Guangzhou Airport Passenger Reviews and Guangzhou Airport Traveller Reports

The most disgusting restaurants I've visited - the food is inedible (even the tomato sandwich, served with stale bread and rotten tomato for $12), the staff rude and the prices ridiculous. You get told there is free wifi, then surprise after you order, its broken. Certainly one of the worlds worst airports.

Guangzhou is a very strange airport. I was a China Southern business class passenger, and had no trouble with their lounge, which is OK. But the airport itself? I thought it was old, but discovered it was built in 2004 - to a truly hideous design, if one can call it that. It's basically several hangars bolted together with facilities dumped down inside, which I can't comment on as I didn't try to buy anything, though I did wander around the shops. No ATMs, daft wifi, very limited language skills though plenty of smiles (and misunderstandings). Why do international transit passengers have to go through immigration, only to be left entirely to their own devices with no help after bizarre encounters with officials and much confusion? I was looked after by a China Southern lady so had a comparatively easy experience, but I saw ghastly things in the other queues. The whole place is bleak and security-ridden. They have a huge hygiene problem outside the China Southern VIP lounge. In the meantime, I feel a bit glum about facing Guangzhou again, even though China Southern airlines are such good value for money.

Hands down the worst international airport I've ever flown through! The toilets are disgusting, staff unhelpful and unwilling/unable to speak English. Uncomfortable seats, overpriced junk even by an airports standard, no ATM, no free WiFi unless you have a Chinese sim card and very limited places to eat and drink. I'm currently half way through my 17 hour layover here. Avoid this airport at all costs, I know I will be in the future!

Transited here on my trip from AMS to BKK and back. Arriving from Amsterdam early in the morning: we had to take an old looking bus to the terminal. Then had to pass transit-immigration (standard procedure for any international airport in mainland China). The queue was not that long but the immigration officer told me I have to get a new boarding pass to BKK first and then come back again. My computer printed pass was not sufficient. After obtaining a new pass went through immigration without waiting. Surprisingly enough there was no security screening before departure area nor at the gates. The international pier covers just 1/6 of the whole terminal, but I found it spacious enough, however food options are limited. Toilets were ok. Arrived from BKK late evening and expected to spend whole night at the airport. Same immigration procedure with little queuing. An immigration officer told me to go to transfer desk and fill in a "short-stay" form. After passing immigration was brought by airport staff to the arrival hall. Staff told me I could stay at a hotel near the airport because of long transfer. In the morning transferred by mini van back to airport. Didn't need to check in, so went direct to security (no queues) and then immigration area. All in all - I liked the airport even it's not same league as Hong Kong or Changi.

Had a 6 hour layover in Guangzhou Baiyun Airport International Terminal. I flew in from Guilin and separately connect with my flight back to LAX. Not a combined tourist flight. It was fine. Bathrooms were clean (not spotless) and it's a place to people watch. They have the electrical chargers every couple of gates so you can charge your devices and the chairs are fine. Security was thorough and the getting around the airport to check in separately (from domestic to international) was fine. The Wifi needs a local mobile account to login. No international login ability. Restaurants in the international gate areas are limited to a couple of coffee shops and a western/Chinese restaurant. Prices are airport typical. Many shops to browse but overpriced like the typical airport shop. There are more to shop and places to eat outside of the gate area. But the airport is huge so you may not like to venture out once you've gone through security. In all, GZ Baiyun Airport was fine. I didn't see any rodents and the staff were helpful when you need them. At least in the international terminal, have login for Wifi so any passenger can get on and expand the restaurants. Put in a KFC or even a McD's for a little variety.

Travelled from Australia to Europe return with family of four twice in 4 months due to sick relatives. Dreadful experiences. Terminal was freezing in January, no heating - staff in shops were spectacularly rude, just what you need halfway through a long haul flight! Food inedible and incredibly overpriced. The best I've kept until last - the large numbers of rats seen on each occasion running around the seating areas! Toilets filthy and smelly! Avoid.

In transit from Phnom Penh, Cambodia back to Vancouver, BC and stayed at the airport for 3 hours. We were all waiting at Gate 106. The plane was delayed for one hour and the waiting area was packed with passengers. Out of nowhere, there appeared a big rat running around the waiting area and stopped by the check-in counter looking at us. I went over to the check-in counter, told and showed the clerk where the rat was resting. He just shrugged it off. Nothing happened and after for about 3-4 minutes, the rat ran away and hid under one the nearby vacant check-in counters. Like the previous poster said, most of the staff servicing the shops were pretty rude to customers. All washrooms were filthy. Cappuccino at the coffee shop was US$9. Duty free alcohol prices were almost the same as retail at home. I just couldn't find anything positive about CAN.

Stayed for 6 hours in transit at Guangzhou on the way to Paris. I will never stop over in China ever again. Besides the rudeness of people at this airport, after asking one girl working in a shop if she spoke English only for her to cross her head and keep playing on her phone, literally 30 seconds later right in front of me she started speaking English with another passenger. They are an absolute disgrace. The prices in the cafes are unspeakable, and seem to change whenever a waitress feels like it. If you do happen to go through this airport, continually ask how much everything is every time you go to buy something. That pretty much sums up Guangzhou airport.

Had a flight from Incheon to Dubai. My transit experience was good. Transit went smoothly and I was at the boarding gate about 15 minutes after disembarking the plane from ICN. No problems whatsoever about immigration but yes I agree abut the facilities because they were quite poor. Toilets are ok but China Southern staff on both leg was very helpful. Overall, nice experience and will fly through CAN again if needed and price is cheaper.

Transited this airport for 6 hours from Hanoi to Melbourne. No waiting at the transit counter but I did wonder why passport needs stamping while transiting internationally. They demanded my boarding pass from the incoming flight. There was no forewarning about this requirement. Toilets were filthy. There are no ATMs and the shops require RMB or (fortunately) USD so be prepared. Prices for food and drinks were more expensive than any airport I have visited - US $10.00 for one cup of coffee. No English speaking staff in the shopping areas and the staff are very rude. My one exception to all of my negative comments above - the airport staff of China Southern Airlines were relatively good English speakers and were extremely polite and helpful.

While we had no complaints about our China Southern Airlines flight, our 6-hour stopover in Guangzhou Airport was enough to put my husband and I off visiting China or taking a Chinese airline again. After standing in a queue for ages to get into the transit area, the staff in the cafe we visited were rude and the prices outrageously high, there was no heating at all in the airport in January, and to top it all off we saw a huge rat running around amongst the seats where passengers were waiting for their flights. All in all, a nightmare airport to avoid at any cost.

My girlfriend and I are currently huddled in one of the 3 very expensive restaurants here, enduring a 12hr layover en route between LAX and Jakarta, Indonesia. Even though in theory we are entitled to free hotel accommodation, we lack visas so cannot leave the airport. After repeated discussions with both China Southern and Immigration, we could not come to a solution. Airport was freezing. No heating on 6th Jan, no blankets. Toilets were dirty, no warm water. Customer service non-existent, met with the dullest of stares. If you can help it, avoid this airport.

Transited through Guangzhou to and from Nepal in October/November. Found it to be clean and well maintained although was a little disconcerted on the return trip to see a couple of rats running around at about 6 am when all was comparatively quiet. The only real complaint was the extortionate prices the cafes charged for a cup of coffee - between US10 and US14 a cup, so beware and ask the price before you order.

I transferred from Incheon-Sydney here, via China Southern in both cases. Overall it was OK and clean. However I agree with many comments, the toilets were dirty. Added to this problem was the cleaners who were leaning on the wash basin having a good talk, rather than cleaning and making sure that there was soap in the empty dispensers. I was annoyed enough to look for the information counter and ask for a feedback form (not understood) or complaint form (still not understood).

We transited through CAN on our way from Xi'an to Hanoi. The incoming flight was late, but the airline (China Southern) had a person waiting outside the aircraft, who also collected our baggage straight from the tarmac, and hustled us through the airport to our next flight. Immigration was efficient, and we reached our next flight with 15 minutes to spare. Total time taken = 35 minutes.

Not sure what everyone is complaining about. I found the airport clean, quiet with plenty of seating. Customs was a simple walk through. I think people expect a Dubai, Singapore, HK standard where ever they go, bright lights, blaring music and store owners seeking your money. Guangzhou was lovely and quiet so having a 7 hour layover was refreshing. Food was 'expensive' but isn't it at every airport?

My two complaints are that the drinking water had no cold water, only hot? The alleged "free wifi" is only for Chinese sim card holders. How ridiculous is that? At least PEK allows you to swipe your passport to receive a 5 hour free account. However, there was plenty of seating, finding your way around was easy enough. Transiting from International to Domestic was fine.

We were stuck in this airport for 6 hours on a return flight from Australia to England. No seating really other than those at the Gates, however we just set ourselves up at a random gate with no passengers waiting. Food and drink is expensive but I had read no ATM so at least we had some currency with us. We had 3 teenagers with us with absolutely nothing for them to do. The toilets were the most disgusting ones I have had the misfortune to use. Staff in the airport were rude and unhelpful and cannot speak a word of English, which as an apparent stop over for international flights, is not ideal.

I had a 4 hour layover on the way from Japan to Cambodia and a 19 hour layover on the way back, both through CAN. I would not recommend it. On the way over our flight got in 4hours late, at 3:30AM. We were waiting in the dirty bottom lower level, where you had to walk through the smokers (about 20-25 at the time) in order to use the very dirty toilets. The food was way overpriced - about US$5.00 for a soda and US$10 for a piece of cheesecake. On my long layover I booked a room at Pullman Hotel (on premise and highly recommend), but it was a pain to get out. They had to type up some paperwork for an "extended stay" since I didn't have a China visa. Then they sent me with the wrong group, almost to another hotel! The lady did not speak English - should have English speakers for an international airport! People kept jumping ahead in line, Chinese folks were yelling, no one seemed to know what was going on - very unpleasant experience.

All Chinese airports are bad for international travellers since you need to be proficient at reading 50,000 Chinese characters and a fluent Chinese speaker to get anywhere. However, Guangzhou is one of the easiest. The modern bus station outside is clearly marked in both English and Chinese in stark contrast to Pudong's Third-Worldish dust park where zero English is written and spoken. Having said this, the ticket salesgirl did give me a ticket to the wrong destination, but I had no trouble changing it to the right destination though although I did have to use Chinese to do this. If you are going to Guangzhou city, you can go very cheaply on the metro. If you think Guangzhou Baiyun Airport is bad, you should try some of the other Chinese airports. Try getting into the city by bus from Hangzhou Airport and see how you get on.

I transferred through Guangzhou when travelling to/from Australia and Europe. On the way to Europe, they had us pass through a single-station security checkpoint and checked everyone very carefully and slowly, which I felt was unnecessary and annoying. The lounge is OK. Notable things for me were that you need a credit card or $USD to buy things in the shops, the food is expensive, free drinking water was available but in high demand and available only in miniature cups (if you didn't have your own container). Having said that, it wasn't too bad - I'd transit through there again.

By modern international standards, a poor airport, especially in the public 'comfort' areas. Where are the fast- food restaurants - not that I particularly enjoy this type of food, but if you're in a hurry where can you go? In fact, it might be a good idea if you were in a hurry because that way you spend less time there! Very little public seating is available. Where is the 'free' wi-fi - only if you have a Chinese Sim card. I'm not looking forward to the 8 hour layover I have in two days' time.

The airport has that common architectural "airport" feel, but compared to even mediocre airports in the United States, this one fails on many levels. There is no Starbucks, no wifi and no English magazines. I flew to Guangzhou from Incheon, then from Guangzhou to LAX. 4 hour layover which turned into a 5 hour layover. I had a meal at one of the restaurants. $15 dollars for a plate of dumplings and a Chinese soda. Even though your computer or phone may pick up the "free airport wifi" you will quickly notice that it requires a username and password and that the "English" link on the log-in website doesn't work. The bathrooms were dirty and required going downstairs. The seats were cramped and uncomfortable.

My husband and I recently transferred from international to domestic at Guangzhou when flying from Vietnam to Beijing with China Southern Airlines without any troubles. We had read other travellers comments before arriving and once we got there found it hard to believe that people were talking about the same airport. We found everything to be very well laid out with clear sign-age in both Chinese and English as well as most of the staff being able to speak enough English to help point us in the right direction. We arrived with 4 other flights and more staff were immediately added to process all of the travellers so that we did not have very long and booking into our next flight at the transfer desk was fast, efficient and friendly. Airport security is very rarely full of smiles so why would this airport be any different? Having said this the security personnel were very professional and courteous, treating us better than other international airports I have travelled through. On a whole the airport is clean, there are plenty of shops, restrooms, smoking rooms, and eateries, and it is easy to navigate; I wouldn't hesitate to travel through here again.

I went through Guangzhou airport from Sydney with transfer to Kunming. It was an early flight so things went pretty smoothly. Although I flew China Southern business class, China Southern does not allow the use of its facilities. The public toilets are not international level. Customs seemed ok but having read other reviews, I allowed plenty of time and only had carry on luggage and my briefcase. There's only overpriced kiosk /shops that sell the usual soft drinks and Chinese snacks. I paid something like $8au for an ice drink/dessert frappe think.

Only ever used CAN for domestic travel, for which it is ok. The good: direct bus service to many nearby cities; check-in and security check quite fast; very short walk after arrival to the baggage claim area and baggage arrives within minutes. The bad: terribly overpriced restaurants, filthy toilets, uncomfortable seats in the waiting area. Overall, the quick check-in and security, as well as baggage delivery, (just) outweigh the negatives for me.

Very, very poor example of an international airport, dirty, unfriendly staff, free wifi but only if you are Chinese. No ATM or money changer in the departure lounge so unless you have a credit card, RMB or American dollars you can't do anything. Would not recommend this airport.

After reading the horror tales of transferring flights in CAN, the whole process of customs and screening to get to the international departures only took 25min. The process has obviously been streamlined, there were 4 counters to handled the international transfers. A quick scan of the passport and a stamp is all it took. The biggest delay was the security screening as there was only one x-ray machine in use. In the international departures, you can use a credit card if you spend more than 50 Yuan. However, the food and drinks are over priced.

Even though it is more recent than Pudong Terminal A, it is already falling apart. Today most of the escalators and moving walkways seemed to be out of order. This is the same as 2 months ago. The toilets are disgusting and filthy. Cars which in other countries are for transporting the disabled, are here for rent and are driven at reckless speeds through the crowds. The queuing is bad at the best of times, the number of checkpoints is too small. (Checking the old reviews, I found that I had written a similar comment before in 2009 - seems that nothing ever changes at Guangzhou airport, only that the equipment is now even more decrepit than in 2009).

This review is on the two international to international connections I had earlier this month. Transit Immigration: there are a whole jumble of lines, with an unclear demarcation between transit and non-transit flows, and no clear signage. Queue jumping/cutting is rampant. Security screening: Transiting passengers are funnelled into a single line for security screening. Only one metal detector/x-ray machine. Terminal looks nice on first sight but that's about it. This was the coldest terminal I have ever encountered. Despite promises of a "transit lounge" in the China Southern Airlines Magazine, there is actually no such lounge (at least in the international side). It is nigh impossible for non-china customers to get an Internet connection. Decent number of shops but not much variety. There are only 3 eateries. Bathrooms were scarce and filthy. To top it all off, nearly all of the customer service personnel were very rude. All in all, falls far short of expectations as a supposedly "modern airport."

I have travelled through this airport twice on a return trip Stockholm to Sydney. It was a transit stop only both times, but took 3 hours to get through customs. English is poor, communication is poor and service is poor. They lost my bag. I saw it on the carousel and said it needed to be re-checked and a new luggage tag assigned. Staff said they would do it and that I couldn't go down to do it myself.

Hanoi-Guangzhou-Beijing. Landed from Hanoi, it was easy to walk through immigration and customs. China Southern does not tag luggage through to Beijing so I had to pick up my luggage and check-in again in Guangzhou. Immigration was fast, staff friendly and helpful. There are plenty of signs to direct transit passengers at CAN. Before immigration there is a counter for international-international transfer. After immigration and luggage pick up area, there is a domestic transfer area, so you don't have to go outside then upstairs to check-in. It was a relatively easy process. Domestic boarding process can be painful. There are A and B areas and you need to check your boarding carefully. Two areas have different security checking points. It took me another 30 minutes to go through the long queue and pass the security check. There are plenty of shops, restaurants and cafes at CAN. Toilets are not that clean. Overall transit at Guangzhou airport was not as bad as I expected.

As a transit passenger travelling through to Melbourne outbound, and Amsterdam via Beijing on my return, on both occasions this airport was hopeless. Not only were there long immigration queues, but I was asked to fill out two separate forms which were not made clear, making it necessary to re-join the back of the queue on both occasions. Once through immigration, my passport was taken without explanation and following a 10 mins wait, I was ushered out of the airport despite being in transit. I had to check myself back in again with no direction, and made to sit on the floor with other transit passengers for 2 hours, with no water or toilets. Airport staff were rude, unhelpful and didn't speak English. My experiences in this airport have ensured I will never travel through Guangzhou again.

Vancouver to Guangzhou, connected to Nepal. Very clean and very large. We arrived for a 2 hr layover and then connected to another international flight. Had to go thru security, get photographed and passport stamped before re-entering the departure level. Also had to go thru security frisk and handbag xray. The xray person was very angry at everyone and all she did was yell and scream in Chinese. No one had an idea what was going on. The other staff member tried, in broken english to help passengers run the gauntlet of this abusive female. When we returned, we ran thru the same procedure except the staff was nice. As a matter of fact, I left my wallet and the xray machine and the 2 staff members tracked me down in the airport and returned it. Talk about excellent service. Well done Guangzhou!