No scheme
China Railway season tickets
There is no pass or railcard scheme here. What exists in China instead is set out below.
The issuer's own terms
The detail below is quoted from the issuer's own page in the language they publish it in. We do not translate another company's conditions, because a translated condition is a condition we have changed.
- What it covers
- China Railway sells only single point-to-point tickets nationwide through 12306, with no tourist rail pass or railcard equivalent to Eurail/Interrail or a UK Railcard. Since 2025, 12306 has introduced 'periodic tickets' (定期票) and 'trip-count tickets' (计次票) as commuter products, but these are confirmed only on specific high-speed intercity corridors (for example Chengdu-Chongqing, Hangzhou-Wenzhou, Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou), not nationwide and not aimed at tourists.
- Who can buy it
- The commuter periodic/trip-count tickets are aimed at frequent commuters between two cities on the specific corridors where they are offered; no age, residency or nationality restriction was stated on the official page, but foreign passport holders can generally use 12306 for ordinary ticket purchase with real-name registration.
- How long it lasts
- Periodic tickets on the routes where offered run in 30-day windows and are sold in tiers by trip count (for example 10, 15, 20, up to 60 trips within 30 days), letting the holder ride any train on the designated route within that period. This is route-specific, not a general pass.
- What it costs
- Not verified. No stable nationwide figure exists because there is no nationwide pass; the commuter periodic tickets are priced per route and per trip-count tier, and no prices were shown on the official 12306 commutation page fetched.
- Seat reservations
- Yes. Even with a periodic or trip-count ticket, the holder must still reserve a specific seat on a specific train through 12306, the app, or a ticket machine before travelling; the product is a discounted right to keep booking, not a reservation-free pass.
- What catches people out
- Travellers researching 'China rail pass' will not find one in the Eurail/Interrail sense. Reports of periodic/trip-count tickets should not be mistaken for a tourist product, they are corridor-specific commuter tools launched from 2025 onward and are not available system-wide.
SourceOpen the page at China State Railway Group Co.Read on the issuer's own page on 2026-09-06. Terms and prices change, so check before you buy.
What this does to an Orlero price
Nothing, yet. Our fares are point to point and are not adjusted for a pass or a card you hold. Use this page to work out whether the scheme is worth buying, and use search to find out what the same journeys cost without it.
Countries this covers
Plan a trip from here
A pass only pays for itself against the journeys you actually make. Ask Ori for the trip and it will price the point to point fares our network holds, which is the number a pass has to beat.