This content is informed by electricity authority guidelines, IEC recommendations, and practical feedback from travellers abroad.
Sockets in China
China uses Type A, C, and I plugs and sockets.
Type A
Type A sockets have two flat parallel pins and no grounding. Unlike Type G, they don’t include an earth pin, which makes them less secure.
Type C
Type C sockets have two round pins and no grounding. Unlike Type G, they take a slimmer plug without an earth pin or fuse.
Type I
Type I sockets have two flat angled pins and sometimes a vertical earth pin. UK Type G plugs do not fit into Type I sockets.
Recommended Travel Adaptor for China
We’ve tested adaptors hands-on across many trips, always checking for safety, speed and build. In this country, one adaptor won’t cut it — you’ll need more than one to cover all sockets. Here are the best.
Left your adaptor at home? Airports and local shops tend to have them. But having your own is safer, cheaper, and far less stressful.
China is usually combined with visits to Mongolia and Vietnam. It’s worth checking those pages too — plug types and voltage aren’t always the same.
Do You Need a Voltage Converter?
You’ll only ever need a voltage converter if your device’s voltage doesn’t match the country’s. In China you won’t need one — the mains voltage is roughly the same as in the UK.
Before charging abroad, glance at the mains label: ‘100–240 V, 50/60 Hz’ confirms it’ll run safely without a converter.
Top Travel Essentials to Take With You
Sometimes the simplest bits of kit are the most useful. A luggage scale saves your wallet, a power bank saves your battery, and packing cubes save your sanity when you’re digging through your bag. We’ve tested them, and they’ve quickly become our travel staples.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
