Address format in China

[ILikeBigWalls]

I reviewed previous posts concerning address formats for letters and packages coming into China and am left with some confusion about where I should place the postal code.  I was thinking the following might be successful.  

 

To: P.R.CHINA

上海 上海市 杨浦区 200082

四平路1239号 同济大学

Name  专名

 

电话: 131nnnnnnnn

 

Or would it better like this---> 200082 上海 上海市 杨浦区?

[JayXZ]

同济大学 is a big place. You'll have to add more details like department or dormitory building and room #. If the person is a Chinese, I would also add a title like 学生 or 教授 since there are many same-named Chinese.

 

邮编 200082

上海市 杨浦区 四平路1239号

同济大学中文系学生

     姓名 (write this bigger if handwriting)

电话: 131nnnnnnnn (optional)

To: P.R.CHINA

[Shelley]

Shouldn't it be done in descending order from biggest ie china to smallest ie persons name?

[edelweis]

When the letter or package is sent from a country which uses the opposite order, it makes sense to put PR China at the bottom, that's where the post office workers or machines in the sender's country will look for it.

 

Once it's in China it won't matter much, but technically you could add 中国 before 上海市.

 

As to the postcode, postcards and envelopes sold in China usually have 6 little squares for it in the upper left corner, so it would come first as in JayXZ's post above.

However when I send a postcard to China, I just write the postcode in the little squares on the postcards and envelopes sold in France, that's below the address and above the country name.

 

So I would write it like this （moved 学生 around as per JayXZ's suggestion, although actually I never put it on any postcard I sent to students in China...)

 

中国上海市杨浦区

四平路1239号

同济大学中文系

    XYZ 学生 (收）

编码 200082

P.R.CHINA

 

I don't know about the phone number... perhaps write it in smaller characters after the person's name.

[JayXZ]

"学生" should be optional too, it's only needed if the recipient is a Chinese whose name is so common that there could be another person in the same department. In my opinion "邮编" is better than "编码" but the position in edelweis' format is perfect. Phone number can be omitted unless the letter is of paramount importance, but in that case you'll probably send a registered or express mail.

[ILikeBigWalls]

Thank you all.  I will go with the last suggested format, changing the part about 中文系 (not my department) to my dormitory and room number.  However, we are not given individual mailboxes so I guess it will still land at the "mail mall" in the center of campus.  

 

I am planning for one package of paramount importance (eyeglasses) coming from Germany.  I was thinking to ask that it be sent by DHL with all available protections.  I had thought to give the sender a jpeg of the address like the above.  However, I hear that DHL insists on typing in the address and printing a label.  It is doubtful the clerk in Germany will know how to make the Hanzi even if I provide the pinyin.  If they use pinyin then maybe my package never arrives.  Does anyone have experience with shipping small but important packages from Germany to China?

[aone]

OP, you have made thing complicated; wherever you ship package from by DHL, you can simply fill the Express Bill in English and Keep yourself updated with the Tracking NO. 

[Lu]

If the sender is someone you can actually communicate with: send them the Chinese address in pdf and ask them to stick that on the package. That will make things easier for the Chinese mailman.

If you have it sent over DHL and/or the sender is some big company that only communicates via forms: give them the address in pinyin, it should still work. But then the format changes back again:

Firstname Surname

Tongji University, Chinese department

Siping Lu 1239

Yangpu district

Shanghai 200082

PR China