Hand luggage for intra China flights

[Nonna and Papa]

Could someone please tell me what types of carry on luggage people are actually bringing on board the plane for intra China flights?

 

We'll be using China Eastern and Hong Kong Airlines for our flights in China. Hong Kong Airlines specifies one carry on at 15 pounds, and China Eastern limits the one carry on to 11 pounds.

 

How stringent and/or diligent are the airport officials? It looks like our carry on needs to be limited to a small tote bag rather than a wheeled carry on. For those that have flown from city to city, what type of luggage have you carried on board? Thanks.

 

Mary

[Turtles06]

I can only speak from my experience in May 2011 as a traveler on a tour with Viking River Cruises. We had three intra-China flights on this trip, and similarly were told we had a limit of one carry on per person, with a weight limit that was pretty low. I can't recall now exactly what, but it was enough to make people who were posting on Cruise Critic pretty concerned in advance. Those who had completed the trip reported that the limits were not enforced.

 

When we got to China, our Viking guide (native Chinese) said that except on the flight to Hong Kong, where all baggage limits WERE strictly enforced, the carry on rules were NOT enforced, but that if the security officials were in bad mood, they COULD enforce them. We did not travel to Hong Kong, but on our three internal flights, no carry on rules were enforced. People brought on multiple bags, and nothing was weighed. Whether this is still the case, I can't say. Hopefully a more recent traveler can also address this.

 

You might also pose your question on the Viking China thread (in the River Cruising forum), as it is a pretty active thread.

 

Good luck, and have a great trip!

[Chloe1500]

Hi, I traveled within China and Tibet in May on five different flights, and would say that the carry on limit of 11 pounds was not enforced on any of those flights. I carried on a large shoulder tote as well as an oversized painting that I had bought on our first day in Beijing -- kind of our challenge souvenir-- and never had anyone notice it, even though it was rolled up inside a long box and kept upright at my seat.

 

I noticed other travelers carrying on backpacks, shopping bags, and cardboard boxes. No one seemed to be weighing or watching carry on luggage that I could see.

 

That said, all of our checked bags were always weighed at check in and the limit of 44 pounds per person was strictly enforced. If one goes over, there are additional fees imposed.

Edited January 5, 2013 by Chloe1500

[Nonna and Papa]

Turtles and Chloe, thank you for your input. As planned, even though the 11 pound limit doesn't seem to be enforced, we'll carry our tote bags, since a wheeled carry on is close to 10 pounds with nothing in it. That's why I wondered what people actually brought on, since the roll-a-boards are so popular. I had expected that the check in limit would be enforced, as mentioned.

 

Turtles, we have our reservations for Friday dining at the Black Sesame kitchen, and are looking forward to that evening. As a culinarian, my husband is even considering taking the market day and cooking class. We appreciate your tip! We leave in 10 days for our B2B, and then on to China!!

 

Mary

Edited January 5, 2013 by Nonna and Papa

[maryann ns]

My day backpack weighed a fair bit, but it was never checked on the three internal flights we took.

[Nonna and Papa]

Thanks, Maryann! I appreciate the info.

 

Mary

[Turtles06]

 

Turtles, we have our reservations for Friday dining at the Black Sesame kitchen, and are looking forward to that evening. As a culinarian, my husband is even considering taking the market day and cooking class. We appreciate your tip! We leave in 10 days for our B2B, and then on to China!!

 

Mary

 

So happy to hear you'll be dining at BSK! I really think you'll love it. And, of course, I hope you have an awesome trip!!!

 

Happy travels..... and please come back and tell us about your adventures!

[Nonna and Papa]

So happy to hear you'll be dining at BSK! I really think you'll love it. And, of course, I hope you have an awesome trip!!!

 

Happy travels..... and please come back and tell us about your adventures!

 

Will do. Talk to you in March!!:)

 

Mary

[aquidneck1]

So is it everyone's experience that the rules are enforced on the flights to Hong Kong. We will be flying from Guilin to HongKong on Dragonair. Just curious as to whether we have to worry about the 11 lb limit for the carry on.

[petrakae]

Hubby is doing a 3 night 4 day shore excursion from Shanghai - Beijing - Xian - Hong Kong. Nothing has been said about the weight of the carry-on, but after reading the above reports I may have to rethink which carry-on he will use.... Our wheelie is already 4 kilos (8 pounds?):confused: and they say it will be cold weather and that equates to heavier clothing..... Have been very interested in the earlier posts and appreciate the opinions given. Thank you.

[Chloe1500]

What time of year is he planning to travel?

[Capri123]

I just purchased Lojel luggage which is very light..carryon is 4.7 lbs. When they say total weight must not exceed 40lbs on the intra china flights, does that mean the carry on plus the checked cannot exceed 40lbs? What size checked is best?

[id4elizabeth]

Just returned from China and had 5 inside-China flights on different airlines, one from Shanghai to Hong Kong. Not once was our carry-on luggage checked for weight or size. You do have to go through the normal security screening, but no one ever weighed anything, or checked the size. I saw lots of people going on board with several big totes as well as a wheelie and nobody said anything. I should warn you though that there didn't seem to us to be any kind of boarding order (like by row, or class), just a mass free-for-all when they called our flight. So, if you have a lot of hand luggage you may have trouble finding room for it in the over head bins unless you get on quickly - you don't want to be the last onbaord.

 

In contrast, they were VERY strict with the 40 pound check-in luggage requirement. They only weigh your checked luggage however. So we put everything heavy in our carry-on.

 

Hope that helps.

[id4elizabeth]

Oh, forgot one of your questions. For the checked bag, size didn't seem to matter. We had large, but not extra-large wheeled bags. When full, ideally it should weigh just under 40 pounds. No point in having really extra-large bags if filling them puts you over the 40 pound limit. The airlines didn't seem to care about the size, but charged a fortune if you went over 40 pounds - but I do have to admit, one time we came in at 41.5 pounds, and they let us through withoout paying anything extra.

 

The flights are usually full. I don't remember any flight that we took inside China that wasn't packed to the gills.

[Capri123]

Thank you so much for your reply..you answered all my questions!

[TravelMore&More]

It is actually not 40 pounds but rather 20 kilos which is about 44 pounds.

[Capri123]

That's good to know..we'll be gone 17days...not sure how I can keep it down in weight. any suggestions? We're going in October..

[TravelMore&More]

That's good to know..we'll be gone 17days...not sure how I can keep it down in weight. any suggestions? We're going in October..

 

Should be easy. I go for a month with 12-13kg. Before packing, put all you stuff on the bed. Then put half of it back in your drawers. Even then you will still have too much.

Remember that you can wash clothes on the road. And leave space for purchases.

[Philob]

Should be easy. I go for a month with 12-13kg. Before packing, put all you stuff on the bed. Then put half of it back in your drawers. Even then you will still have too much.

Remember that you can wash clothes on the road. And leave space for purchases.

 

The above, plus wash n dry undies. Don't be afraid to wear the same things 2-3 times, remember, except for your traveling companions you'll probably never see anyone from the ship ever again ;)

[Capri123]

Thanks everyone, this is a great site!

[Trend]

We were in China traveling to many places and flights in sept. And on one flight from Beijing they let us through with our carry on. But while waiting for the flight went around to several people who had the wheeled carry on and took them from them to be checked. They pack their planes up full so space is limited. Never had my carry on weighed at any of the airports and I used different carriers and travel China for business with my husband often.

We do travel light as the other person said no one care if you repeat an out fit, the cities are not that clean so leave good things at home bring wash and wear and things that can roll up. We do two weeks with just carry on for international.

[Capri123]

Thanks for the info. I just ordered "wash & dry underwear". Expensive, so I'm going to try them out. I always bring so much underwear!

[Trend]

They do a great job unless you are at a three star lodging. It still works out cheaper than buying new or over charged luggage. As a woman I bring walking shoes for touring and a nicer pair of ballet flats for dinner as we like to walk around after dinner. I try to coordinate so a black pair does with all outfits and things are interchangeable. Just bring enough toothpaste as you do not want to buy theirs also gastroilite type meds and CIPRO comes in handy. DH needed it this year. Remember if it goes in your mouth by hand wash those hands and if it goes in your mouth it should be cooked. You will be fine with those rules!

[Capri123]

Always great to receive good suggestions..

[Floridiana]

Good advice here!

 

Trend,

What is CIPRO? Ciprofloxacin? Is there a particular reason to take an antibiotic to China? We'll probably have a small pharmacy in our suitcase for 29 days! lol

 

I will take my small harmless looking city backpack instead of the wheely.