Dear All,

I and 7 friends will be traveling to China this September. Does anyone know where I can book our train tickets in advance?
Thanks.

You can't really "book" train tickets very far in advance. Last time I checked what normally happens is you buy the ticket from an agent, and then at most a few weeks prior they buy the tickets and send them to wherever you are at the time. The story seems that train tickets can only be bought at the location of departure, and usually not very far in advanced.

It's been a while since I've taken a train so it might have changed. But in general during big holidays even if you "booked" your tickets with a travel agent it's no guarantee you will get that ticket.

I don't mind booking through an agent. That's what I was thinking of also. As long as the agent charges a reasonable service charge, I don't mind.

Speaking of "big holiday", will mid September (13-17) be a "big holiday" in China? Sort of busy traveling time?

Thanks again.

You can buy tickets five days ahead of time here if you don't want to trek down to the train station: www.gokunming.com/en/listings/item/hua_32439/

huochepiao.com. Do a baidu.com search in 中文. There are lots of similar sites...usual caveats apply about buying stuff in China.