Short answer
The easiest way to receive a package in China is to have it sent to your hotel front desk — they sign for you and hold it. Self-pickup routes (Hive Box lockers, Cainiao 驿站 stations) open with an SMS pickup code and therefore need a Chinese phone number. Sending packages out is simple: SF Express (顺丰) counters and couriers take parcels with a Chinese-filled waybill, and hotels will hand parcels to the courier for you.
Hotel front desk: the traveler default
- Give the sender the hotel's full Chinese address plus the hotel's phone number, and put your name exactly as it appears on your booking — that's how the front desk matches parcels to guests.
- Mention it at the front desk ('I'm expecting a package') — they'll flag it and call your room when it lands. This works at every mid-range and above hotel; hostels are more hit-and-miss.
- You'll need to show your passport when collecting — parcels are nominally real-name, and matching the name on the parcel to your ID is the drill.
- This also works for the practical traveler move: shipping a suitcase of purchases ahead to your next hotel or to the airport instead of hauling it on trains.
Hive Box lockers and Cainiao stations
Lockers (found in apartment and office lobbies) hold parcels free for 18–24 hours, then charge a small storage fee. Cainiao stations — the little shops marked with a cainiao logo in every neighborhood — are more flexible: staff hold parcels for days, and if you show your passport and the code, someone will usually pull it for you even without the app.
| Pickup point | How it opens | Chinese number needed? |
|---|---|---|
| 丰巢 Hive Box lockers | SMS pickup code entered on the locker screen (or scan QR) | Yes — the code is texted to the recipient number |
| 菜鸟驿站 Cainiao station | Show pickup code from the Taobao/Cainiao app; staff retrieves | Yes for the code; staff often help foreigners who show passport |
| Courier home/office delivery | Door delivery; courier calls first (in Chinese) | Yes — and answering that call is its own challenge |
The Chinese phone number problem
- Every self-pickup flow assumes the recipient gets an SMS code — meaning a mainland number. Without one, your options are: hotel front desk, a Chinese SIM bought on arrival (official carrier halls and airport counters register eSIM/SIM to passports in minutes), or asking the sender/shop to reroute.
- If you're shopping on Taobao or JD yourself, enter the hotel address and the hotel's phone number as the contact — the front desk handles the rest.
- A Chinese number also unlocks the reverse: sending packages yourself through the SF Express mini program instead of hunting for a counter.
Writing the address so it actually arrives
- Courier systems are addressed in Chinese characters — pinyin or English often fails at sorting. Copy the Chinese address from the hotel's booking page, business card, or the 'copy address' button in Amap/Baidu Maps.
- Structure that always works: hotel name + branch/district + street address, then your name in English as on your passport, then a contact phone number.
- For international parcels inbound, expect customs duties above modest de-minimis values and 1–3 weeks of transit — fine for a forgotten charger, not for anything urgent.
Sending packages out
- 顺丰 SF Express is the premium carrier everyone defaults to — fast, careful, slightly pricier; 京东物流 JD Logistics is the close second. Counters exist inside most neighborhoods and near metro stations; couriers also pick up from addresses.
- Shipping luggage between cities is a real, cheap traveler hack: ¥20–60 moves a suitcase 500 km in 1–2 days, which is how people do 'train light, shop heavy' itineraries. Ask the hotel front desk to arrange it — they do this constantly.
- Parcels are X-rayed at hubs; power banks and loose lithium batteries can't travel by air freight — ground shipping (陆运) takes them, air doesn't. Liquids are fine domestically.
Related guides
More questions answered
Official sources
Policies and booking channels change — check the official channel before you rely on it.