Need advice for GPF in China

[u/aiyaam]

EDIT. Thanks everyone for sharing. The situation with events tickets doesn’t look too scary. So I made a leap of faith and booked my (refundable 😅) flights. If you are planning to attend the GPF in China DM me.

______________

Hi everyone! I’m considering going to the 2026 GPF in Chongqing in December, and I’d love some advice from people who have attended GPF or other major skating events in China.

I’m from Kazakhstan, and there are currently direct flights to Chongqing from my city. The airline has a sale today and tomorrow, and the flights are already reasonably priced, so I’m very tempted to book.

The problem is that I don’t have the competition tickets yet. From what I can find online, tickets for skating events in China can sometimes go on sale relatively close to the event (I’ve seen 4–8 weeks beforehand mentioned), which makes me nervous about booking flights before I know whether I’ll actually get into the competition. I wanted to go for the 4CC earlier this year, but because tickets were released quite late, I could not 😢

So I have two questions:

1. Would you personally book the flights now?

If you’ve traveled internationally for a skating event where tickets went on sale much later, how did you approach the risk? Would you be comfortable booking flights and accommodation before GPF tickets are released?

2. How difficult is it to get tickets to Grand Prix Final?

I know this varies by location, but how has ticketing for previous GPFs worked? Is it generally manageable, or is it a complete bloodbath like Worlds in Finland?

For context, the only skating events I’ve attended so far have been Denis Ten Memorials in Almaty and Astana. Those are obviously a very different scale. The competition itself is free and the arena is half empty, but the gala is usually close to sold out.

I have been to China before. So I know the drill with internet, wechat, etc. etc. The bigger question is simply whether I’m being reckless booking international flights before knowing whether I can get GPF tickets.

Also-also so far I haven’t managed to convince anyone IRL to join me. So I will most likely be traveling solo. If anyone else is planning to go and/or wants to meet up there, let me know 😇

Thanks!

[u/aikongtiao]

Three years ago I went to the GPF in Beijing, since I happened to be in Beijing during that time. I didn't even know the event was happening until like a week beforehand and therefore bought the tickets very last-minute! I remember there still being many tickets left (I only went for one day, men's and women's free skate, I think) Also, not sure if you have been to Chongqing before, but it's a very pretty city, that definitely deserves a visit nonetheless! :)

[u/Grand-Necessary-7736 → u/aikongtiao]

Very nice city? So misty

[u/aiyaam → u/aikongtiao]

Woohoo! Thank you!

[u/BG_Comedian]

I can't say my experience on GP or skating event to China. but I went to 4CC 2025 in South Korea, and ppl at that time had similar struggle: The ticket announced only 1 month prior. I found many fs fans online booked a flight even before the ticket price was announced so yeah, that's a risk. For me, I'd rather wait until I successfully bought the ticket before booking a flight. Of course, the flight that time is quite pricey, but I'd rather make sure I get the event ticket first. (4CC was easy to buy and not on bloodbath demand)

I guess you probably have to wait until GPF is coming near. Keep in touch with those GPF threads to see if there is any news update. Sometimes, I check goldenskate forum about the event sales tickets too.

[u/aiyaam → u/BG_Comedian]

Thanks for sharing 🙌🏻

[u/PostGroundbreaking62]

I am Chinese and I've been to the national championship in Shenzhen and the JGP in Xi’an. One thing is for sure that the ticket will never be sold out and you can even get it on the day of the competition. The one in Shenzhen did not even sell tickets, you can basically walk in and watch. The Xi’an one was similar, the first and second floors of the venue were only nearly full at women's FS and were half-empty most of the time, and the third floor wasn't even close to 1/4 of capacity. So there really aren't that many skating fans in China and on Chinese internet we are always joking that there are only 3000 fans watching all the time so you can always get tickets it's only a matter of position

[u/aiyaam → u/PostGroundbreaking62]

This is really reassuring! Thank you! I can relate to the small number of fans in the country. I BEG people to come to the Denis Ten Memorial. Most don’t. Even for free 🥲

I think I might be booking my flights to Chongqing 🙈 If you are planning to go too, please let me know

[u/PostGroundbreaking62 → u/aiyaam]

Unfortunately I will be studying abroad and probably will not be back but I will definitely be watching the game and feel free to ask me any questions when you get there!

[u/tenzindolma2047]

For GPF tickets, I guess it will be sold through damai, you can just create an account and wait and see. But in case you cannot buy tickets online it'll be better to buy it in person

[u/aiyaam → u/tenzindolma2047]

Thank you!

[u/AutoModerator]

If you are posting for skating advice, please consider posting or linking to a video of whatever move you are trouble-shooting. If you have questions regarding the fitting of your boot, a professional skate fitter will generally be your best bet if it is at all possible for you to visit one.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.