Guangzhou Airport Transit: Transfers, Bags, Visa Rules

Which kind of connection do you have?

Your connection type decides everything: whether you pass immigration, whether you see your bags, and which counter you use. The flows below are China Southern’s, for its Terminal 2 hub: the only complete official ones we found.

Baiyun Airport’s own transfer page shows its flows as images, in Chinese. Its tabs still name T1 and none names T3, and most of its flow images were uploaded in September 2024.

International to international: staying airside

This is the one connection that can stay inside the restricted area. The steps at Terminal 2, from China Southern’s flow:

1. Get off the plane and follow the signs for transfers.
2. Pass the customs area.
3. Go to the international-to-international transfer counter on level 2 and complete the transfer formalities.
4. Pass customs and security again.
5. Take the lift to level 3 and go to the international departure waiting hall.
6. Go to your gate.

With a through ticket and a connecting boarding pass, go straight to the connecting gate (China Southern).

International to domestic: you enter China

iPhoto: Sun8908 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Details

You pass border entry inspection, so you are entering China. Check your passport in the visa-free checker first.

With a China Southern through ticket and connecting boarding pass:

1. Get off the plane and go through customs and border entry inspection.
2. Wait in the waiting area with your connecting boarding pass.
3. Go through customs and security.
4. Walk to your domestic gate.

Everyone else:

1. Go through customs and border entry inspection.
2. Take the lift to level 1 and collect your bags.
3. Go through customs, then turn right before the arrivals hall.
4. Complete the transfer formalities and re-check your bags at the international-to-domestic transfer counter on level 1.
5. Take the lift to level 2 and pass security at the front of the cross-shaped corridor.
6. Go to your domestic gate.

Domestic to international

You arrive on a domestic flight and leave the country. China Southern’s flow has two versions:

With a through ticket:

1. Get off the plane. If you do not hold the connecting boarding pass, go to the transfer counter first.
2. Walk through the cross-shaped corridor on level 2 and the domestic-international aisle.
3. Pass departure security on level 3.
4. Pass customs, then border exit inspection.
5. Wait in the international departure hall, then go to your gate.

Without a through ticket:

1. Collect your bags from the level 1 carousel.
2. Check in and drop your bags at the transfer counter on level 1.
3. Take the escalator to level 2 and pass security before the cross-shaped corridor.
4. Follow the same route as above: corridor, domestic-international channel, level 3 security, customs, border exit inspection, gate.

Overweight fees are paid at the level 3 check-in counters.

Which terminal, T2 or T3?

iPhoto: Tim Wu · CC BY-SA 4.0 Details

Every passenger flight uses Terminal 2 or Terminal 3. T1 closed to passengers on May 7, 2026. The Baiyun terminals guide lists which airlines use which terminal and how to move between them. In short, China Southern and its partners are at T2, and most other airlines, including Air China, China Eastern, Hainan, Cathay Pacific and Emirates, are at T3.

• One terminal. China Southern’s flows above apply at T2. For T3 we found no airport page that names counter locations.
• Two terminals. The airport runs a free 24-hour shuttle bus for transfer passengers between T2 and T3.
• At T3 (ANA’s flights). For connections on airlines at T2, go to the International Transfer Counter on the arrivals floor. With bags checked through, you need not collect them; take the inter-terminal bus, and staff guide you to the stop. For domestic connections, go to the domestic transfer counter on level 1 after arrival formalities and bag pickup, according to ANA’s Guangzhou guide.

Do you have to pass immigration?

You pass immigration if you leave the restricted area, and on any international-to-domestic connection. In practice:

• Staying airside, international to international. No entry. You stay in the restricted area.
• International to domestic. Border entry inspection is part of the flow.
• Leaving the airport, even for a hotel night. You enter China. See the layover guide and the transit hotels guide.

For the entry rights themselves, check which applies to you:

• 30-day visa-free entry, for passports on the list. See the 30-day visa-free guide.
• 240-hour visa-free transit, with a confirmed onward ticket to a third country or region. See the 240-hour transit guide. Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan count as onward destinations.
• A temporary entry permit for a transit under 24 hours. With an interline ticket to a third country or region and a transit within 24 hours, you need no visa if you stay in the port. To leave, apply to the border inspection station for a temporary entry permit (NIA interpretation, March 29, 2021).

The permit can be refused for an entry ban, a passport valid for under 3 months, or recent illegal entry, residence or work, among other reasons (NIA; its English page is for reference, the Chinese version is authoritative).

Follow the NIA and the visa-free checker, not China Southern’s 24-hour permit page: it still describes a 144-hour scheme for 54 countries, which is out of date.

For the arrival card: passengers who transit directly within 24 hours without leaving the port’s restricted area are exempt, according to the NIA. If you enter China, see the arrival card guide.

How much connection time do you need?

Allow at least 60 minutes at the Terminal 2 hub, China Southern’s minimum connection time, per the airline. It does not say which connection types or fares this covers. Baiyun Airport publishes no minimum on the pages we read.

The 60 minutes is an airline minimum, not a promise for every ticket. If you enter China or change terminals, the steps above take longer. Book longer connections when the second flight is on a separate ticket.

Is there a transit lounge or rest area?

Ask your airline whether your ticket includes lounge access. China Southern’s Terminal 2 transit lounge is under construction, with no opening date (China Southern’s transit lounge page).

Terminal 2 has paid hourly rest rooms, at international arrivals Gate 53 and beside the art gallery on domestic departures level 4, plus a free overnight rest area (Guangzhou Transport Bureau, June 18, 2025). The notice does not say whether any of them is inside the international transit area, so on an international-to-international connection do not count on them. More in our airport hotels guide.

What if you miss the connection?

If you miss a China Southern connection at its hub (China Southern’s misconnection page):

1. Go to China Southern’s transfer counter at Terminal 2 to change your ticket.
2. If the new connection is over 4 hours away, you get free meals in the dining periods.
3. If China Southern caused the miss and the new connection is over 8 hours away, you get free lodging.

An international-to-international passenger needs an entry permit and entry formalities before a hotel can be arranged. Hotels are outside the restricted area. China Southern’s transfer hotline, (0086) 20 8612 4008, runs 24 hours. The airport’s 24-hour line is 020-96158.

What we could not confirm

• Transfer counter locations at T3. No airport or city page gives them. ANA’s page is the only official statement we found.
• The current China Southern pages. They are undated and describe T2 only.
• JAL’s Guangzhou page. It returned an access error when we read it, so we did not use it.
• Minimum connection time beyond China Southern’s 60 minutes. Not published by the airport.
• Queue times at transfer counters, security and border control. Not published.