Day trips from Shanghai by train: Suzhou, Hangzhou and the water towns

The short answer. Suzhou and Hangzhou are both about an hour or less from Shanghai by high-speed train, and you can book on the English version of China’s railway app, 12306, using your passport. Tickets go on sale 15 days before travel, so you can plan a day trip a couple of weeks ahead. Check which of Shanghai’s four main stations your train leaves from, and have your passport in your hand at the gate. The classic water towns are mostly reached by metro, bus or car rather than by train.

How do I book a train ticket?

Real-name rules apply: every ticket is tied to an identity document, and for you that is your passport. There are three ways to buy.

The 12306 app or website, set to English. Register, select passport as the ID type and enter your details exactly as they appear on the photo page. Shanghai’s government guide says to download the app, register, set the language to English, search by station and date, enter the passenger details, choose seats and pay.
A station ticket window. Your passport is all you need at a service window, according to the same guide. Authorised agencies and automatic ticket machines are also listed as channels.
The 12306 hotline, which is also listed as an official channel.

The railway says it does not handle ticketing problems from other websites, so if you use a third-party booking service, a problem with the ticket is a matter between you and that service.

Do the identity check before you travel. You cannot buy a ticket until your own verification is complete. The system tries to verify you automatically after registration. If that fails you can upload a photo of your passport, which 12306’s own verification notice lists as an option for foreign passport holders; the Beijing foreign affairs office’s guide says review usually takes three to five working days. Enter your name in English, in the order it appears in the passport. You can also verify in person with your passport at a ticket counter. Foreign bank cards and mobile payment apps are accepted for payment, according to the Ministry of Commerce guide republished by the Hunan government. See how to pay in Shanghai for the app side.

How far ahead can I buy?

12306’s help centre states that the advance-sale period for online and station-window tickets is 15 days, counting the day itself. It adds that individual railway bureaus may adjust it temporarily, so watch for station notices. China State Railway Group set the 15-day period from 1 June 2022, and 2024 reports confirm it still applied then. If the date matters, such as a public holiday, book as soon as your date comes into the window.

If your plans change, the Shanghai guide says you can change a ticket once, free of charge more than 48 hours before departure. Later changes cost a percentage of the fare, and there are rules about the arrival station.

Which station do I go to?

Shanghai has several main railway stations, and the city’s guide says to double-check the station name on your ticket before you set off. Metro access for each, from the same guide:

Station	Where	Metro lines
Shanghai Hongqiao	Shengui Road, Minhang	2, 10, 17
Shanghai Railway Station	Moling Road, Jing’an	1, 3, 4
Shanghai South	Humin Road, Xuhui	1, 3, 15
Shanghai West	Taopu Road, Putuo	11, 15

The app tells you the departure station for the train you choose, and the ticket repeats it. Compare the station name on the ticket with the sign before you go in.

Journey times on official pages, for planning only:

Suzhou: about 25 to 30 minutes by high-speed rail, says the Shanghai government’s Jiangsu travel guide.
Hangzhou: about 45 to 60 minutes by high-speed rail, says the Shanghai government’s Zhejiang guide.
The newer Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou line, opened on 26 December 2024, starts at Hongqiao and stops at Suzhou South about 26 minutes later (27 minutes on the timetable in force from 5 January 2025, per the Suzhou government); the full run to Huzhou takes 55 minutes.

Look at the actual train in the app for the time on the day.

What happens at the station?

Tickets are mainly electronic and you do not need paper to board. At the automatic gates or the manual inspection gates, swipe your passport or foreign permanent residence card. The ID you swipe must be the one you bought the ticket with. If you have completed real-name verification in the app, you may be able to board without showing your passport in person, but do not rely on that on your first trip.

12306 does not publish one national cut-off. It says each station stops ticket checks some time before departure, because of the walk between the entrance, the gate and the platform, and tells passengers to watch the station’s own notice and to bring the original ID used to buy the ticket. Treat the gates as a place to be early rather than on time: allow time to find the right station entrance, get through the security check, and locate your platform from the departure board.

请问去苏州的检票口在哪里？ Qǐngwèn qù Sūzhōu de jiǎnpiàokǒu zài nǎlǐ? (Excuse me, where is the ticket gate for Suzhou?)

Use the same sentence with another city name. Staff at the station information desk are the best people to ask.

How do I reach the water towns?

Water towns are not on the high-speed network, and the official pages are thin, so plan on a bus, metro or car and check each leg.

Zhujiajiao, inside Shanghai. Shanghai Metro Line 17 runs to Zhujiajiao station. By car it is about 48 km from downtown, roughly 70 minutes, according to the Shanghai government’s guide to Qingpu’s water towns. The same page also names Jinze, Liantang and Zhangyan as nearby old towns. From the station to the old town, the Zhujiajiao town government said in 2022 that shuttle bus 1510 links Metro Line 17 with the old town and had been upgraded to a tourist line. That page is from 2022, so confirm the bus is still running. Qingpu’s 2025 guide gives the old town’s address as 555 Kezhiyuan Road (课植园路555号) and lists Line 17, Zhujiajiao station, as the metro route.
Wuzhen, in Zhejiang. The city transport commission lists regular long-distance buses from the Shanghai Intercity Bus Terminal, Hongqiao West Bus Passenger Station and the South Long-distance Bus Station. Booking platforms for these buses often need a mainland Chinese mobile number, so you may have to buy in person at the bus station or by phone.
Suzhou’s own water towns, such as Zhouzhuang and Tongli. No official source was found for the best way to reach them, so they are not covered here. Ask at the Suzhou station information desk, or check a map app that works in China for the current bus route.

If you want to go to Suzhou or Hangzhou by bus instead, the Shanghai government puts the trip at about 1.5 to 2 hours to Suzhou and 2.5 to 3 hours to Hangzhou. The train is faster.

If it doesn’t work

Verification keeps failing. Upload the passport and selfie photos, then wait three to five working days, or take your passport to a ticket window in person.
You cannot get the ticket you want. Try another time, another station, or the bus.
You are at the wrong station. Check the table above for the metro line to the right station.

Small print

Timetables, fares and rules change; the 12306 app is the final authority. Details in this guide come from Shanghai, Beijing and Hunan government pages and China State Railway Group reports listed in the sources. If you need to arrive in Shanghai first, read arriving in Shanghai; for local trips see getting around Shanghai.