How to buy train tickets in China?

Tickets cannot be bought online, so you will need to buy from the station ticket counter, or one of the local ticketing agencies all over town, or pre-book through a recommended Chinese train ticketing agency as shown here.  You'll often find tickets for the high-speed trains available even on the day of travel, as there is lots of capacity and prices are high by Chinese standards.  Don't leave it until the last minute to buy a ticket, as the trains are often busy - A typical report said "I went to Beijing ticket office on Wednesday to buy Beijing-Shanghai tickets for the following Saturday.  The first 3 departures from Beijing were full, but there were tickets available for later trains."  There are self-service ticket machines at major stations with an English language facility, but they cannot be used by visitors as they only accept Chinese citizen ID cards.