Arriving at Guangzhou airport as a Nigerian, step by step
Arriving at Guangzhou airport: the online arrival card, fingerprints, the cash declaration, the yellow fever check, the 24 hour rule and the metro into town.
If you are arriving at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport from Nigeria, have four things ready before you leave the aircraft:
passport and China visa, completed arrival card, yellow fever certificate, and your hotel address.
Then the process is simple:
immigration → baggage → Customs → phone/payment → transport into Guangzhou.
The biggest 2026 change is the airport itself. Terminal 1 is closed. International passengers now use Terminal 2 or Terminal 3, and T3 does not currently have a direct Guangzhou Metro station.
Fill the China arrival card before you land #
Since 20 November 2025, foreign travellers can complete China's arrival card online before reaching immigration.
Use only the official National Immigration Administration channels: its website, NIA 12367 app, WeChat or Alipay mini-program. The service is free. Paper cards are still available at the airport if you cannot complete it online. China has specifically warned travellers about fake arrival-card websites charging money.
Do it before landing if possible.
Have your:
flight number, hotel name/address, passport and purpose of visit
ready.
For a Nigerian trader, “business”, Canton Fair attendance or supplier meetings should match the purpose of the visa you actually hold.
Check your terminal before you make a transport plan #
Do not use an old Guangzhou airport guide.
Terminal 1 stopped operating passenger flights in May 2026, and Airport South metro station linked to T1 is currently skipped.
You will normally arrive at T2 or T3.
Check the terminal on your flight information rather than memorising that a particular airline always uses one terminal. Terminal assignments have changed several times since T3 opened in October 2025.
This matters because:
T2: Airport North station gives you direct access to Metro Line 3.
T3: use Baiyun Airport East intercity station, a taxi/Didi, or the airport shuttle to Gaozeng Metro station. T3 does not yet have a direct metro connection.
What happens at Chinese immigration? #
Have your passport open around the visa page and keep your hotel booking available on your phone.
The officer may ask where you are staying, why you are visiting or when you leave China.
Do not give a speech.
If you are there to attend Canton Fair and meet suppliers, say exactly that.
Keep your return or onward itinerary somewhere you can reach quickly.
For a normal Chinese visa, your permitted stay generally starts counting from the day after entry, not the day you landed. Check the “Duration of Each Stay” printed on your visa and calculate your departure date properly.
If the immigration equipment asks for fingerprints or a photograph, follow the instructions.
Then collect your bags.
Keep your yellow fever certificate in your hand luggage #
Do not put it inside the suitcase you checked in Lagos or Abuja.
China requires proof of yellow fever vaccination from travellers arriving from countries with yellow-fever transmission risk, which includes Nigeria.
Keep it with your passport until you are completely through the arrival process.
For Nigerian travellers, the recognised e-Yellow Card is issued through Port Health Services.
See our China trip packing guide before you fly.
Customs: cash is where Nigerian traders need to pay attention #
China requires an arriving passenger to declare more than RMB20,000 in cash or foreign currency cash worth more than US$5,000.
If you exceed the threshold, use the declaration channel.
China Customs does not say that merely carrying more than US$5,000 makes you a criminal. The problem is failing to declare money that should have been declared.
There is another rule before you even reach China.
Nigeria Customs requires travellers carrying more than US$10,000 or its equivalent entering or leaving Nigeria to declare it.
So if you are travelling to China with supplier money in cash, know both borders.
For large purchases, carrying bundles of dollars is usually not the best payment plan anyway. Our guide to paying Chinese suppliers from Nigeria explains the cleaner routes.
Do not pack Nigerian food as if Customs will ignore it #
This causes unnecessary arguments at airports.
China's current quarantine rules restrict or prohibit several categories commonly found in Nigerian luggage, including meat and meat products, aquatic animal products, fresh fruits and vegetables, and seeds or other plant material capable of propagation.
That means things such as kilishi, dried fish, stockfish and crayfish are exactly the kinds of animal products you should not casually pack.
If you are unsure whether something should be declared, use the declaration channel and ask.
China Customs itself advises passengers who do not know which channel to use to choose the things-to-declare channel.
One more point for business travellers: Customs also lists goods, samples and advertising articles among items that may require declaration. Do not assume that calling something a “sample” automatically turns commercial merchandise into personal luggage.
Staying outside a hotel? The 24-hour rule changed in 2026 #
Every foreign traveller's accommodation must be registered.
If you stay in a normal hotel, the hotel does it when you check in.
If you stay in a friend's apartment, private accommodation or another non-hotel property, the registration must be completed within 24 hours.
And there is a very useful new change.
From 21 September 2026, China expanded online accommodation registration nationwide. A foreign guest or host can now complete the non-hotel registration through the NIA government website, NIA 12367 app, WeChat mini-program or Alipay mini-program instead of necessarily going to a police station.
That is worth knowing if you are staying in an apartment in Xiaobei or with a business contact.
Sort your phone and payment before leaving the airport #
This is one area where Baiyun Airport has improved.
International arrival areas in both T2 and T3 now have foreign-passenger service centres providing help with mobile communications, payments and transport.
If you land without mobile data, do not wander around Guangzhou hoping your Nigerian SIM will save you.
Sort it at the airport.
Ideally, however, install and set up WeChat and Alipay before leaving Nigeria.
Read our WeChat setup guide for Nigerians and China SIM card guide.
There is also good news for your first metro ride.
Since October 2025, Guangzhou Metro accepts contactless overseas-issued Visa, Mastercard, American Express and JCB cards directly at metro gates across the network.
So you no longer need to solve WeChat Pay before you can take a train.
T2 to Guangzhou: Metro Line 3 is the easy option #
If you land in Terminal 2, follow signs to Airport North metro station.
Line 3 takes you south into Guangzhou.
For Canton Fair/Pazhou, take Line 3 and change to Line 8 at Kecun, then get off at Pazhou or Xingangdong. Guangzhou's official 2026 Canton Fair transport guide recommends this route.
For Tianhe, Line 3 is particularly convenient.
If you have one suitcase and arrive during metro operating hours, this is usually the simplest option.
T3 to Guangzhou: do not look for a metro station under the terminal #
This is the detail many old guides now get wrong.
Terminal 3 has Baiyun Airport East intercity railway station, but no direct Guangzhou Metro station yet.
From T3 you have three sensible choices.
For the Canton Fair, the intercity railway is excellent: Pazhou can be reached from Baiyun Airport East in roughly half an hour on the fastest services.
For Tianhe, current airport guidance says the intercity train reaches Keyun Road in about 24 minutes, after which you can continue locally.
If you specifically want Metro Line 3, take the airport shuttle from T3 to Gaozeng Station. The trip takes around 15 minutes and the airport has increased the shuttle frequency during busy periods.
Taxi or airport pickup? #
If this is your first time in Guangzhou, you land late, or you have several suitcases, taking a taxi or arranged pickup is often worth the extra money.
Follow the official Taxi signs after arrivals.
Do not follow somebody walking around the arrivals hall saying:
“Taxi? Taxi? Guangzhou city?”
You have just arrived in a city you do not know, you may not have working Chinese payment apps yet, and you probably cannot explain your hotel address in Mandarin.
That is exactly when an unofficial driver has the advantage.
Use the official taxi queue, Didi pickup area or a driver arranged before you fly.
For T3 international arrivals, airport guidance currently places the official taxi pickup around Gate 75; Didi and other ride-hailing pickups use designated parking areas rather than the normal taxi queue.
Keep your hotel address written in Chinese, not only English.
That single screenshot can save twenty minutes.
The first hour after you land #
Do these things in this order:
Clear immigration.
Collect your bags.
Declare anything that needs declaring.
Make sure your phone has data.
Make sure you can pay.
Open your hotel address.
Then leave the airport.
Do not stand in arrivals trying to organise supplier meetings, exchange large amounts of cash and download five Chinese apps at once.
Get to the hotel first.
Then deal with Guangzhou.
The short version #
Arriving at Guangzhou Airport from Nigeria is straightforward if the important things are ready.
Complete the free official arrival card before landing.
Carry your passport, visa and yellow fever certificate together.
Remember that T1 is closed — you are dealing with T2 or T3.
Declare large amounts of cash and restricted goods honestly.
If you stay in a hotel, the hotel handles accommodation registration. If you stay elsewhere, complete it within 24 hours — and as of September 2026 you can now do that online nationwide.
At T2, Metro Line 3 is easy.
At T3, think intercity railway, shuttle to Gaozeng, taxi or pickup.
And before the trip, set up your phone and payment tools in Nigeria rather than attempting everything after a 20-hour journey.
Next, read how to set up WeChat before travelling to China.
Then which China SIM or eSIM to use.
And once you are settled, our getting around Guangzhou guide covers metro, Didi, taxis and trains.
If you are coming for Canton Fair or supplier visits and want the China side organised before you land, use the ChinaBridge travel request form to arrange the trip before departure.
Start here, it takes about two minutes
Tell us what you need. A person from the ChinaBridge desk will reply on WhatsApp, usually the same working day.
Buying, selling, shipping, a visa or the paperwork, it is the same desk. Nothing is payable to open a file, and nothing is due until you have agreed a plan in writing.
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