Carry on luggage restrictions

[Madot]

I've gone to all the official sites and if taken at their literal word, about the only thing you can carry in your hand luggage is a pair of slippers and a book. (Yes, laptops and electronic devices are also 'carry on'.)

My questions are two: first of all, are lipstick, mascara or face make-up (foundation) considered 'gel' and hence prohibited except in tiny quantities in the hand luggage?

Secondly-- I was thinking of bringing over some Italian spices (bay leaves, oregano, fennel seeds) for the rare times I'm hanging out for something home-made. Although possibly available in Beijing, I'm sure I won't be able to find them in Zhengzhou. Are you allowed to do that, assuming the spices are in sealed commercial packets?

In case it is relevant, I'm flying out of Sydney Airport on China Southern Air.

Mado

[skylee]

are lipstick, mascara or face make-up (foundation) considered 'gel' and hence prohibited except in tiny quantities in the hand luggage?

Lipstick is not, unless it is in the form of lipgloss, i.e. liquid. Powder foundation is not, but liquid foundation obviously is.

I think it's better to take their words literally. Once at the airport in Taiyuan, Shanxi, the airport official opened and sniffed at all the tubes / bottles / contact lense container I had in that small clear plastic bag of my carry-on luggage (which was the only luggage I had).

[imron]

I don't think anyone at Chinese customs will care about herbs and things, but put them in your checked-in luggage rather than your carry-on as you wouldn't want them to be confiscated on a whim when going through the security scanners at the Australian airport (or any airport where you have a connecting flight).

[Don_Horhe]

Yes, definitely put spices in your check-in luggage, as I've had a couple of friends get into some trouble and had their spices confiscated.

I also have a hand luggage question. My wushu club back home asked me to bring a few waxwood staffs. I went to 5 different places and they all said they can't ship it over, I'll have to carry them myself. Now, assuming that I'll have a backpack, will the staffs count as a second item and will they even allow a "weapon" on the plane, even though it's just wood?

[Madot]

Re: the make-up, I was wondering about 'pancake' make-up. It doesn't pour like a gel but it definitely isn't a solid and also mascara. I've heard differing opinions on both of those.

Re: spices-- Thanks so much for that. I think I'll tape them to the inside of the cover of a small cookbook I wrote and which I'll bring ostensibly to teach a Chinese friend of mine how to do some Western cooking. I'm young looking for my age, but i'm 62. How many 62 year old grandmas try to smuggle in 'drugs' (like oregano!) :-)

One further question if I can-- I've heard that China Southern Air is fairly generous when it conmes to the weight of checked in luggage. Since I'll be staying nearly 4 months, that will be an issue. Does anyone have any experience about it?

Mado

[imron]

No airline is generous when it comes to weight allowances. You'll get 20kg as standard, and if you're under 25kg they may not fine you depending on how early you check-in and how full the flight is.

@Don_Horhe. I often travel back with swords and the like, and the way to do it is pack them up yourself in cardboard (or some other material) and then check them in as oversize luggage. Basically it counts as your checked-in luggage but you have to take it/pick it up from a special counter after checking-in. They may or may not count this towards your luggage allowance total.

[Don_Horhe]

I see... Thanks!

[skylee]

Re: the make-up, I was wondering about 'pancake' make-up. It doesn't pour like a gel but it definitely isn't a solid and also mascara. I've heard differing opinions on both of those.

I wouldn't bring them if they are not solid. But then, really, it seems that hardly anyone really cares about these toileteries in the HK airport. But at Heathrow and Osaka/Tokyo, people seem to be a lot more serious about it.

[Lu]

Apparently it also depends on whether you are flying to/from a western airport. I could bring a bottle of water from Taipei to Bangkok (by accident), but not from Bangkok to Amsterdam.

Tip from a friend who always manages to carry large amounts of stuff in her carry-on luggage: when checking in, leave the heavy stuff with a friend away from the desk, bring only your check-in luggage and a small handbag. When bringing the carry-on luggage onto the plane, carry it as if it is light. They never actually weigh it.

Tip from me: you're allowed a laptop in a laptop bag on top of the normal carry-on luggage. Put some heavy stuff (dictionaries) in the bag with the laptop.

Tip from an airlines person when I was carrying too much check-in luggage: if you explain in advance that you're going far away for a very long time, the airline can give you some more luggage allowance.

[peekay]

China Southern allows an additional 10kg (for 30kg total) in economy class for certain international routes, including Sydney - Guangzhou. The domestic allowance is 20kg, so be sure to get the allowance approved for the entire route if you have domestic connecting flights in China. I would call China Southern's Sydney office in advance to confirm your baggage allowance.

In general, Chinese airlines are much less generous than their western counterparts when it comes to luggage allowances. The check-in agent may or may not have the ability to give you slack if you're over the limit (depends on the airline, your elite status, even the airport, etc.) In that case, plan on paying excess luggage fees, which can be very steep. Find out from the airline beforehand how much it would cost.

If you're going to be significantly over the limit, then it's much cheaper to send the excess as "unaccompanied baggage" through special courier agencies. Basically these agencies buy bulk "low-priority" cargo space on airliners, just for this purpose.

At some airports, carry-on bags (including laptop & camera bags) are often weighed. I haven't seen this practice outside of China, but last time I flew out of Shanghai, the security guards near the security-check area had a scale, and they were screening passengers with heavy-looking carry-ons. So I wouldn't overload carry-ons, at least on Chinese connecting or domestic flights.

[Gaogao]

When I flew from Beijing to Qingdao, it was hard to keep the 20 kg limit, since my original luggage was nearly 20 kg and I´d bought some books. But I put all the heavy books in the carry-on and nobody cared how heavy it is. Then I did the same back to Budapest from Beijing, with Hainan Airlines. My luggage allowance was 30 kg, plus 10 kg carry-on and you can have your laptop plus to these. They did not really care, when checking in, there was a guy standing with some stickers for your carry-ons and if I had asked 5 from him, he would have probably given me 5.... I may fly again, this time with a laptop and since I know I can´t leave bookshops with empty hands, I´ve bought a huge laptop bag with extra big pockets, so that I could pack in the books that don´t fit in. But of course, I would be happy if I could stay withing the frame of limits, I would not want to pay or get punished or something. But it may be true, that the Chinese may not care as much about the weight of your luggage as the Australian, for instance, since European, American and Australian airlines seem to be pretty strict (I have never flew with any of them, yet).

[jbradfor]

I don't think anyone at Chinese customs will care about herbs and things

They might care deeply, as they might count as agricultural products. If they are in "official" jars and sealed, that would probably be OK. But you put them into little plastic pouches, then I'm less certain.

[imron]

They might care if they've decided today is crack down on imported herbs day so let's make an example of someone, but I seriously doubt anyone will even check. In my experience Chinese customs is incredibly lax compared to other countries.

[Don_Horhe]

A friend's birth-control pills were taken out of her check-in luggage without her even knowing, along with some other cosmetic products that she had taken along.

[skylee]

"taken out"? Did you mean they were stolen?

[Gaogao]

A friend's birth-control pills were taken out of her check-in luggage without her even knowing, along with some other cosmetic products that she had taken along.

Wow, I would also be interested to know how they took it away from her! I was wondering a long time whether birth-control pills are allowed to be taken in, as well as how much can you take with yourself if you go for let´s say a year? Or is it allowed to be sent by post from home?

[leeyah]

At some airports, carry-on bags (including laptop & camera bags) are often weighed. I haven't seen this practice outside of China, but last time I flew out of Shanghai, the security guards near the security-check area had a scale, and they were screening passengers with heavy-looking carry-ons

Yes, the Shanghainese can be very strict to the point of being rude. Several times I've carried up to 12 kg of dictionaries/books in my backpack and a middle-sized handbag (+ small handbag, total 3) as carry-on luggage and never had any problems with other airports, quite the opposite: at Baiyun (Guangzhou) the staff at check-in were more than just nice, they ignored it completely and even allowed 5 kg overweight (more books) in my touyun luggage, with a smile, and I just happened to be the last passenger to check in. But Hongqiao was different in every way, from arrogance in basic communication to strict control of carry-on items, and the fact that I'm a charming person who can speak Chinese didn't seem to impress them at all

A friend's birth-control pills were taken out of her check-in luggage without her even knowing, along with some other cosmetic products that she had taken along.

This is bad. I usually take any pills out of their original package and put them in my make-up bag, or inside the pockets of my backpack/handbag so they are less conspicuous. As for liquids, only once I had a bottle of facial toner (150ml) confiscated and I was really mad because it was rather expensive. Other small bottles of toiletries and stuff were tolerated so long as they they didn't exceed 100ml, and no one ever bothered to check the contents of these. And yes, I also carried some Italian herbs in original bags, quite fragrant too, and never had problems with it.

Of course you should follow the rules, but in my experience much depends on your appearance and the way you communicate. If you are cool and natural, things may turn out better than you expect. (Except in Shanghai, of course ). Oh, and while I'm at it: a nice thing happened to me in January in Beijing, the woman at the scanner control waited until I had (leisurely) finished my bottle of water before she let other passengers go through.

(Yes, I ღ China!) :D:D

[Don_Horhe]

They opened her suitcase in front of her because the customs dog had smelled something strange. In that case I approve of opening the suitcase, but when they see it's nothing more than birth-control pills, they should've just let her go.