At 00:00 on October 25, 2026, every airline in China resets its timetable. Flight numbers change, departure times shift, some routes close until spring, and a few flights move from one airport in a city to the other. If you booked a domestic flight for late October before mid-October, the booking in your inbox may no longer match the aircraft you board.
That is the most useful thing to know about flying inside China this month. The rest of this guide covers what a foreign traveler actually needs: fly or train, booking on a passport, which of a city’s two airports you leave from, what the fare includes, and the three security rules that catch visitors out.
China runs two aviation seasons a year on the IATA calendar: summer from the last Sunday of March, winter from the last Sunday of October. The 2026/27 winter-spring season begins at 00:00 on October 25, 2026 and runs to March 27, 2027 — 22 weeks, 154 days. Every carrier refiles its slots, so the schedule you see on October 24 is not the one you fly on October 26.
For scale, the 2025/26 winter season was approved at 210 carriers and 119,500 weekly flights, about 98,000 of them domestic, with 586 new domestic routes. The CAAC publishes each new season’s totals around the switch date, after airlines have loaded their own additions.
What moves: departure times, frequencies (winter adds ski, Hainan and far-west services and drops summer mountain routes), the airport within a two-airport city, and sometimes the aircraft type — which invalidates the seat you paid to select.
Open your booking 72 hours before departure and confirm date, time, three-letter airport code and terminal — then again on the morning of the flight. If you booked through an agency, check the airline’s own site with your six-character reference; the airline’s version governs.
The comparison is not flight time against train time, it is city center to city center. Budget roughly four hours of overhead for a domestic flight — airport transfer, arrival buffer, security, transfer in — against about 45 minutes at each end for high-speed rail.
| Route | Train (city to city) | Flight (door to door) | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beijing – Shanghai | ~4h20m | 2h15m in the air + ~4h overhead | Train |
| Beijing – Xi’an | ~4h30m | 2h in the air + overhead | Train, unless connecting to a flight |
| Beijing – Chengdu | ~7h30m | ~3h in the air | Fly |
| Chengdu – Lhasa | ~10h by rail | ~2h20m | Fly |
Simple rule: train under five hours, fly over six. In between, it depends how far the airports are from where you are. For the rail side, see our high-speed rail guide for foreigners.
You do not need a Chinese ID card, phone number or bank account to fly domestically. The passport you entered on is the document the system is built around.
Name exactly as in the passport machine-readable zone (family name, then all given names); passport number and nationality, both transmitted to the airline and to airport security; date of birth, which sets child and infant fares; a contact number that receives SMS abroad or an email you check, because that is where schedule changes go; and the fare family, since the cheapest bucket may exclude checked baggage and be non-refundable.
Keep the airline’s six-character booking reference (PNR), not just the agency order number — the counter can only find you by PNR or passport.
Fares are cheap and volatile. Trip.com route pages on 27 September 2026 showed Beijing–Shanghai from US$71, Beijing–Chengdu from US$71, Shanghai–Guangzhou from US$55 and Shanghai–Sanya from US$78. Prices spike around Chinese New Year, May Day, Mid-Autumn and National Day; otherwise two to four weeks out is enough.
Chinese domestic aviation is real-name. CAAC passenger-services guidance lists a valid passport among accepted documents and requires the passenger to use the same document to buy the ticket, check in and clear security — not a driving licence, not a photo on your phone.
English articles saying domestic flights require an ID card and not a passport describe a 2017 rule about Chinese residents. It does not apply to you. If your name is entered wrongly, fix it before the airport: airlines can usually correct a spelling error, but cannot board a passenger whose document does not match.
Flights to Lhasa and Nyingchi are handled differently. China Southern’s published notice says self-service booking for these destinations is written for Chinese citizen ID holders, and that anyone holding another document must go to a China Southern ticket office so Tibet entry documents can be verified and the ticket issued there. Foreign travelers need a Tibet Travel Permit from a licensed agency in any case — see our Tibet guide before booking.
Search results group flights by city, and in China a city can have two airports an hour and a half apart. Always read the three-letter code.
| City | Airports | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Beijing | PEK Capital · PKX Daxing | PEK is about 25 km northeast of the center, PKX about 46 km south. Not interchangeable: a transfer between them is a 1.5–2 hour road trip. |
| Shanghai | PVG Pudong · SHA Hongqiao | PVG sits far east of the city; SHA is close in and handles many domestic trunk routes. Hongqiao also connects to the main rail station. |
| Chengdu | TFU Tianfu · CTU Shuangliu | TFU is the newer hub and takes most international and long domestic flights; CTU still handles plenty of regional traffic. |
| Guangzhou | CAN Baiyun | Single airport, with metro and intercity rail in the terminal complex. |
Never self-transfer between PEK and PKX, or PVG and SHA, on separate tickets with less than four hours between flights. If you arrive internationally and continue domestically, check that both legs use the same airport before you buy.
Domestic allowances are lower than long-haul international ones, and low-cost carriers sell baggage separately. The allowance on your booking confirmation applies — not a generic chart, and not the international allowance you may know from the same airline.
| Airline | Checked, economy | Checked, business / first | Carry-on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air China | 20 kg | 30 kg / 40 kg | 5 kg, 1 bag |
| China Eastern | 20 kg | 30 kg / 40 kg | up to 8 kg |
| China Southern | 20 kg | 30 kg / 40 kg | up to 8 kg |
| Hainan Airlines | 20 kg | 30 kg | 7 kg |
| Xiamen Airlines | 20 kg | 30 kg / 40 kg | up to 8 kg |
| Spring Airlines (LCC) | None on base fares | — | 7 kg, 20×30×40 cm |
| 9 Air (LCC) | None on base fares | — | 7 kg, 20×30×40 cm |
What matters more than the table:
Carrying a lot of shopping? Our luggage and customs guide covers what you can take out, and the left-luggage guide covers storing bags between cities.
Domestic security is stricter than in Europe or North America in three ways, and all three catch experienced travelers.
Liquids are broadly barred from carry-on, with an exception for toiletries needed for the trip. Cosmetics must be in containers of no more than 100 ml, one of each type, and may be opened for inspection; toothpaste and shaving cream are capped at one tube of 100 g each. It is container size that counts, not contents. Buy water after security.
Lighters and matches are prohibited entirely — not in your pocket, not in carry-on, not in checked baggage — along with fire strikers and self-heating meal packs. Carrying them through security is not just a confiscation matter; it can bring a fine or detention. If you smoke, buy a lighter after you land.
Since June 28, 2025, the CAAC prohibits domestic passengers from carrying power banks without a clear CCC (China Compulsory Certification) mark, with unclear marks, or from recalled models and batches. The notice followed a rise in lithium-battery fire incidents, several manufacturer recalls and regulators suspending certifications.
In practice: power banks go in carry-on only, never checked, and capacity limits still apply — up to 100 Wh without approval, 100–160 Wh with airline approval, above 160 Wh prohibited. An unmarked no-name unit will likely be confiscated, with no argument available. Spare lithium batteries, e-cigarettes, medication and valuables also belong in the cabin; tools and sharps go in the hold.
Cutoffs vary by airport, not just airline. China Eastern publishes a per-airport table: at Shanghai Pudong its domestic counters close 40 minutes before departure, while many other airports use 45 minutes. Gates close 15 minutes before departure, or 20 minutes at remote stands where you are bussed to the aircraft. Being in the terminal is not being at the gate.
Arrive two hours ahead with bags, 90 minutes without, and add 30–60 minutes at PEK, PKX, PVG or CAN in holiday periods. Online check-in is unreliable for foreign passports — document verification, code-shares and airport rules can still send you to a desk — so plan on the desk and allow 20–30 minutes for security and the walk.
Arriving internationally and continuing on a separate domestic ticket means immigration, baggage claim, customs, then a terminal or airport change and a fresh check-in — three hours minimum at the same airport, longer across airports. Separate tickets carry no protection: if the first flight is late, the second is simply missed.
Two lines on a domestic ticket are not the airline’s price. The civil aviation development fund (民航发展基金) is CNY 50 per passenger per domestic flight (CNY 70 international and regional) — the old airport construction fee under a new name, levied under 财综〔2012〕17号. It is charged per flight: two flight numbers pay twice, one flight number with a technical stop pays once. The fuel surcharge (燃油附加费) moves with jet fuel prices, so treat any figure online as indicative.
Children aged 2–11 pay 50% of the adult full fare, half the fuel surcharge and no development fund; infants under 2 without a seat pay 10%. Because child fares are based on the full fare, a discounted adult ticket can be cheaper — compare both.
Winter brings fog in the north and east, snow in the northeast and Xinjiang, and the tail of typhoon season in the south. Carriers handle disruption competently but communicate in Chinese first, and app notifications lag the airport board.
More on refunds and rebooking in our disruption and reroute guide.
Staff at international terminals usually speak some English; domestic counters and security often do not. These do the most work:
| Chinese | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 机场 | jīchǎng | airport |
| 航站楼 | hángzhànlóu | terminal |
| 值机 | zhíjī | check-in |
| 登机口 | dēngjīkǒu | boarding gate |
| 行李托运 | xíngli tuōyùn | checked baggage |
| 随身行李 | suíshēn xíngli | carry-on baggage |
| 延误 / 取消 | yánwù / qǔxiāo | delayed / cancelled |
| 中转 | zhōngzhuǎn | transfer / connection |
Two sentences worth memorizing: “Wǒ de hángbān yánwù le ma?” (我的航班延误了吗? — is my flight delayed?) and “Qǐng bāng wǒ gǎiqiān.” (请帮我改签 — please rebook me).
Yes. Domestic air travel is about identity documents, not visas — your passport is the document, and ordinary destinations need no extra permit. The exception is the 240-hour visa-free transit policy, which confines you to a defined travel area; check the permitted region before booking a cross-country flight. Our 240-hour transit guide sets out the geography.
No number is required, though one receiving SMS makes schedule-change notices reliable and helps with ride-hailing. Online check-in sometimes works, but document checks and code-shares can still send you to a staffed counter — treat it as a bonus, not a plan.
No, not on separate tickets, and not comfortably on one ticket at a large hub. Domestic-to-domestic at the same terminal with no bag can work in 90 minutes; anything involving baggage, a terminal change or an international arrival needs three hours or more.
Related guides: arriving at a Chinese airport, high-speed rail for foreigners, new rail lines in 2026, sleeper and night trains, disruption and rerouting, luggage and customs, payments, China in winter, Harbin Ice Festival, ski resorts. City guides: Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Xi’an.
Last updated: October 19, 2026. Sources: CAAC notice banning power banks without CCC markings, with unclear markings or from recalled batches (effective June 28, 2025); CAAC passenger-services guidance on valid boarding documents; CAAC 2025/26 winter season release (October 24, 2025); CAAC reply on the civil aviation development fund (财综〔2012〕17号); China Eastern baggage and cut-off tables; TravelChinaGuide baggage comparison; Trip.com route data (September 27, 2026); China Southern Tibet booking notice. Fares and allowances change — confirm with the airline.