Sending Mail to/from China

Also see Hong Kong and Taiwan (Republic of China).

Format Examples

Mainland Chinese address formatting is a rather confused (not even just confusing) topic. For example, the Universal Postal Union, a Microsoft book on internationalizing software, and other sources I have seen all have differences in their preferred formats. From this I conclude that there must be mail deliverers in China who are accustomed to figuring out weird variant address formats.

A simple example (based mostly on UPU documentation)

The Chinese postal service prefers the 6-digit postcode (postal code) before the province name.
(But it seems many Chinese don't write this format, at least not presently!)

   MR. ZHIMIN LI                       [honorific + name of person]
   63 RENMIN LU, QINGDAO SHI           [number + street name, city]
   266033 SHANDONG                     [postcode + province]
   CHINA                               [country]
   

When mailing from the United States, CHINA is enough for the country name. Several other versions of the country name will also work.

A somewhat complicated address:

   MAO MIAO                               [name of person]
   DEPT OF PROMOTION OF SPICY FISH
   CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & BUSINESS
   ROOM 305                                                              (The Center is located inside Room 305.)
   ZODIAC EXTRAS COURT                                                   (This is the name of a building or portion of a building complex?)
   36 BAOSHAN JIUCUN, BAOSHAN DISTRICT    [street address, district within city]   (Don't be confused by the street name including the district name in this case.)
   201900 SHANGHAI                        [postal code + province]       (Every PRC postal code is 6 digits.  Shanghai is its own province.)
   P.R. CHINA                             [country]                      (P.R. stands for "People's Republic")
   

A less modernized, less standardized form of the above address, so you can see some differences:

      MAO MIAO                            [name of person]
      DEPT OF PROMOTION OF SPICY FISH
      CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE, BUSINESS, AND PRODUCT SOURCING
      ROOM 305                                                                (The Center is located inside Room 305.)
      ZODIAC EXTRAS COURT                                                     (This is the name of a building or portion of a building complex?)
      NO. 36 BAOSHAN JIUCUN                                                   (street address)
      BAOSHAN DISTRICT SHANGHAI           [district within city + city name (are on same line in this older-style example)]  
      SHANGHAI 201900                     [province name + postal code]       (Shanghai is its own province.  Every PRC postal code is 6 digits.)
      CHINA
   

Rural address (based on UPU documentation)

   MRS. JIAYING WONG                   [honorific + name of person]
   8 XUJIAZHAI, HUAQIAOCUN             [number + locality name, village]
   XINZHONG XIANG, TIANTAI XIAN        [county's subdivision, 'county city']
   266033 ZHEJIANG                     [postcode + province]
   P.R. CHINA
   

Some large, official organizations don't need a street address or PO box in their address.
This also provides a great example of how correct information, including postcode, can get a package delivered even if you're not sure about the exact order & format.

   LANCE MULTILINGUA-EBEL         [name of person]
   FOREIGN TEACHERS' MAILBOX     [delivery information internal to recipient institution/organization/business]
   LIANGANG MIDDLE SCHOOL        [instiution/organization/company]
   LOUDI, HUNAN 417009           [city, province + postal code]   (not really the most modern standardized format)
   PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA    [country]
   

In a few cities, the province is the same as the city, so people often don't write the name twice.

   Fortunate Trade & Manufacturing Partnership for Growth
   Example Traveling Investment Co.
   87/F Jiu Shi Fu Xin Mansion     (Some addresses can include floor number, suite, building name, etc., preferably on a line above the street address.)
   123 Huaihai Zhong Road
   SHANGHAI 200020                 (Notice people are not conformists about order of city, province, and 6-digit postal code.)
   PRC
   

ABB (China) Investment Ltd. (new)

   South Tower
   Rainbow Plaza
   14 Dongsuan Huan Beilu, Chao Yang District
   100026 BEIJING 
   CHINA
   

from the Universal Postal Union, with our edits/updates:

   Beijing Friendship Hospital
   95 Yong An Road
   100050 BEIJING
   PEOPLE'S REP OF CHINA

   Directorate General of Posts
   13 West Chang An Street
   100804 BEIJING
   PEOPLE'S REP OF CHINA
   

Format Information

• If you write the recipient (delivery) address in Western characters, leave extra margin on the envelope, package, or postcard:
  • at least 3/4 to 1 inch of blank space under the address
  • at least 1 1/2 or 2 inches of blank space to the right of the address.
  Chinese postal workers may need this space to write delivery information in Chinese.

• Reading a foreign language (English) is hard, so
  • Print very clearly.
  • ALL CAPITALS is probably clearest. Certainly capitalize the province name (which can be city name also.)
  • English abbreviations are often confusing,
    unless the abbreviation is the normal or best-known form of the name or term.
    Examples of good abbreviations:
    • "IBM" is probably better known than "International Business Machines".
    • "PO Box" is at least as well known as "Post Office Box".

• Most addresses should include both city/town/village and province. For a few large cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjian, Chongking) the city is also the province.

• When mailing from the United States, you may write the address in Chinese,
  except that the city, province, and country name must also be given in English.

  Exception: USPS Global Express Guaranteed requires the entire address in English.

• "Important Things First?"
  • In China, Korea, and Japan, the family name is normally written before the given name ("Wing John", not "John Wing".)
  • Inside China, addresses written in Chinese are commonly written in the opposite order from in the West -- largest entity comes first.
  However, when dealing with Western foreigners, most Chinese are flexible about these things.

• Address mail to China in blue or black ink--never in red! Writing a name in red is considered inauspicious.

Postage Rates

Please see our International Postage Rates Guide.

The page you are now looking at is an appendage of the International Mailing Address Formats page.

Although these links and other information were compiled by BitBoost Systems personnel primarily for the use of such personnel: None of the information included or linked to is guaranteed by BitBoost Systems to be available or correct. Nor is it guaranteed by any personnel or organizations associated with BitBoost Systems. BitBoost Systems takes no reponsibility for the results of using such links or other information.

This webpage answers such questions as "How do I write the address on a letter or package to China?" "How much does it cost to mail something to or from China?" etc.