In an unprecedented move to even out Spring-Festival traffic flows, China State Railway Group on 8 February introduced deep, dynamic discounts on more than 40 “non-hot” inter-city routes. Under the scheme, hard-seat fares on some conventional trains fall to as low as RMB 42.5 (about US$6) for the 1,140-kilometre journey from Xinyang to Shenzhen, while second-class seats on selected high-speed services drop to 149 yuan between Yichang-East and Shanghai Hongqiao.
The railway said the decision leverages the market-pricing flexibility granted in 2025 and aims to ‘pull’ travellers away from chronically congested trunk lines during the final pre-holiday rush. Similar discounts will apply on the return leg from 20–22 February. Tickets can be booked through the multilingual 12306 platform, which as of 8 February had already sold more than 150 million Spring-Festival tickets—10 million more than the same point last year.
For multinationals the cheaper seats present an opportunity to reduce domestic-travel budgets or to encourage staff to visit supplier sites that usually fall off the itinerary because of cost or time constraints. Mobility managers, however, should note that the lowest fares are non-refundable and may exclude access to quieter ‘business-class lounges’ that some firms require for productivity and security reasons.
![China Rail slashes fares—tickets on off-peak routes discounted to 20 percent of full price]()
The National Immigration Administration has briefed border-inspection units to anticipate increased volumes of foreign passport-holders transiting through inland hubs such as Wuhan and Zhengzhou, as price-sensitive tourists and expatriates take advantage of the sale.
For overseas travellers eager to capitalise on these discounted rail journeys, VisaHQ offers a quick and reliable way to secure the necessary Chinese visas. Its team (https://www.visahq.com/china/) monitors holiday-season policy changes, guides applicants through documentation, and can return processed passports to virtually any address in mainland China—ensuring that last-minute itinerary tweaks don’t derail travel plans.
Analysts say the discounts are also a signal that China Rail intends to retain modal share in the face of aggressive pricing by low-cost airlines, many of which have added temporary frequencies on parallel routes. Companies arranging complex intra-China itineraries during the holiday season should therefore compare total door-to-door times rather than headline fares alone.
The railway said the decision leverages the market-pricing flexibility granted in 2025 and aims to ‘pull’ travellers away from chronically congested trunk lines during the final pre-holiday rush. Similar discounts will apply on the return leg from 20–22 February. Tickets can be booked through the multilingual 12306 platform, which as of 8 February had already sold more than 150 million Spring-Festival tickets—10 million more than the same point last year.
For multinationals the cheaper seats present an opportunity to reduce domestic-travel budgets or to encourage staff to visit supplier sites that usually fall off the itinerary because of cost or time constraints. Mobility managers, however, should note that the lowest fares are non-refundable and may exclude access to quieter ‘business-class lounges’ that some firms require for productivity and security reasons.
The National Immigration Administration has briefed border-inspection units to anticipate increased volumes of foreign passport-holders transiting through inland hubs such as Wuhan and Zhengzhou, as price-sensitive tourists and expatriates take advantage of the sale.
For overseas travellers eager to capitalise on these discounted rail journeys, VisaHQ offers a quick and reliable way to secure the necessary Chinese visas. Its team (https://www.visahq.com/china/) monitors holiday-season policy changes, guides applicants through documentation, and can return processed passports to virtually any address in mainland China—ensuring that last-minute itinerary tweaks don’t derail travel plans.
Analysts say the discounts are also a signal that China Rail intends to retain modal share in the face of aggressive pricing by low-cost airlines, many of which have added temporary frequencies on parallel routes. Companies arranging complex intra-China itineraries during the holiday season should therefore compare total door-to-door times rather than headline fares alone.
