Railway rules: Be prepared before you travel this Spring Festival
As the Spring Festival comes closer, many migrants to Shanghai are about to leave the city to spend the Chinese New Year with their families.
Many of them choose the railway as their way to return home. City News Service has prepared a guide about what can be taken on a train and what can not.
1.Food
Permitted
Frozen food in sealed packages: It is suggested frozen food should only be taken on short trips as it can easily spoil.
Seafood: Aquatic products such as fish, shrimps, crab, or other shellfish can be taken in closed and sealed containers but caution is needed.
Alcoholic beverages: Alcoholic beverages taken on a train should be clearly marked in a complete package for alcohol volume between 24 and 70 percent. The total volume must not exceed 3,000 milliliters.
Food with strong aromas: strong-smelling food such as durian and some Chinese regional specialties such as Luosifen noodle soup and stinky tofu can be taken, but should be well packed and sealed.
Not permitted
Homemade alcohol: Homemade liquor with an alcohol volume exceeding 70 percent or that is not clearly marked cannot be transported in checked luggage or carried aboard.
Self-heating food: Self-heating food such as the popular self-heating "hot pot" product, in which the main material of the heating pack is magnesium and aluminum powder, cannot be transported in checked luggage or carried aboard.
2.Electrical appliances
Permitted
Power banks / lithium batteries: The only power banks or lithium batteries allowed on a train must be clearly marked and the rated energy should not exceed 100Wh. Electric wheelchairs containing lithium batteries are allowed.
Electric wheelchairs: These may be taken by people who require them as a mobility aid.
Mobile phones / computers / tablets: They can be carried and recharged on trains. Please wear headphones when using them to avoid bothering fellow passengers
Shoulder and neck massagers: These are permitted.
Rice cooker / electric kettle / induction cooker / air fryer: These can be carried but cannot be used on the train.
Hair dryers / curling irons: These can be carried but cannot be used on the train.
Electric hand warmers: These can be carried but must not be charged on the train.
Power strips / conversion plugs: These can be carried but must not be used on the train.
Not permitted
Storage batteries / electric vehicle batteries / car batteries: These are prohibited either in checked or carried luggage.
3.Daily necessities
Disinfecting wipes containing 75 percent alcohol: These can be carried.
Perfume / toilet water / spray / gel: For daily necessities of non-self-injection pressure vessels containing flammable ingredients, the volume of a single container should not exceed 100 milliliters. You can only carry one item of each type.
Cold perm / hair dye mousse / hairspray / insecticide / air freshener: For self-injection pressure vessels, the volume of a single container should not exceed 150 milliliters. You can only carry one item of each type and the total amount should not exceed 600 milliliters.
Nail polish / polish remover: The total amount should not exceed 50 milliliters.
Eyebrow trimmers / nose hair scissors: The blade length must not exceed 60 millimeters.
4.Cigarettes
Cigarettes: Each adult passenger can carry no more than 50 cartons of cigarette.
E-cigarettes: These can be carried but cannot be used on the train.
Ordinary lighters: Passengers can carry no more than two ordinary lighters.
Safety matches: Passengers can carry no more than two small boxes.
* No smoking
Smoking is strictly prohibited in all areas of bullet trains and in passenger carriages of all ordinary trains. Some ordinary trains provide smoking areas near doors or at the connection between carriages.
Under the law, anyone who smokes in a non-smoking area will be ordered to stop by police and fined 500 to 2,000 yuan (US$70.36 - 281.43).
5.Miscellaneous
Permitted
Folding strollers / wheelchairs: These can be carried.
Bicycles / balance bikes / gliders: Wheeled leisure items must be packed with hard materials and cannot be used at railway stations or on the trains.
Camping carts: These can be carried if under a certain size. On bullet trains, the length plus width plus height cannot exceed 130 centimeters and the maximum on ordinary trains is 160 centimeters.
Guide dogs: Licensed guide dogs are permitted on trains.
Forbidden items
Firecrackers / Fireworks: These are prohibited to be checked in or carried.
Helium balloons: These are prohibited to be checked in or carried.
Small live animals: It is prohibited to carry these with you but they can be checked in. A quarantine certificate is required and the animal must be packed in a special carrying case. Passengers are allowed to carry some poultry and livestock with them on special trains.
Kitchen knife / fruit knife / scissors / utility knife / other cutting tools: If the blade length exceeds 60 millimeters, it is prohibited to carry the knife with you, but you can check it in.
Stick / bats / pool cue / blunt objects such as hockey sticks: It is prohibited to carry these with you, but you can check them in.
Ax / welding torch / hammer / shovel / saw / other tools and agricultural tools: It is prohibited to carry these with you, but they can be checked in.
Bows and arrows / slingshots / darts / fire extinguishers: It is prohibited to carry these on board, but they can be checked in.
