Early in January of 2018, I flew from Edmonton, Canada to Bangkok, Thailand. It was quite a long transit, with a rather extended stop-over of six hours in Nanjing, China. This wasn’t to be a normal stop-over, however; half this time was spent with my passport taken from me and in a line with some 30 other tourists, all confused as to what was happening. Maybe my new friends and I witnessed Nanjing’s airport layover policy? Maybe a new system had been implemented and the bugs still need ironing out. I don’t know. None of us really did for sure.
Confusion of Nanjing’s Airport Layover Policy Begins
For any traveler, separation from your main form of identification, your passport is never a fun and relaxed experience. Coupled with drowsiness, (for those of us able to sleep on a plane), it’s a recipe for an awful time. While you’re at it, throw in a lack of communication and a language barrier. That’ll help!
Like usual, my groggy eyes chose the longest and slowest immigration line. No worries as I have plenty of time to kill! Plus no visa is required at the time of writing for a six-hour transit through China for Australians. I had never been the Lukou International Airport, serving the city of Nanjing. Immigration processes rarely change too much from country to country, so I stepped towards the border control officer thinking I knew how all this worked. I failed to notice the growing group of tourists just the other side of immigration desks.
The border officer completed all the usual checks and even put a bright red transit stamp imprinted on a random page; as is the tradition with my passport. As I was waved on through the gate, I instinctively reached out for my passport but was promptly told that the officer would be hanging on to it for a little while longer. Slightly forgetting where I was, I let out a chuckle, and it was only when I received no reciprocal laugh, but rather a blank stare back at me, that I realized this was really happening.
All efforts to garnish a reason from the officer were like headbutting a thick brick wall. As I shuffled through the gate, confused, I jumped right into the conversation with the group of other tourists. Luckily, we were all in the same boat. Within the strength of numbers, I found some form of relief.
Another border officer walked laps between the immigration officers and another counter, slowly feeding the travelers passports through to the next step of the process. Our group began asking questions, confused but calm. Without wanting to hear the same answer of “wait” and other attempts to communicate in English, our group began to divide. Myself and the majority of others sensed no other reasonable option and obliged the “wait” command. Some, however, did not take so well to this lack of forthcoming communication from the Chinese government officials. Frustration and agitation began to build as aggression began to appear within some of the other passengers’ tones.
Nanjing’s Airport Layover Policy – Accompanied by Government Officials to Lukou International Airport’s Landside for Re-check In
Finally, we got the command to move on. We were to follow a young official, with 30+ passports casually slung under one arm. After collecting our luggage from a carousel, we followed the man once again to the landside of the airport. Here we were faced with the next step of Nanjing’s airport layover policy, accompanied by airport officials the entire way to re-check in.
I was first to check in, and other passengers watched with anticipation. It was a regular check in. Nothing special at all. As the rest of my confused peers checked in and received their new boarding passes, curiosity began to stir as the official still retained our passports. I tried to deduce why this policy was in place, but a solid English to Mandarin barrier stood strong.
With very little communication, usually, just a wave to follow an officer, the joke soon circulated of being leashed puppy dogs. Not much else to do but laugh, right? Well, apparently not for everyone, as one man couldn’t bottle his frustrations anymore and took an aggressive stance against multiple airport staff. Even though there was no escalation passed words, this was not the right way for this situation to be handled. Don’t shoot the messenger, right? Even if that messenger hands you a blank piece of paper. Government officials have quite a lot of power and discretion normally, let alone in China where customs may not operate as we expect.
It took exactly three hours, from reaching inbound immigration, to reach customs, and let me assure you that it wasn’t a busy airport. There was no one else present in this ghost town. Our collective minds had been strained for three hours. Customs was finally the part of this process we hoped we would regain our passports, and thankfully we were right. But, there was one last obstacle…
How I Was Given The Responsibility Of Over Thirty Passports
If a person is unable to speak a language (no shade thrown here, I’m monolingual myself!), then naturally, reading English might also cause an issue. Over thirty passports graced the eyes of the Chinese immigration official, all with names written in English. The border official who held our passports suddenly learned two more words in English. “Help Me”. With an outstretched hand, I was now in possession of around 20 passports. I suddenly lost every lesson of reading and speaking I had ever been taught. In a nervous voice, I called out all the owners one by one to collect their most prized travel documents.
It soon became clear that I wasn’t pronouncing half of the names correctly, judging by the sly smirks and giggles. With the border officer now gone in a puff of smoke, what was I going to do if someone’s most important travel document was missing? Of course, there were missing passports, one of which was mine.
An extremely anxious couple of minutes passed as another officer magically appeared with the remaining passports, and I’m not sure if I’ve ever felt more relieved before in my life.
Luckily, as Nanjing’s Lukou International Airport isn’t very large, there was one shop selling alcohol so myself and around 12 others sat around and laughed trying to uncover the mysteries of Nanjing’s passport policy. The best we could come up with was that our bags needed to be rechecked, or boarding passes were unable to be printed off in Canada. Even though China offers most countries a 72-hour visa-free waiver, they never allowed us to handle our passports at the landside of the airport.
EDIT: A comment below brought up the issue Nanjing might not be a 72-hr visa-free city. I’m not 100% sure on this issue as there’s conflicting information. When I know more, I will update this post. But for now, if you’re visiting Nanjing hoping to get the 72-hour visa-free waiver, make sure you get your information from a reliable source!
Re-visiting Nanjing’s Airport Layover Policy One Month Later
Luckily for me, on my return flight back to Edmonton, Canada, I passed through Nanjing’s International Airport once again. As of the 28th of January, this process is still in effect, although it was much smoother the second time around. It only took just over two hours. I was not the only one who had experienced this process. Another passenger had experienced it around early January 2018 as well. It was comforting in a way as we both knew what to expect and could reassure other passengers about this whole process.
This return leg was however interrupted by a 14-hr delay due to a technical issue with our airplane. Some passengers who held a multiple entry visa for China were able to leave the airport (this visa is unavailable to Australians) and they were treated to all you can eat/drink buffet. All the while I sat in the airport, given the equivalent of $200 AUD and fed plenty of food – which would normally be an alright deal. Unfortunately for me, it gave me food poisoning on my final two flights back to Edmonton, Canada.
Enduring this nightmare of a layover ranks first by a long margin on my layover list. Although I spent just over 50 hours in transit all up – confused and extremely ill – travel is still worth it!
Nanjing Airport Layover Policy Rant
I know very little Mandarin, so I take my part of the blame for the whole awkward and confusing ordeal. However, I do think there is a practical and simple solution available. A simple form of communication would’ve gone a long way. Whether that be a translator or just a sheet of paper explaining what is going on in a few different languages would have eased some very frustrated and confused minds, on both sides of the fence!
Luckily, both of my stop-overs were over six hours in length, giving the process plenty of time. On top of that, maybe it’s the Australian in me, but I find myself pretty easy going. I guarantee not every tired and confused passenger would be relaxed and calm about the situation. I feel as if it is setting the foundations for unnecessary, or at least, easily avoided, altercations.
In 2017, I traveled to China, both in transit and on a one month visa. While I didn’t visit Nanjing at that time, but I did take multiple flights in other areas and never experienced any issues as I did in Nanjing. Hopefully, if this is a new system for Nanjing’s airport layover policy, the bugs are eradicated from within it quickly.
Remember, these officers are just doing their jobs. They almost definitely had zero input into this policy. In the end, it will work out. Have a laugh about it all and you will be able to accept the situation. You might even make new friends out of an otherwise boring layover!
EDIT: Another comment below brought up some more information I think might be very useful to those going to Nanjing for a layover. This website states to let the airline staff know you would like to apply for a “72-hr visa”, and if you meet the requirements, you will be granted the visa after you arrive at the airport. I haven’t personally tried this yet, so I would love some confirmation if this is the process of gaining the visa!
I’d love to hear about your experience through Nanjing’s Lukou International Airport, or any other stories about Nanjing’s airport layover policy. Has this process been altered since? Any other interesting border policies this brings to mind? Shoot me a comment below! 🙂
At times, travel can be so confusing and/or frustrating. For another story I’d sometimes rather forget, read about my very suspicious drug search in Pai, Thailand!
32 Comments
Hey,
I am relieved to hear your story! Me and a group of other passengers just experienced this same process today. Some people blamed our airline, China eastern. While others said they wouldn’t visit China again. I’m glad to hear it’s only the process in this airport. Man, this needs to be fixed because it really sucks!
Hey Tamisha,
I know right! It’s the weirdest border experience I’ve ever had. I’ve had flights from a few other airports in China, both domestic and international and it does seem to be unique to Nanjing. I’ve only ever flown into Nanjing through China Eastern, so I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think it is the airline as I’ve flown them to a fair few other Chinese airports. Hopefully, they come up with a smoother process because it’s just super confusing right now! Glad you made it through though!
Right there with you! Our family of 4 suffered the confusing process 2 days ago. When they told us we were waiting in line to “make a new passport” we abandoned all attempts to clarify the process. We appreciated the personal escort to the bathroom during our quarantine.
Hi Risa,
It is such a confusing situation! I never got any form of explanation (I’ve been through it three times now), and it never really gets any clearer what exactly is going on. I never had a bathroom buddy though – that’s a new one for me! haha I hope you enjoyed your travel besides all of that 🙂
Hi Horizon
I think you might be mistaken about the visa requirements. There are a number of Chinese airports that are exempt from the requirement but Nanjing is not one of them. Whether or not you are Australian or Canadian seems to be irrelevant (although the procedure is different) but if you are coming from Canada thru China, you need to get a transit visa as per
http://ca.china-embassy.org/eng/lsyw/gzrz/vusa/t1470622.htm
Thoughts?
Hey Rod, thanks for your comment!
Hmm, interesting. Your link definitely doesn’t mention Nanjing in the visa exemption program at all. I did find a few blogs that have been recently updated citing Nanjing airport as a 144-hr visa-free city, but nothing I would put total faith in, to be honest. There definitely were “72-hr visa-free” signs when I last had a layover, but this may explain why some of us on my first flight were refused entry, and others allowed to enter (as they had a visa). At any rate, I’m going to definitely going to edit my post, as the last thing I want is to give out wrong information to anyone.
Thanks for taking the time to let me know Rod, appreciate it!
Ben
Hi Ben, we spoke on Politicalstew. I just found another site that supports my understanding that you need to tell the airline before boarding your flight to Nanjing that you want to do the visa-free transit thing:
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/embassy/visa/free-72hour/faq.htm
The second FAQ addresses this – I think they just want time to process your request and make sure you’re cool:
2. How and where can I apply for a transit permit if I plan to go out of the airport during my stopover?
You can put forward your request for transit to your airline in advance, so that the airline can declare this to the Immigration Inspection prior to your visit. You will be granted a transit permit at the airport if you meet all requirements. NOTE: Beijing Capital International Airport has now changed this procedure, passengers can apply directly for 72 hour free transit permit after arrival at the airport.
Hi, thanks for your comment!
That does make sense as there was no border officer at the “72-hour visa” gate when I arrived. It does look like you might be right and they just want some time to process the paperwork for it all. I would love to hear if that’s all that is needed to get the “72-hour visa” for the Nanjing layover. Definitely will update my post with this new info! I hope you have a great trip!
First a comment on my previous comment Aug 1: the link I posted then is not an official government link. Sorry for getting fooled! Chinese government websites are .gov.cn although I haven’t actually found one of those for this topic.
What I have found is something that exactly corroborates what Pezworld states above except from the China Eastern Airlines website. And I prefer this source as it is slightly less confusing and, in my case, is from the airline that I am booked on. Note: 144 hours rather than 72. In my case, I only have 8 hours to kill before continuing to Thailand so that part is moot.
http://ca.ceair.com/en/content/news/travel-alert/144-Hour-Visa-Free-Transit
i am taking 3 gr 12 students with me to phuket,thailand and we have a 6 hour lay over in nanjing. can we do sightseeing or are we unable to leave the airport
Hi Deanne,
Unfortunately, I can’t say for sure. In my experience, no, I wasn’t able to leave the airport. However, I’ve got a few comments now saying it is possible if you talk to the airline staff in advance while in the air. I can’t say that this is true or not as I haven’t been able to visit Nanjing on a layover since writing this article. But it does seem there is some information online to suggest that it is possible to leave provided you talk to the airline staff in advance. If you do visit Nanjing, I’d love to know if you’re able to leave or not during a layover!
We just went through this horrible experience with 60-70ish Canadians and Americans. Unbelievably ridiculous process for an international airport. I highly recommend that you avoid Nanjing airport altogether if transferring to another flight. Go through Hong Kong, Taiwan or Shanghai. The whole transfer process took over 4 hours and was very stressful for a lot of people. We wrote some terrible reviews describing what happened on the Nanjing Airport Google site. What a joke!
Hi Louise, thanks for your comment! I definitely agree with how frustrating the whole situation is. I’ve never encountered anything like it before. I hope this whole experience didn’t stop you from enjoying the rest of your travels!
Take care,
Ben
Happened to me and a group of other Bangkok destined folks. On China Eastern. (My boyfriend went through Shanghai a day later without any of the rigamarole; he transferred right to the Bangkok-bound airline). I travel a ton in China and SEA- I have a 20 year visa by my passport for China that doesn’t expire until 2025- and I still went through the same process. It seems to only be Bangkok-bound passengers ? Other foreigners went through fine. Very strange.
Hi Dawna, Thanks for the update, interesting to hear it’s still going on! I’ve flown through Nanjing 3 times, once to Australia, once to Bangkok and once to China and the same process happened each time. I’ve traveled throughout different parts of China and never experienced anything like it. Not too sure the point of it all, but I know some passengers were allowed to leave the airport if they were issued a multiple-entry visa to China. Pretty weird.!
That is not true. This was a one time incident and I was on the flight you speak of. You were not given anyones passports. They held them up and walked down the line showing the page with your face on it. If it was yours you grabbed the passport. Their was more then 30 passengers lined up. The issue was we were told to fill out arrival/departure cards for Nanjing though it was only a layover. This is how the confusion started. Being ill advised to fill out cards for an arrival when passing through. It appeared we were trying to enter China with no visa. It was a China Eastern Flight.
Hi Magic, Do you have a specific date of the same flight we were on together? Because I’ve been through the process three times now. If you have a read of the comments you’ll see other people that been through the same, or similar process. I can guarantee you that one of the times in Nanjing Airport, I was handed a bunch of passports (not all of them, might I add) for passengers and asked to hand them out. I do hope that much has changed because no one passenger should be given other peoples passports, but I promise you it happened.
I don’t remember any details about there being confusion over arrival/departure cards. Every time I’ve been through this we were escorted to the land side of the airport and re-checked in for our connecting flight. This to me shows there wasn’t any confusion that we were trying to enter China, just that this was the process of making a connecting flight out of Nanjing.
After reading all of these comments, I’m pretty nervous. But I have another question. We have a 13 hour overnight layover in Nanjing before connecting to another flight. I have heard that in some of the other Chinese airports they make you leave the airport. Do they allow you to stay there at the airport overnight, or do you have to leave and get a hotel? (I’m nervous to do so as we have 5 children.) Do you know?
Hey Kyky, thanks for your comment. Honestly, I’m not totally sure. I know I have never been allowed to leave the airport (I have never had a valid visa to enter China during any of my layovers there), or at least haven’t been offered the visa-free waiver. There was one commenter who said it may be possible to get the 72-hour visa-free pass if you ask the flight staff before you land. I am not sure if this is true or not as no one has confirmed it for me, and I haven’t been back through Nanjing to test it out.
I have never been allowed to leave the airport itself. I think they would allow you to stay in the airport overnight but can’t say for certain. Nanjing Airport is quite small also. There’s a handful of shops, but not really much to do at all, especially for 5 kids.
The whole process isn’t too bad, especially if you know what to expect. But I can’t say for certain on any of your other questions. I found this link for you from a site I use pretty often for more information about sleeping in airports. It’s usually pretty up to date and current.
https://www.sleepinginairports.net/guides/nanjing-airport-guide.htm
If I turn up any new information, I’ll let you know! Sorry I couldn’t be of more help! Hope you have a great trip!
Thank you so much for your reply! I had just one more question. Do you know if we can you use credit cards there in the airport for food and/or the capsule hotel or do we need to have Chinese currency? Or will they take US dollars?
Thank you for your help!
Hey Kyky, I overlooked your comment! My bad!
Personally, I have always had Chinese Yuan on me when I had a layover in Nanjing, but I’ve eaten and drunk with lots of passengers and I’ve seen people use credit cards to pay for a bill. There are not too many restaurants in the airport, it’s pretty small!
Let me know if there’s anything else I can help you with! Have a great trip!
The more I read about this, the more concerned I get. We have a three hour and 10 min layover here in route to bkk. At booking I thought this was plenty of time…now I’m not for sure. If you can get the 72 hour transit, would that help you bypass this mess?? Thanks!
Hey Jeffrey, thanks for the comment. I think it would, not 100% sure though. Is your flight to Bangkok on the same ticket? If it is, the airport staff should be able to ensure you make your connecting flight. Every time I’ve been through the process, it has taken around 3 hours, but I hope if you approached one of the staff at the airport they should be able to help you out and make sure you make your connecting flight.
As for the 72-hour visa, I had a comment saying you need to talk to the flight attendant on the plane before you land. I haven’t been back through Nanjing to try this out yet, but it’s worth a shot!
In the end, I think you should be okay. The airline staff should be able to make sure you make your connecting flight. On top of that, Nanjing’s Lukou International Airport is tiny, so making it from one end to the other on the air-side of the airport takes no longer than 10 minutes.
Usually, 3 hours is plenty of time for a layover, Nanjing Airport is a little unique, but I still think you should have plenty of time to make your connection.
Thanks so much for the help! Yes it’s all on the same ticket. This is our first time going through NKG. We go to bkk once a year but usually use NRT or HKG. This was one of those cheapie sub $400 rt from lax, so I thought we should take the chance 🙂
I appreciate your help!!
Here is a link I found in reference to the 72 hour visa and asking about it at check in. I’m still not sure if that would help.
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/embassy/visa/free-72hour/
No worries at all, glad I could help! The only reason I’ve ever flown through Nanjing is the cheap flight options as well!
So, I’ve visited that link before, and read a lot of it, but this time I noticed this under the “Procedure: Tips” section –
“1. It is necessary to inform the airline at check-in so that they can declare your request to the airport custom before landing. Passengers transiting via Beijing Capital International Airport can apply for this free transit permit after arrival.”
I’ve never noticed an option to apply for the visa during check-in, but I have honestly never looked for it. So it might very well be the case you need to apply for it during check-in.
Even if you’re granted the visa, I’m not totally sure it would exempt you from the whole process. I would love to say that it would, but I just don’t know.
What I would suggest, you could contact the website you linked – they seem to have a very active comment section at the bottom of the page you linked, and detail your situation. They seem to be helping with very specific questions regarding visas and may be able to give you more assistance than I can at this point. I don’t believe they are a government site, so take any information they give you a little sceptical (unless they give solid resources).
In saying all that, I think you should be okay still. I doubt any of the airline staff would want to deal with the issues of you missing a connecting flight, so you may be able to be rushed through to your boarding if it’s getting a little close to boarding.
I hoped some of this helped, I wish I could give more concrete answers, but the whole process is a little… unique.
Hope you have a great trip! Let me know if you have any more questions or concerns – and I’ll write another comment if I think I can help you any further!
Thank you so much for your help. I’ll let you know how it goes 🙂
May I ask how it went? We do this same flight tomorrow night.
Wow what a story. Now I have concerns about my layovers in China. I fly Phnom Penh to Vancouver with a 10-1/2 hour layover in Kunming. Then Kunming to Nanjing with 1-1/2 hour layover in Nanjing. Then off to Vancouver. The layover in Kunming doesn’t concern me but now the Nanjing layover sure does. Will 1-1/2 hours in Nanjing be enough time to transit to my ongoing flight to Vancouver? In Nanjing will I have to pick up my baggage and recheck my baggage for ongoing flight to Vancouver? Will be traveling on Eastern China Airlines.
Hey Tyler, thanks for the comment.
I’m not totally sure, as I haven’t been through the process with such a short layover, but I feel they have to get you through quicker to make your connection. Nanjing Airport is tiny, but the whole process takes a little bit from the few times I’ve been through it (It’s been about a year now since I went through it last, so things may have changed).
I feel if you let the flight staff know, and make it clear you only have 90 minutes, they will rush you through any of the processes needed to make your flight to Vancouver. I’m still not 100% sure, but there were a number of staff not doing too much, so you may be privately escorted to get through quicker – as the majority of the waiting is in line for other travelers to go through the steps.
I’d love to hear how it goes for you!
Safe travels!
Hi Ben, I will be traveling from Edmonton, Canada to Bangkok, Thailand in May 2020. Flying YEG-YVR-NGK- BKK with an 8 hour layover in Nanjing. After reading all of the comments I find myself to be concerned about the whole situation that tourists have experienced during their layover. I hold a Canadian passport and my friend holds a Canadian travel document, and at this point we are concerned they might not let her stay for transit. She has travelled to other countries and there is never a problem but with China there is not enough information online for people with her current situation. If you could please respond to my concerns, thank you.
Hey Santiago, thanks for the comment. I too live in Edmonton, Canada 🙂
Honestly, I don’t know enough to give you a definite answer (the online information is kinda spotty at best, and I haven’t been through Nanjing since writing this post), but from what I’ve learned from others commenting, I can give some tips that may help.
In my experience, it didn’t matter what passport you had, if you were foreign, you went through the same experience. I know some people were allowed to leave the airport during my extended layover, but the only correlation we could come up with was the ones allowed to leave had a multiple-entry visa to China (which makes sense).
As an Australian, I’ve only ever had one single-entry visa to China. We aren’t allowed multiple entry visas to China. But I’ve never had an issue being denied staying for transit. I never held a “transit free stay” or “transit waiver” in China, I’ve been told they exist in Nanjing, but wasn’t ever offered one or found out how to go about applying for one (someone mentioned you should talk to the flight attendant during the flight, but I can’t confirm either way).
So I think your friend should have no worries at all staying for transit in Nanjing. Make sure you take plenty of things to do, Nanjing is quite a tiny airport, with very little to see and do.
Hope that helps, let me know if you have any more questions and I can do my best to help you out!
Enjoy that winter out there!
Ben