Buying a Train Ticket

Friday 15th August.  Shanghai Day 2

My original plan had been to buy my train ticket from Shanghai to Beijing on line but the China Highlights payment system, which worked fine before, wasn't doing so well when I had only intermittent email access. I asked in reception if they knew of a convenient travel agent and the receptionist suggested I go to one in Peoples Square, "next to the church". Peoples Square is BIG. Maybe not as big as Tiananmen Square but I think you could fit half a dozen Trafalgars into it. Most of one side is huge government offices and an impressive theatre which didn't seem a likely location for a church. And what would a church look like? Obviously not an English medieval parish one, or even a Victorian Gothic one? How would I know it if I saw it? The Mega Church at Buona Vista in Singapore looks like an up-market shopping mall. From one of the pedestrian overpasses I spotted a stained glass window. Looked promising but on getting closer,  the Arabic writing over the doorway was not a good omen. Not even a mosque but a restaurant. Continuing round the square, which may be an oxymoron, I did find a travel agency, CITS, a name I recognised. But no, they did not sell train tickets. From here on there were several travel agencies but they all gave me the same response. Finally I found the church, which did look exactly like a typical English inner city Victorian Gothic church, and the travel agency next to it. But the reply was the same, no train tickets you can only book those at the station.

So I took the metro a few stops to the Shanghai Railway Station, where I could find lots of automated ticket machines which I have been told don't work for foreigners since they only recognise Chinese ID cards, but no ticket office. After checking every possible location in the station, I found an information counter where the   lady behind the desk was able to explain to me in English that I needed to go out of the station,  turn left, walk past all the ticket machines and keep on walking. The ticket office is not in the station at all. It is in another building across the road! And packed with people buying tickets. Having been a Boy Scout, I had carefully prepared a piece of paper with the date, train number, seat class and price I wanted to book. But which of the 25 ticket counters to queue up at? They all had big signs in red LEDS above them in Chinese and various numbers scrolling across.  Luckily there was an information desk where I asked the young woman, who spoke excellent English,  where I should go to get a ticket to Beijing; Counter 3 she replied. Seeing a very long slow moving queue, I went back to check with her to explain that I wanted to get the high speed train which leaves from another station, Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station; Counter 3 she replied again. Finally I wanted to be absolutely sure that I could buy the ticket in advance for Sunday; very patiently she told me again; "go to counter 3". She must  have been convinced I was a total idiot. It was only 20 minutes later as I was getting near to the front of the queue that I saw the small paper sign stuck to the glass of Counter 3: "English Speaking Counter".  So whatever the question,  the answer was always going to be "Counter 3". In front of me in the queue was a young Irish woman who had been living in Shanghai for a couple of years teaching English. She told me it was always this busy. When I finally got to the counter it was all very simple. Handed over my cash, 933 Yuan,  and passport and got my ticket. Mission Accomplished. 

Ticket to Ride