Luggage, laundry and logistics on a multi-city China trip: how to travel light between Shanghai, Beijing and Xi'an
The practical layer of a two-week China route: how much luggage the trains and the car can take, carry-on versus checked on the Melbourne flight, hotel laundry and the laundromat apps, forwarding bags between cities, what to buy in China instead of packing, power and chargers, the one bag that goes to the summit at Huangshan, and a packing split that works for families and for business.
A Shanghai, Beijing and Xi’an trip moves three or four times in two weeks, on high-speed trains where you carry everything on, in cars with a boot that fits a family’s bags only if the family has been sensible, and through hotels that will wash anything overnight. The logistics are easy if you know the few rules and painful if you do not. This is the layer under the itineraries.
The luggage rules that matter
- High-speed trains: no checked baggage; you carry it on, lift it into an overhead rack (cabin-bag size) or stand it in the space at the carriage end (full-size suitcase, first come first served). Two medium bags per person is comfortable; three large cases for a family is a struggle up the escalator. The train guide has the detail.
- Private cars: a seven-seat MPV takes four people and four medium suitcases, or six people and hand luggage; tell us the bag count and we size the car.
- Domestic flights: 20 kg checked in economy as a rule, with strict cabin limits and the usual liquid rules.
- The Melbourne flight: one or two 23 kg bags depending on the fare; the flights guide says to check before buying.
- Hotels hold bags before check-in and after check-out, every one of them, and will forward bags by courier between cities for a modest fee if asked (common between Shanghai and Beijing for people taking the train with only a small bag).
The target: one medium case and one day bag per adult, one case between two children. Everything below is about hitting it.
Laundry: the thing that halves the suitcase
Every hotel of three stars and above offers laundry: a bag in the wardrobe, a price list, back the next day (same day if in by 9 am), charged per piece and cheap by Australian standards. Over a two-week trip two hotel-laundry days replace half a suitcase of clothes.
Cheaper still: self-service laundromats are common in Shanghai and Beijing (look for 洗衣, often in apartment compounds and near universities), run through Alipay or WeChat mini programs, with English on the newer machines, and a wash-and-dry cycle costs a few dollars. Some hotels have a guest laundry room. For a family, one laundromat evening in the first city is the trick; a guide knows the nearest one.
Dry-cleaning is fast and everywhere; a suit for the business dinner is back in 24 hours.
Buy it there, do not pack it
China sells, cheaply and on every corner, most of what travellers pack “just in case”: umbrellas, rain ponchos, phone chargers and cables, power banks, toiletries, nappies and wipes (the baby guide), sun hats, socks, basic medicines (the healthcare guide), snacks, water, and warm layers in winter at the market stalls. The things to bring from home are the ones that are personal or regulated: prescription medicines in original packaging, your own sunscreen and deodorant brands (Chinese ranges differ), formula if a baby is on a specific one, a travel car seat, and good walking shoes already broken in. The packing guide has the full list.
Power and chargers
Chinese sockets take the Australian three-pin plug and the flat two-pin; no adapter is needed from Australia, which surprises people. Voltage is 220 V like home. Hotels have USB sockets by the bed in the newer ones and a multi-board in the older ones; a small power board from home charges a family’s phones from one socket. Power banks are allowed on trains and in cabin luggage (not checked) up to the usual capacity limit; buy a spare in any convenience store.
Moving between cities: the practical sequence
Shanghai to Beijing by train: check out, leave the big bags with the hotel if you are returning, or take them; car to Hongqiao 45 minutes before departure; bags through the X-ray at the station entrance; passport at the manned gate; bags into the carriage-end space; four and a half hours; a car and the guide at Beijing South; bags to the courtyard hotel, where the car stops at the lane mouth and the last hundred metres are wheeled, as the where to stay in Beijing guide warns. It is a smooth day if the bags are the right size and a long one if they are not.
Beijing to Xi’an: the same, from Beijing West. Xi’an home: a flight, so the checked-bag rules return and the souvenirs can be bought on the last day; the tax refund guide covers carrying them out.
Huangshan, if you go: the big case stays at the hotel at the foot; a small overnight bag goes up the mountain, or a porter carries it, as the Huangshan guide explains.
Forwarding and shipping
Hotels and courier companies (SF Express is the one with English counters) will send a suitcase from Shanghai to your Beijing hotel overnight for a fee that is small against the convenience of taking the train with a day bag. Souvenirs and samples can be couriered to Australia from any SF branch, with the customs form filled in Chinese by the counter staff and a guide; it is often cheaper than excess baggage and lets you buy on the first day. Business travellers ship samples this way routinely; the sourcing hubs guide mentions it.
A packing split that works
| Who | Checked | Day bag |
|---|---|---|
| Adult | A medium case: 5 days of clothes (laundry does the rest), one smart outfit, walking shoes, a light rain shell, toiletries, medicines | Passport, phone, power bank, tissues and sanitiser (the toilets guide), water, a layer, the Alipay-linked card |
| Two children | One shared case: 5 days each, a swimsuit, a favourite toy, nappies for two days if needed | A small backpack each with a snack, a book, a light jumper |
| Business traveller | A cabin case: two suits, five shirts (laundered), the dinner shoes | Laptop, cards in a case, the WeChat-linked phone, samples folder |
Pack the train days’ needs (snacks, chargers, a book) in the day bag; the case lives in the carriage-end rack and is not opened until the hotel.
What we do
Tell us the number and size of your bags when you enquire and we size the car and tell you if the train days will be comfortable; on the tours the guide handles the station X-ray and the carriage rack, and the first hotel’s laundry is on the welcome note. The lighter the bags, the more of China fits in the day.
