We will arrive in Changsha on 11 July and would like to travel by train to Guilin on 14 July (and before Changsha we will be in Beijing and then Chengdu). How many days prior to travel can we get train tickets for the 14 July trip to Guilin? And where is the best place to try to obtain them? Is there an advantage to going a travel agent in China, compared to trying to purchase them ourselves (perhaps at the Changsha train station)? We will need 5 tickets total.

Thank you, once again, for your helpful information!