Chinese Vocabulary for: Buying tickets (train / bus)
Buying tickets for trains or buses in Mandarin is essential for travel. This page covers the vocabulary and sentences you need at ticket windows or machines: one-way, round trip, date, and seat type. The content is aimed at A2–B2 learners and HSK 3–6, so you get real-life phrases used at stations and booking counters. Learning these with example sentences and spaced repetition will make your next trip smoother.
When you'd use this
Use this at train or bus stations when buying tickets, asking for times, one-way vs round trip, or choosing seat type (e.g. window seat, high-speed rail).
Key vocabulary
- 车票chē piào• ticket
- 单程dān chéng• one-way
- 往返wǎng fǎn• round trip
- 高铁gāo tiě• high-speed rail
- 火车huǒ chē• train
- 大巴dà bā• bus
- 出发chū fā• departure
- 到达dào dá• arrival
- 座位zuò wèi• seat
- 靠窗kào chuāng• window seat
- 几点jǐ diǎn• what time
- 还有票吗hái yǒu piào ma• are there still tickets
- 售票处shòu piào chù• ticket office
- 改签gǎi qiān• change (ticket)
Example sentences
我要一张去北京的高铁票。
Wǒ yào yī zhāng qù Běi jīng de gāo tiě piào.
I want one high-speed rail ticket to Beijing.
单程还是往返？
Dān chéng hái shì wǎng fǎn?
One-way or round trip?
明天早上八点还有票吗？
Míng tiān zǎo shang bā diǎn hái yǒu piào ma?
Are there still tickets for tomorrow 8am?
我要靠窗的座位。
Wǒ yào kào chuāng de zuò wèi.
I want a window seat.
售票处在哪里？
Shòu piào chù zài nǎ lǐ?
Where is the ticket office?
可以改签吗？
Kě yǐ gǎi qiān ma?
Can I change my ticket?
Common mistakes / natural phrasing
'单程' is one-way, '往返' is round trip. '高铁' is high-speed rail; '火车' is regular train. '还有票吗' is 'are there still tickets?'—useful when asking availability. '改签' is to change the date/time of a ticket.
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