The 9 Best Airports To Fly Into China in 2025 - Pros and Cons to help you decide!
If you’re starting your trip in Northern China,
Beijing Capital
Pros: Closer to the city, which makes it faster to get to downtown. The airport express link also takes you further into the centre of the city. Also the main hub for Air China. You can fly to pretty much any city with an airport in China.
Cons: It’s definitely more crowded than Beijing Daxing (for the time being). More traffic congestion if travelling by road.
Beijing Daxing
Pros: Everything looks new because it only opened in 2019. Its design minimises walking between concourse and gates because it’s shaped like a starfish. One of the most impressive airports in China in my opinion. It’s the world’s largest single-building airport. There’s only one terminal so you don’t need to look for the right terminal.
Cons: It’s much further from the city core than the other airport. If you’re using the airport express link, you’ll likely need to transfer lines a couple of times. If you’re taking a taxi, it’ll take longer.
If both airports are available to you, it’ll come down to price for most people. If you’re not fussed about price and care more about time:
Choose Beijing Capital if you’re staying in the central, northern, or eastern part of the city.
Choose Beijing Daxing if you’re staying in the southern or southwestern part of the city.
If you’re starting your trip in Eastern China,
Shanghai Pudong
Pros: Has by far the most flights for international visitors to Eastern China. The airport is very well connected by railway, with Line 2, maglev link, and airport link line. It’s very close to Disneyland Shanghai.
Cons: Even with the excellent public transport, it still feels a long way from the downtown area. If you’re taking a taxi, it can take more than an hour in peak hours. There might also be quite a bit of walking after you land, depending on your arrival gate.
Choose this airport if you are visiting Eastern China for the start of your trip and there are no flights flying to other airports from your country.
Hangzhou Xiaoshan
Pros: It’s closer to other key cities such as Yiwu and Huangshan. The airport is smaller compared to Shanghai Pudong, so there’s less walking around and it feels more manageable to me.
Cons: Limited flight availability is the main thing. Not much else.
Choose Hangzhou if you are visiting this city or surrounding cities (e.g. Yiwu, Huangshan) for the majority of your trip.
If you’re starting your trip in Southern China,
Hong Kong International
Pros: Best connected internationally, especially to Europe, North America, Oceania, South East Asia, South Korea, Japan. Many cities have multiple flights to Hong Kong every day, which potentially makes it the cheapest! The airport is pretty amazing and there’s also plenty of choice for food inside the airport. If you’re going to any other cities, there are high speed rail, cross-border buses, and ferries available.
Cons: You’ll have to clear immigration twice (once for entering Hong Kong and once for entering the mainland). There is an exception to this - if you’re not visiting Hong Kong but visiting either Guangzhou, Shenzhen, or Macao, you can consider taking the Skypier Ferry without clearing immigration in Hong Kong. Otherwise, entering Hong Kong can take you an extra 2 hours to reach your target city in the mainland, compared to flying to that city directly.
Choose Hong Kong if you’re visiting Hong Kong and nearby cities in Southern China OR the flights are much cheaper compared to other cities in Southern China (I’ll leave you to decide how much cheaper is worth it for you) OR is the only airport in China with a direct flight.
Guangzhou Baiyun
Pros: Regular international flights to every continent. It’s the closest major airport for Guilin and Yangshuo. Line 3 takes you right into the centre of the city.
Cons: If you are staying in the southern parts of the city, it will take more than 1 hour to get there. It definitely made me realise how big Guangzhou is!
Choose Guangzhou if you’re visiting anywhere in Southern China (e.g. Guilin, Yangshuo, but not Hong Kong or Macau).
Shenzhen Baoan
Pros: Excellent metro connections with the Line 11 express, Line 1, and Line 12. Only around 30 minutes from downtown when using Line 11 so it doesn’t feel far. The airport looks very futuristic.
Cons: Not many international airlines to this airport yet. Otherwise, go for it.
Choose Shenzhen if you’re visiting this city or nearby cities, if the price is the cheapest (taking into account the additional transport costs).
If you’re starting your trip in Western China,
Chengdu Tianfu
Pros: The airport with the most international flights in Western China. It has the lightning fast metro line, Line 18, which can take you to the centre of the city in 30-40 minutes.
Cons: It’s a long way away from downtown areas and you’ll feel it unless travelling by metro. If you take a taxi, it’ll take at least 1 hour.
Choose Chengdu if you’re visiting this city, anywhere in Sichuan, Chongqing, Xi’an, or Guiyang. Take the metro to one of the high speed rail stations (mainly Chengdudong or Chengdunan), where you can transfer to a high speed train (remember to book the ticket in advance).
Chongqing, Xi’an, Zhangjiajie
These are not one of the 9 best airports I recommend.
But you can consider Chongqing Jiangbei or Xi’an Xiaoyang airports, especially for transfer flights from other major cities. These will obviously be closer to those cities. As of summer 2025, international flights and airlines are limited to these cities, but you might be one of the lucky ones.
Remember you can fly into Chengdu and take the high speed train. Most people who are visiting Chongqing or Xi’an are also visiting Chengdu anyway.
Zhangjiajie does have an airport but its flights are very limited. If you can’t get a suitable one, fly into Chongqing instead and get the high speed train from Chongqing East (which takes 2-3 hours).
Kunming Changshui
Pros: The closest airport to Tiger Leaping Gorge, Dali, Lijiang, Shangri-La, and numerous stunning locations in Yunnan Province. You can also land here to kick off your journey to Laos along the China-Laos Railway, which opened in 2021.
Cons: It doesn’t have that many international flights, so there is a high chance that you’ll need a transfer flight from another airport.
Xinjiang and Tibet
None of the above airports are suitable if you’re travelling to these regions.
For Xinjiang, you should fly into Urumqi Tianshan either directly or through a transfer flight.
For Tibet, you should fly into Lhasa Gonggar (note: you need to join a tour and you need a Tibet Travel Permit)
NOTE FROM ME: This article covers the most well-connected airports in China. There are other airports available, but I have not covered them due to their limited international flights. Remember to do your research if your destination is a smaller city and you are okay with transfer flights.
