During the Chinese New Year period, train tickets in various regions of China have seen a significant drop in prices. Tickets departing from Chongqing have dropped to as low as 1.7 times the regular fare for regular train tickets, while high-speed rail tickets are being sold at 1.9 times the price, like a “bargain deal”. This news quickly became a hot topic on Baidu’s search page on January 23.
According to a report by Upstream News on January 22, during the Chinese New Year period, train ticket prices across multiple cities in China have drastically decreased, reaching even “rock-bottom prices”. In the discounted section of a ticket booking platform, for example, the K4820 train departing from Chongqing West Station at 6:30 AM on January 23, arriving in Huaying City, Guang’an City, Sichuan Province at 7:41 AM, was priced at 2.5 yuan (RMB). Similarly, on January 23, other regular trains with tickets priced under 10 yuan departing from Chongqing include: 4.5 yuan to Qu County, 7.5 yuan to Dazhou, and 8.5 yuan to Xuanhan.
Not only regular train tickets, but even high-speed rail tickets are being sold as low as 1.9 times the price.
For instance, on January 23, a high-speed rail ticket departing from Chongqing to Huaihua only costs 15 yuan at a discounted rate of 1.9 times, while a ticket to Guilin is discounted to 40% off, priced at only 121 yuan, and a ticket to Hangzhou at 3.4 times discount, costing just 298 yuan.
In addition, according to Guangzhou Daily, during the Chinese New Year period, the lowest price for regular train tickets departing from Guangzhou reached unprecedented discounts of up to 80% off. For example, on January 25, the Z4189 train from Changsha to Guangzhou offered hard seat tickets for just 19 yuan after a 50% discount, and high-speed train tickets to Guangzhou South from Chongqing West on the G4615 train were sold at 70% off for second-class seats, priced at only 150 yuan.
From January 14 to 28 before the Chinese New Year, a total of 72 trains from cities such as Changsha, Nanchang, Chengdu, Chongqing, Nanning, and Guiyang heading towards Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, and Zhuhai implemented discounted ticket prices.
After the New Year, from January 29 to February 22, a total of 71 trains departing from Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan to Nanchang, Chengdu, Changsha, Xi’an, Maoming, and Nanning East also offered discounted ticket prices.
To find low-priced tickets, individuals can browse through various ticket purchasing platforms, many of which have dedicated sections for discounted train tickets. Additionally, the official railway website 12306 also displays discounted tickets.
It’s not just train tickets that are seeing discounts; airplane tickets are also being heavily discounted.
According to Upstream News, on January 22, searches on various plane ticket booking platforms revealed many low-priced travel tickets just before the Chinese New Year. From January 22 to 29, one could find tickets priced as low as 200 yuan (base fare) for flights from Chongqing to popular destinations like Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Xi’an, Fuzhou, Zhuhai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Jinan, Hefei, Shijiazhuang, Wuxi, Ningbo, Taiyuan, and other cities.
Not only in Chongqing, but during the New Year holiday period, travelers from major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Nanjing, and others also had access to 200 yuan base fare flight tickets.
In response to these discounted travel opportunities, a Tencent user with the handle d4bvb8h commented: “Demand dictates price, sometimes it’s better to let fate decide, actions speak louder than words.”