Can I take a domestic flight in China with a foreign passport?

Yes, and the passport is the only document that works. CAAC rules list the valid ID for foreign travellers as a passport in validity, plus diplomatic identity cards and the foreign permanent residence card. A driving licence, a social security card or a residence permit is only supporting evidence and cannot be used on its own, and a photo or photocopy of a passport will not pass security. You must use the same passport to book, to check in and at the security checkpoint.

Do I need a special permit to fly to Tibet?

Yes. Non-Chinese residents entering, transiting or stopping in the Tibet region need their documents, visa and Tibet entry permit to comply with the applicable regulations, and an airline states explicitly that a passenger who cannot meet these requirements bears the loss of a missed flight. Arrange the permit well before you book the ticket, not after.

Can I carry liquids on a domestic flight in China?

Domestic flights forbid carrying liquids in the cabin, with narrow exceptions: cosmetics for personal use during the journey, toothpaste and shaving cream. Those are limited to one item each, in containers of no more than 100 ml or 100 g, and cosmetics have to be opened for inspection. Everything else goes in checked luggage.

Can I put a power bank in my checked luggage?

No. Power banks and lithium batteries are forbidden in checked baggage and may only be carried in the cabin. Up to 100 Wh is allowed as of right; between 100 and 160 Wh needs the airline's approval and is limited to two per person; anything above 160 Wh cannot be carried at all. Spare batteries are also limited, and each one needs to be insulated individually. On flights within China the power bank must also carry a legible 3C certification mark: since 28 June 2025 power banks with no 3C mark, an unreadable one, or one from a recalled batch are banned outright. Most power banks bought outside China have no 3C mark.

Flying inside China on a foreign passport

01Your passport is the only ID that works

This is the rule that catches visitors out, because it is the opposite of how domestic flights work almost everywhere else. In China a domestic flight is still an identity-checked flight, and for a foreign traveller the valid document is a passport in validity — the physical one.

CAAC, the civil aviation authority, lists what counts: a passport, a diplomatic identity card issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or the foreign permanent residence card. That is the whole list.

A driving licence, a social security card or a residence permit is supporting evidence only. None of them will get you through the checkpoint by themselves.
A photo, a photocopy or a screenshot of your passport will not pass. Airports state this explicitly. It has to be the document itself.
The same passport has to be used to book, to check in and at security. The name and number on the reservation must match the document you hand over, or you will not fly.
Keep it on your person. Not in the checked bag, not in the hotel safe on the morning of the flight.

The departures hall of Beijing Daxing International Airport — Beijing Daxing — one of the country's newest hubs, and typical of how the big terminals look.

02Booking: get the name exactly right

You can book through an airline's own site or app, through a Chinese OTA, or through a ticket agent. Whichever you use, the field that matters is the one you type your name into.

The name on the booking has to be the name in your passport, in the same order and spelling the passport uses. Airlines and agents are required to show you the fare rules — refunds, changes, baggage — before you pay, and it is worth reading the change and refund terms, because the cheaper fares are usually the strictest.

Prices move with demand. There is no fixed fare to quote here. Booking earlier and flying mid-week is generally cheaper, and the same route can cost very differently a day apart.
Check whether two flights are one booking or two. A single ticket covering both legs protects you if the first is delayed; two separate tickets do not, and a missed connection becomes your problem.
Screenshot the confirmation. The booking reference and the name as booked are what you will end up reading out at a desk.

03Tibet needs a permit, not just a passport

This is the single biggest trap on this page. Flying to Lhasa is not like flying to Chengdu: foreign passport holders need a Tibet entry permit in addition to the passport and visa. Holders of Hong Kong and Macao Home Return Permits are not foreign passport holders and do not need one.

An airline's own booking conditions say it plainly — a traveller entering, transiting or stopping in the Tibet region must have documents, visa and permit in order, and if they are not, the passenger bears the cost of the missed flight. That applies even to a connection that merely stops there.

Arrange the permit before you book the ticket, not after. It is not something an airline desk can fix for you on the day.
It goes for transit and stopovers too, not only for trips that end in Tibet.
It is arranged through a Tibet-based agency and you travel with a group. The agency holds the permit and it is collected when you leave the region — it is not something you apply for at a desk yourself.
Bring the paper original. Since March 2026 operators have been refusing photocopies and phone screens at the airport and the station. This point comes from Tibet travel agencies rather than a published rule, so get it confirmed in writing by the agency you book with.
Shigatse is currently closed to the usual route. Since 28 August 2026 the National Immigration Administration has suspended issuing electronic border-area travel permits for Shigatse (NIA announcement No. 5, 2026), which shuts the Everest, Gyirong and Zhangmu approaches until further notice. Check the NIA site before planning in that direction.
Other sensitive regions can carry their own paperwork. If a route looks unusually cheap or unusually awkward, check what the destination requires before paying.

04Check-in and how early to arrive

There is no single national cut-off — it is set by the airport and the airline, and the numbers differ. A typical regional airport opens check-in around two hours before departure and closes it around thirty to forty minutes before; the large hubs are busier and their published times are the ones to follow.

What does not differ is the queue for security, which every airport has and which is the unpredictable part. For a domestic flight with a foreign passport, arrive two hours ahead — the extra time is spent at the document check, not the bag drop.

Have the passport open at the photo page at the desk and again at security. Every checkpoint is a manual document check.
Baggage allowances are per airline and per fare, not national. Check yours on the booking rather than guessing.
Security is per-flight and mandatory. There is no way around it and no fast lane for a foreign passport.

05Security: liquids, batteries, lighters

The rules here are stricter than many visitors expect, and they are enforced literally at the tray.

Liquids are not allowed in the cabin on domestic flights — with narrow exceptions for cosmetics, toothpaste and shaving cream for use during the journey. Those are one item each, in containers of no more than 100 ml or 100 g, and cosmetics get opened for inspection. Everything else goes in the hold.
Power banks and lithium batteries cannot go in checked luggage at all. They are cabin-only: up to 100 Wh as of right, 100 to 160 Wh with the airline's approval and a limit of two, nothing above 160 Wh. Spare cells have to be insulated individually.
On a domestic flight the power bank needs a legible 3C mark. Since 28 June 2025 — the CAAC notice of 26 June 2025 — power banks with no 3C certification mark, an unreadable one, or one from a recalled batch are banned outright on flights within China. Power banks bought outside China usually carry no 3C mark at all, which makes this the rule that actually gets a foreigner's battery taken off them at the tray.
Lighters and matches are forbidden in both cabin and hold. Hand them over before you reach the tray rather than losing them there.
Laptops, tablets, cameras and umbrellas come out of the bag into a tray, exactly as they do elsewhere.

06If the passport goes missing

There is no app-based workaround for a foreign traveller. The electronic temporary boarding pass that Chinese residents can generate in WeChat or Alipay is built around the national ID card, so it does not apply to you.

What airports describe instead is narrow: if your passport is lost or your visa is being extended, you may be able to travel on the exit-entry administration receipt — the one with your photo attached or printed and the public security bureau's stamp, within its validity. Beyond that, it is your embassy or consulate and an emergency travel document.

Which is the real advice: carry the passport, and carry a photograph or scan of it separately — not to fly with, but because it makes the replacement conversation immeasurably faster.