Keeping the phone alive in China: rental power banks and the 3C rule

In China the phone is the wallet, the train ticket, the map and the menu. It drains faster than it does at home. The fixes are small, and most of them are already fixed to the wall of the café you are sitting in.

The cabinet by the cashier

Rental power banks, called gongxiang chongdianbao (共享充电宝), sit in cabinets in malls, restaurants and metro concourses. Scan the code with Alipay or WeChat and a slot releases a pack with its own USB-C and Lightning cables. You can return it to any cabinet of the same brand.

The rates are printed on the cabinet. They are usually a few yuan an hour, with a daily cap and a buy-out price, and once you reach it the pack is yours. Foreign accounts are sometimes asked for a refundable deposit, which comes back once the slot clicks shut.

The 3C mark before you fly

Since June 2025, domestic flights have refused power banks without the 3C certification mark, a small CCC logo printed on the casing, as well as packs from recalled batches. Many packs bought abroad lack the mark. Security staff will put them in a clear bin and keep them.

A certified 10,000 mAh pack from a convenience store or electronics counter costs roughly 60 to 150 yuan. Check that the label also shows a watt-hour rating. Packs under 100 Wh can travel in cabin baggage on both planes and trains, and never in checked luggage.

充电宝必须有3C标志才能带上国内航班。(Chongdianbao bixu you 3C biaozhi cai neng daishang guonei hangban: a power bank needs the 3C mark to board a domestic flight.)

Small habits that hold

Offline map areas and a downloaded translation pack cut down on background data. Keeping a rented pack in your bag through a three-hour museum visit costs less than the taxi you would need if the phone died at the exit.