Chinese Electricity and Plugs

If you are considering bringing your own electrical appliances to China, there are two obstacles to overcome. The first is being able to physically fit the plug of your item into the sockets that are commonly available in China, while the other is dealing with a difference in voltage and frequency of the electricity. Most adapters for electronics (digital cameras, video cameras, laptop computers) are able to operate using a range of voltages and frequencies—check the back of the adapter to see what voltages yours supports before you leave for China.

There are several kinds of plugs in China, and often power bars will have ingeniously-designed slots to accommodate the many different styles of plugs. The options for wall sockets may be more limited though, and the most common is a type of socket that has room for a grounded plug as well as a non-grounded plug. The grounded plug has a round head and has three flat blades, with two of the blades sometimes being angled inwards- these are the same as the grounded plugs used in Australia. The Chinese non-grounded plugs are similar to the North American non-grounded plugs, which have two, flat, vertical blades.

For Americans or Canadians traveling to China, you may need a plug adapter to use your plugs. Even though the non-grounded outlets in China are considered American-style outlets, they are not polarized. By polarized, it means that one of the vertical blades is longer than the other two, and polarization serves as a safety feature which is yet to be adopted by less advanced countries.

Even if you are able to plug into the outlets in China, it does not mean that you can use the appliances because the voltage of electricity that runs through the outlets may be different. Most countries in the world, including China, use 220-240 volt outlets, but in America and Japan, electrical outlets supply 110-120 volts of electricity. Therefore, you will need a step-down transformer to reduce the voltage from the outlet such that it will fit your appliances. There are various step-down transformers available, but anything that can reduce 220-240V to 110-120V will be effective enough. Most step-down transformers come with thermal protection to prevent overload damages and they are designed for continuous use. However, they can add a bit of weight to your pack.