Chinese intercity rail behaves nothing like flying. There is no check-in desk, no baggage hold and no carousel: you walk your suitcase through security, up to the platform, onto the train and into the rack above your seat. Everything you packed is your problem for the whole journey.
That single structural fact does more to shape a China trip than any packing list, and it argues for one bag you can lift over your head rather than the largest case your airline allows.
The limits, and how they are actually applied#
| Limit | High-speed trains | Conventional trains |
|---|---|---|
| Weight, per adult | 20 kg | 20 kg |
| Weight, per child | 10 kg | 10 kg |
| Single item, L + W + H | 130 cm | 160 cm |
Enforcement in practice is light. Staff are watching for prohibited items at the scanner rather than weighing suitcases, and a bag is unlikely to be measured unless it is conspicuously large or you are travelling in a peak holiday period. Where a bag is severely oversized, the usual outcome is a small excess charge rather than refusal.
Sources differ on whether a checked-baggage equivalent exists. A railway consignment service does operate, but it is described as available mainly at stations serving conventional rather than high-speed trains — so treat it as a real option on the slow network and not as something to plan a high-speed itinerary around. On a G-train, assume you carry everything.
What you may not bring is a separate question from how much: the scanner is looking for the same categories as an airport, plus some that surprise people, which is why the power bank rules are worth reading before you pack.
Leaving bags at a station#
Chinese stations expect this, and there are two systems.
Staffed left luggage (行李寄存处, xíngli jìcún chù) works the way it sounds: you hand the bag over, show your passport, and receive a claim ticket. You need both the ticket and the passport to collect, and you pay on collection. Counters sit inside the station building or immediately outside it, generally near the exits or the arrival hall.
Self-service lockers are increasingly common and are operated through a phone rather than a counter — scan, pay, receive a code. They need no passport, and they usually cap storage at somewhere between 24 and 72 hours, after which bags are removed by station management.
Two practical cautions. Storage is normally on the concourse side rather than beyond the ticket gates, so retrieving a bag means leaving the secure area and screening back in — build that into the timing, because the gate closes several minutes before departure regardless of where your suitcase is. And anything you store still passes through the scanner, so the prohibited-items list applies to stored bags too.
The service that collects your bags for you#
China Railway now runs a hands-free luggage service, branded in English as Easy Travel and bookable through the official 12306 app or its WeChat mini-programme.
It began as a pilot at 19 stations on 28 June 2025 — Beijing West, Beijing South, Shanghai Hongqiao, Shanghai, Hangzhou East, Hangzhou, Hefei South, Guangzhou South, Shenzhen North, Changsha South, the Chengdu and Kunming stations, and a run of Yunnan stations including Dali, Lijiang and Xishuangbanna. By 15 January 2026 it covered all seven Beijing railway stations.
Two directions are offered:
- Door to station — staff collect from your address and the bag is waiting on the platform ten minutes before departure, or in a service cabinet thirty minutes before. Book between 4 and 48 hours ahead.
- Station to door — staff take the bag from the arrival platform and deliver it within five hours. Book between 1 and 24 hours ahead.
Beijing's municipal government has published the pricing at ¥68 per piece for the standard service and ¥98 per piece for the platform options, unchanged between the June 2025 launch and the January 2026 update. Check the current figure in the app, since a pilot price is a price that can move.
For a traveller changing cities with heavy bags, or facing a long gap between checkout and a late train, this is a genuinely useful option that almost no English-language guidance mentions yet.
Hotels are still the simplest answer#
Every hotel in China will store your bags before check-in and after checkout, free, without being asked twice. If your onward train leaves in the evening, leave the case at the hotel and collect it on the way to the station rather than paying to store it twice.
That also applies across a whole trip: if you are looping back through a city, most hotels will hold a bag for several days for a returning guest. Ask at the desk rather than assuming, and label the bag.
What this means for what you pack#
- One bag you can lift beats two you can wheel, because you will be lifting it into overhead racks, up station stairs and into the boot of a DiDi.
- Hard cases are awkward in a crowded carriage. Soft-sided bags squash into the rack.
- A daypack is essential, because your main bag may be in a rack several rows away.
- Buy less than you think. The packing list covers the handful of things genuinely worth carrying from home, and almost everything else is cheaper in China.
Everything above is the railway's rulebook. If part of your route is by coach, note that there is no national baggage allowance for buses at all — each operator sets its own, so the numbers on this page do not carry over.
Frequently asked questions#
Is there a baggage allowance on Chinese trains?#
Yes: 20 kg for an adult and 10 kg for a child, with a single item limited to 130 cm for length plus width plus height on high-speed trains and 160 cm on conventional ones. Enforcement is light in practice — staff are looking for prohibited items rather than weighing suitcases.
Do Chinese high-speed trains have a baggage hold?#
No. There is no check-in and no hold: every bag goes through security with you and travels in the carriage, in overhead racks or the larger spaces at the end of each coach. A separate railway consignment service exists but is mainly available at stations serving conventional trains.
Where can I store luggage at a Chinese train station?#
Staffed left-luggage counters, where you show your passport and receive a claim ticket, and self-service lockers operated by phone that need no passport. Both are usually on the concourse side rather than beyond the ticket gates, so allow time to retrieve a bag and clear security again.
Can I get my luggage delivered instead of carrying it?#
Yes, through China Railway's Easy Travel service, booked in the 12306 app. Door-to-station bookings are made 4 to 48 hours ahead and station-to-door 1 to 24 hours ahead. Beijing's government published the price as ¥68 per piece, or ¥98 for platform options, though a pilot price can change.
Will a hotel hold my bags after checkout?#
Yes, free and as a matter of course, both before check-in and after checkout. Many will also hold a bag for several days if you are looping back through the city, which is usually simpler and cheaper than station storage.