Type the passport name, not the name you use

12306 asks for the passport, and the station gate checks that same document. Use the name order printed on the photo page. A middle name you usually skip still belongs on the ticket if it is on the passport.

If the English site rejects the check, the Hunan government restatement of the railway rules says a station window can verify the passport in person. That is a reason to arrive with time, not a reason to buy the seat on a reseller's site.

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