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What the railway security gate refuses: China's prohibited and restricted articles catalogue, item by item

In short

What can I actually take through a Chinese railway security check?

The list is a named document, not a station's discretion: the Catalogue of Articles Prohibited, Restricted or Barred from Consignment for Railway Passengers, announced by the National Railway Administration and the Ministry of Public Security on 2022-05-17 and in force from 2022-07-01. It works in three sections. Some things may neither be carried nor sent. Some may not be carried but may be consigned — everyday knives with a blade over 60 mm, bats and cues, tools, bows, self-defence sprays over 50 ml. And some may be carried within a quantity: 3000 ml of sealed alcohol between 24 and 70 percent by volume, 100 ml per non-pressurised flammable container, 50 ml of nail polish in total, 150 ml per pressurised can with 600 ml in total, 2 lighters and 2 boxes of matches, and power banks rated at no more than 100Wh.

Back to the transport hub

Applies to

Anyone entering a Chinese railway station. 12306 states that all passengers and the belongings they carry are subject to security check; a passenger travelling with a guide dog is inspected together with the dog.

Check before you rely on it

Figures here come from the 2022 catalogue as published in full on 12306, read on the date below. They differ from 12306's own English FAQ, which still carries the superseded 2016 numbers — the section further down sets the two side by side. The catalogue also states that inspection standards may be raised in specific areas and at specific times, so these are standing limits, not a guarantee.

Information checked: September 30, 2026

This page does not repeat the free luggage allowance or the maximum size of a single item — those come from a different document and are on the high-speed rail guide. It covers only what may be in the bag, and what happens when the scanner says no.

Transport hub Luggage allowance and size limits

Section three of the catalogue

What may be carried, and how much

The quantities as the 2022 catalogue publishes them. Read the conditions column — several of these limits stack a per-container size, a one-per-kind rule and a combined ceiling.

Article	Limit	Condition
Alcoholic drinks	3000 ml in total	Packaging sealed and intact, markings clear, and alcohol by volume at least 24 percent and at most 70 percent. Drinks outside that strength band are not covered by this line.
Perfume, floral water, sprays, gels and other non-pressurised daily items with flammable content	1 item of each kind, container no larger than 100 ml	Non-pressurised containers only; pressurised ones fall in the row below.
Nail polish and nail polish remover	50 ml in total	Counted together, not per bottle.
Pressurised spray containers — perm lotion, hair dye, mousse, hair spray, insecticide, air freshener	1 item of each kind, container no larger than 150 ml, 600 ml in total	Three conditions at once: per-container size, one per kind, and a combined ceiling.
Safety matches and ordinary lighters	2 small boxes of matches, 2 lighters	The one figure the 2016 announcement and the 2022 catalogue agree on.
Power banks and lithium batteries	Rated energy no more than 100Wh per unit	Markings must be clear. Electric wheelchairs containing lithium batteries are excluded from this restriction.

Official source: China Railway Customer Service Center, 12306 (www.12306.cn), carrying the announcement of the National Railway Administration and the Ministry of Public Security — 《铁路旅客禁止、限制携带和托运物品目录》— Catalogue of Articles Prohibited, Restricted or Barred from Consignment for Railway Passengers, announced by the National Railway Administration and the Ministry of Public Security (source 2022-05-17; read September 30, 2026)

The published facts

What the catalogue is, and how its three sections divide the bag

Each line links the official page and the day we read it. Sources read 2026-09-30.

One catalogue, two issuing bodies, in force since 2022-07-01

The National Railway Administration and the Ministry of Public Security jointly announced the Catalogue of Articles Prohibited, Restricted or Barred from Consignment for Railway Passengers on 2022-05-17. The announcement states that it takes effect on 2022-07-01 and that the earlier announcement issued under document number 国铁运输监〔2015〕3号 is repealed at the same time. It is not a station notice — the announcement names the Civil Code, the Railway Law and the Regulations on Railway Safety Administration as the legal instruments it is made under.

Railway companies are required to publish it — which is why 12306 carries it

The announcement obliges railway transport enterprises to publish the catalogue on their own websites and at stations and on trains, as their duty to inform. The text used on this page is the full announcement as published on 12306, the national railway ticketing site.

The three sections do different things, and the difference matters at the gate

Section one lists what may neither be carried nor consigned — ten classes, from firearms and explosives through controlled instruments, flammables, toxic and corrosive substances, radioactive material and infectious substances. Section two lists what may not be carried on your person but may be consigned. Section three lists what may be carried in limited quantity. An item refused at the gate is not automatically consignable: that depends on which section it falls in.

Knives are split by blade length, and 60 mm is the line

Section two's first class is sharp instruments: kitchen knives, fruit knives, scissors, utility knives, carving knives and paper knives with a blade longer than 60 mm, professional blades such as scalpels and planing or milling cutters, and weapons such as knives, spears and halberds. These may not be carried on your person but may be consigned. Separately, section one treats controlled knives as prohibited outright, and defers their definition to the national standards GA 1334-2016 and GA/T 1335 rather than leaving it to the station.

Sports and hobby equipment is named explicitly

Section two names blunt instruments — sticks and clubs, baseball bats, billiard cues, hockey sticks — and then tools such as drills, chisels, awls, saws, axes, welding torches, nail guns, hammers, ice axes, rakes, spades, mattocks, hoes, pitchforks and sickles. Its other category covers recurve and compound bows and similar non-mechanical archery equipment, fire-fighting extinguisher guns, darts, catapults, and self-defence sprays of no more than 50 ml. All of these are carry-on refusals that may still be consigned.

Guide dogs, and live animals

Section two's last class covers small live animals held in a dedicated container with a quarantine certificate, which the railway company must consign while explaining ventilation and temperature conditions. Two things are exempted and may be carried on your person: a guide dog with a working certificate, and fish, shrimp, crab, shellfish and molluscs carried as food in sealed packaging.

Two open-ended clauses the catalogue keeps for itself

Section one's ninth class covers other articles endangering the safe operation of trains, and spells out four: strongly magnetised items that could interfere with train signals; hydrogen sulphide and items with a strong irritant or foul odour; articles likely to cause panic among passengers; and articles whose nature cannot be determined but which may be dangerous. The last two are judgement calls made at the gate, not a list you can check an item against in advance.

The limits can be raised temporarily, and the catalogue says so itself

The announcement states that where central and state authorities decide, according to law, to raise the inspection standard for prohibited and restricted articles in specific areas and at specific times, those provisions apply. Every quantity on this page is the standing figure, not a guarantee of what a particular station will pass on a particular day.

Two exceptions written into the announcement

Public-welfare slow trains may allow passengers to carry a small number of poultry, livestock, household tools and farm implements, and where a railway transport enterprise has agreed otherwise with passengers, that agreement applies. Separately, military personnel, armed police, police officers, militia and shooting athletes who may lawfully carry or consign firearms, ammunition or controlled instruments do so under the relevant state regulations.

Two sets of numbers are in circulation

Why this page's limits differ from 12306's English FAQ

The English FAQ's limited-amount list still carries the 2016 figures. The 2022 catalogue expressly repealed the announcement they belong to. Where they disagree, this page follows the catalogue.

The older figures, and where they come from

The 2016 station announcement on 12306 limits nail polish, remover and hair dye to 20 ml, and perm lotion, mousse, hair spray, insecticide, air freshener and other pressurised spray bottles to 120 ml, with 2 small boxes of safety matches and 2 ordinary lighters. Those are the figures that still appear, word for word, in the English FAQ's list of items allowed in limited amount.

Official source: China Railway Customer Service Center, 12306 (www.12306.cn), Passenger Transport Regulatory Documents — 铁路进站乘车禁止和限制携带物品的公告 — the superseded 2016 station announcement on prohibited and restricted articles (source 2016-01-10; read September 30, 2026)

What changed, beyond the numbers

The 2016 text put kitchen knives, table knives, butchers' knives and axes flatly among the instruments not to be brought. The 2022 catalogue instead grades everyday knives by whether the blade exceeds 60 mm and moves the longer ones into the consignable section. That is a substantive change for a traveller, and it is the 2022 wording that is in force.

What the older announcement says about breaking the rule — and how little that is

Its only statement on consequences is that carrying the listed articles in breach of the rules is dealt with in accordance with state laws and regulations. The 2022 catalogue says nothing about the disposal step at all. Between them, that is every official word this pass found on what follows a refusal, beyond the consignment channel above.

Both documents are still reachable on 12306, with no cross-reference between them, so a traveller comparing pages will find 20 ml on one and 50 ml on the other. The deciding fact is the 2022 announcement's own closing paragraph: it takes effect on 2022-07-01 and repeals the earlier announcement at the same time.

When the scanner stops something

The one official route out, step by step

1.All passengers and everything they carry go through the check: baggage into the scanner, passenger through the security gate. A passenger travelling with a guide dog waits to be inspected with the dog.
2.If the scanner finds an article the railway prohibits from being taken into the station or onto the train, the station's security disposal desk carries a sign for the station-to-door consignment service, and the passenger may choose to use it. 12306 describes this as voluntary.
3.Check which section the article falls in before assuming it can be sent. Section one of the catalogue bars items from consignment as well as from carriage; only what section two covers is barred from carriage but consignable.
4.For the consignment route the staff inspect the goods, the passenger scans the dedicated consignment waybill code the counter provides and fills in the waybill under the clerk's guidance.
5.Provide a valid ID document. The page attributes this to the State Post Bureau's implementing measures on real-name posting for the courier industry, not to a railway rule.
6.Supply a correct and complete delivery address, recipient name and mobile number, and keep the recipient reachable by phone.

Read this before assuming it applies

What the consignment channel is, and what it is not

It is a station-to-door courier service the railway placed at the security area. It is not a remedy for an oversized bag, and it cannot send anything from the catalogue's first section.

It is voluntary, and it is a sign. 12306 describes a sign for the service on the security disposal desk, which the passenger may choose to follow. Nothing on the page obliges a station to offer anything else.
Section one items cannot be sent either. The catalogue bars that section from consignment as well as from carriage. Only what section two covers is refused at the gate but consignable.
It is not the oversize-bag channel. The page words its intake as belongings unsuitable to bring into the station or onto the train, and never mentions the free allowance or the single-item size limit.
It needs a mainland address and a reachable phone. The page requires a correct delivery address, recipient name and mobile number, and says nothing about travellers who have none of those.

The consignment channel, as published

Station-to-door consignment: where it exists, what it costs, who carries it

Every figure below is dated, because the page states in the same breath that the station range will be expanded and that the prices are indicative and float by destination city.

What the service is, and who put it there

China State Railway Group introduced a station-to-door consignment service at some high-speed rail stations, run from service points at station service desks and at the security area by the entrance. 12306 words the intake as passengers' personal belongings, local specialities bought inside the station, and articles a passenger is carrying that are unsuitable to bring into the station or onto the train. It is used at the customer's request.

Official source: China Railway Customer Service Center, 12306 (www.12306.cn), Station and Train Services — 便民托运 — station-to-door consignment at high-speed rail stations (read September 30, 2026)

Where it exists — a number the page itself says will change

The service was open at 69 high-speed rail stations when this page was read on 2026-09-30, serving more than 300 cities in mainland China including all prefecture-level and above and some county-level cities. The same paragraph states that the range of stations will be expanded, so treat 69 as the figure on that date rather than a standing fact. The full station list is on the page's own appendix table.

Delivery time and price, both stated as indicative

Standard service: depending on when it is sent and the destination's administrative region, delivery by 18:00 the next day at the earliest. Economy service: by 23:59 the day after at the earliest. Pricing is first-weight plus additional weight — 23 yuan first weight plus 10 yuan per kg for standard, 18 yuan first weight plus 6 yuan per kg for economy. 12306 calls these reference prices and says the actual price floats within a range depending on the receiving city.

The carriers are courier companies, not the railway itself

12306 directs passengers to track a consignment by calling 95572 or 95338, or through the websites and mobile apps of China Railway Express and SF Express. Those two companies are the parties actually carrying and tracking the parcel. Both phone numbers appear on this page alone in this pass and were not corroborated on a second official page.

A second, separate use: sending something after you are already through security

The page distinguishes two situations. One is the security refusal above. The other is that a passenger who has already passed the scanner may take belongings, or goods bought inside the station, to the consignment service desk and send them with a clerk's help — voluntarily, and unconnected to any refusal.

In short

The questions the catalogue actually answers

Alcohol, power banks, knives, the two sets of numbers, and what becomes of something the scanner stops.

How much alcohol can I take on a Chinese train?

The 2022 catalogue allows up to 3000 ml in total, on three conditions read together: the packaging is sealed and intact, the markings are clear, and the alcohol by volume is at least 24 percent and at most 70 percent. Drinks outside that strength band are not what this line covers, and the catalogue notes that inspection standards may be raised in specific areas and at specific times.

Can I take a power bank on a high-speed train?

Yes, within a limit. The catalogue restricts power banks and lithium batteries to a rated energy of no more than 100Wh per unit and requires the markings to be clear. Electric wheelchairs containing lithium batteries are excluded from the restriction. This is a railway rule from a different authority than the aviation one — clearing an airport security check says nothing about the rail gate.

Why do the numbers here differ from the English 12306 FAQ?

Because the English FAQ still carries the older standard. Its limited-amount list gives 20 ml for nail polish and hair dye and 120 ml for pressurised bottles, word for word the same as the 2016 station announcement. The 2022 catalogue — announced by the National Railway Administration and the Ministry of Public Security, in force from 2022-07-01, expressly repealing the 2015 announcement — gives 50 ml and 150 ml per container with 600 ml in total. This page publishes the 2022 figures.

Can I take a kitchen knife or a pair of scissors?

Not on your person if the blade is longer than 60 mm. The catalogue's second section puts everyday knives and scissors above that length among items that may not be carried but may be consigned. Controlled knives are a different matter: section one prohibits them outright, with the definition tied to the national standards GA 1334-2016 and GA/T 1335 rather than to a station's judgement.

What happens to something the scanner stops?

The one official route this pass found is the station-to-door consignment service: 12306 states that when the scanner finds an article prohibited from being taken into the station or onto the train, the passenger may follow the sign for that service at the security disposal desk and choose to use it. Whether a station will hold an item, store it temporarily, or take it as abandoned property is not stated on any page opened here, so this page does not claim those options exist.

Is this the same as being over the luggage weight limit?

No, and the two should not be run together. The free allowance and the maximum dimensions of a single item come from a different document and are published on this site's high-speed rail guide. The consignment service describes its own intake as belongings unsuitable to bring into the station or onto the train, and says nothing anywhere about size or weight allowances, so it is not an official remedy for an oversized bag.

Could not confirm

What this page will not assert

Mostly the disposal step. Travel forums describe abandoning, storing or posting a refused item as though all three were standard; only one of them appeared on an official page we could open.

That an item refused at the gate can be abandoned, held or stored at the station. The 2022 catalogue says nothing about disposal, and the 2016 announcement goes no further than saying breaches are dealt with under state laws and regulations. Only the consignment channel is confirmed.
The full item-by-item lists in the catalogue's firearms, explosives and flammables classes. Those classes were read this pass at heading level and in part only, so this page states their scope rather than enumerating them.
What the standards and registers the catalogue defers to actually contain — the classification and register of radioactive articles, the register of human-infectious pathogenic micro-organisms, and the GA 1334-2016 and GA/T 1335 knife standards. None was opened, so no second knife dimension or substance list appears here.
Whether the text carried on 12306 matches the National Railway Administration's own PDF of the announcement word for word. The regulator's file was found but not opened this pass; the 12306 page carries the full text, both issuing bodies, the announcement date and the commencement date.
The complete list of the 69 stations offering consignment. Only the first rows of the page's appendix table were read, and the page states the range will be expanded, so no list is reproduced.
Whether a foreign passport is accepted as the valid ID document when sending a consignment. The page requires a valid ID document and attributes the requirement to the State Post Bureau's real-name posting measures, without naming which documents qualify.
How a visitor without a mainland address or mobile number uses the consignment service. The page requires a correct delivery address, recipient name and reachable mobile number and does not address travellers who have neither.
Whether China Railway Express and SF Express publish their own terms for this service. Neither carrier's page was opened, and the 95572 and 95338 numbers appear on one official page only.

Flight to train the same day

The other half of a rail leg bought separately: the passport shown three times, no published lead time, and what a late flight costs.

Open page

Luggage allowance and size limits

The free weight allowance and the maximum size of a single item — a different document from the catalogue on this page.

Open page

Power banks on domestic flights

The aviation rule, issued by a different authority. Clearing an airport check says nothing about the rail gate, and the limits are not the same.

Open page

What the railway security gate refuses: China's prohibited and restricted articles catalogue, item by item

What can I actually take through a Chinese railway security check?

What may be carried, and how much

What the catalogue is, and how its three sections divide the bag

One catalogue, two issuing bodies, in force since 2022-07-01

Railway companies are required to publish it — which is why 12306 carries it

The three sections do different things, and the difference matters at the gate

Knives are split by blade length, and 60 mm is the line

Sports and hobby equipment is named explicitly

Guide dogs, and live animals

Two open-ended clauses the catalogue keeps for itself

The limits can be raised temporarily, and the catalogue says so itself

Two exceptions written into the announcement

Why this page's limits differ from 12306's English FAQ

The older figures, and where they come from

What changed, beyond the numbers

What the older announcement says about breaking the rule — and how little that is

The one official route out, step by step

What the consignment channel is, and what it is not

Station-to-door consignment: where it exists, what it costs, who carries it

What the service is, and who put it there

Where it exists — a number the page itself says will change

Delivery time and price, both stated as indicative

The carriers are courier companies, not the railway itself

A second, separate use: sending something after you are already through security

The questions the catalogue actually answers

How much alcohol can I take on a Chinese train?

Can I take a power bank on a high-speed train?

Why do the numbers here differ from the English 12306 FAQ?

Can I take a kitchen knife or a pair of scissors?

What happens to something the scanner stops?

Is this the same as being over the luggage weight limit?

What this page will not assert

Flight to train the same day

Luggage allowance and size limits

Power banks on domestic flights

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