How to Write a China Address Correctly

The defining rule of a Chinese address is that it runs from the largest area to the smallest. Where an English address starts with a house number and ends with a country, a Chinese address starts with the province and ends with the room, and the recipient's name often comes last.

Component order

1. Postal code (six digits), usually at the top.
2. Province, municipality or autonomous region.
3. City (and prefecture-level unit where relevant).
4. District or county.
5. Street or road and street number.
6. Residential compound, office park or building complex name.
7. Building number, unit and room or floor.
8. Recipient name and phone number.

Municipalities such as the large directly administered cities are written as the city itself, followed by the district, without a separate province line.

Language and script

Chinese characters are the standard for domestic delivery. A name in pinyin may not match the characters used by the local courier, so copying the address from the recipient in characters avoids transcription errors. For international senders, using a bilingual label, with characters and a pinyin line, is a sensible approach. When using a website that only accepts Latin letters, enter pinyin but keep the road and compound names consistent with what appears on local maps.

Buildings, compounds and units

Many people live in walled or gated residential compounds with numbered buildings. Within a compound, the building, unit and room numbers matter more than the street number. Writing "Building 0, Unit 0, Room 000" in the order used locally prevents delays at the gate.

Formatted example

Values below are placeholders. The first block is the domestic layout, the second the English-style layout.

NNNNNN
Province Name, City Name, District Name
Street Name, No. 00, Compound Name
Building 0, Unit 0, Room 000
Recipient Name, Phone: 1XX-XXXX-XXXX

Recipient Name
Room 000, Unit 0, Building 0, Compound Name
No. 00 Street Name, District Name
City Name, Province Name NNNNNN
China
UPCS code: CN-XXXX-XXXX

The UPCS line is optional and unofficial. It shows the exact entrance on a map. Generate one on the UPCS map.

Related pages

Check the digits in the China postal code format guide and see where addresses cause delivery problems.