"How can I get a train ticket during the busy season around the Spring Festival?" a newspaper reporter once asked a person
in the know, who was in a small restaurant near the Beijing Railway Station. "Who knows? But anyway, it will be difficult to buy one from the station." The man replied, smiling s1yly. "If you really want to get a ticket... you may come to ask me for help，However, an employee in Beijing Railway Station's information office disagreed with the man's claim. "The tickets for our station are all printed and invoiced. People cannot buy tickets whenthey are sold out."
How, then, are train tickets withheld? It is true that the tickets are all printed at the computer terminals, but due to loopholes in 
management, it is possible for the sales terminals to withhold tickets to sell them wholesale, rather than retail, to reap huge profits. As the terminals are handled by many different operators. It is difficult to control the situation.
There are all sorts of channels to obtain train tickets. Some large institutes or units appoint special people to get tickets for
their staff members. Many travel services, hotels, guesthouses and offices serve as agents that buy tickets for their customers.
In addition, some scalpers try to control tickets by every possible means to resell them at huge profits. As train tickets are
divided up by these channels beforehand, only a small number of tickets are available for retail during the annual peak transport
period during Spring Festival.
