fee?
RMB 2. Fees are counted in half-yuan steps and the minimum charge, when a fee applies at all, is RMB 2.
Can I change my ticket instead of refunding it?
Usually yes, and often for free: changes made more than 48 hours before departure cost nothing, as do changes to a train on or before your original travel date, and same-day changes made after departure before midnight.
I missed my train - can I still get a refund?
No. Refunds are not available after the train has departed. You can still change to another same-day train before midnight at no fee; moving to the next day or later costs 40% of the lower fare.
Do foreign passports work at the ticket window?
Yes. The passport you booked with is the booking document, and it is what you present for a refund or change. If someone goes on your behalf they need their own ID as well.
How long do I have to collect a cash refund?
180 days from the day the online refund succeeds, collected at a designated station window with the passenger's ID document.
Read next
- How to Use Alipay in China as a Foreigner (2026 Setup & Fees)
- How to Take China's High-Speed Train as a Foreigner (2026 Guide)
Sources
- 中国铁路12306 official notice 国铁集团关于明确退票改签收费有关事项的通知 (铁客〔2021〕15号, in force 14 January 2021), China Railway - refund tiers: no fee beyond 8 days, 5% between 48 hours and 8 days, 10% between 24 and 48 hours, 20% inside 24 hours; change tiers including the free cases, 5%/15% for moving to later dates, and 40% after departure; the anti-workaround rule charging 5% when an inside-8-day ticket is changed to a train more than 8 days out and then refunded; Spring Festival changes charged at the inside-24-hours rate; half-yuan rounding and a RMB 2 minimum.
- 中国铁路12306 official refund guide (退票), China Railway - refunds must be requested before the departure time printed on the ticket; the passenger's booking document (passport for foreign travellers) is required at the window, and an agent needs both sets of documents; four situations where refunds are not processed, including after departure and tickets changed after departure; refunds return via the original payment method; cash purchases or tickets with a printed reimbursement receipt are refunded online and collected at a designated window within 180 days; refund-fee reimbursement receipt issued at the window.
Want the phrases in this guide to actually stick?
See the courses →