Bringing my drone to China - Zhangjiajie

[#BK]

Hi Tomas,

Really sorry to hear about that.
I live in China and travel back and forth out and never had any issue bringing back my drone.
So, here are some questions and turnarounds:
1- Where did you fly to ? Which airport
2- Flights to/from Taipei are sensitive because you know Taiwan...
3- I suspect you flew in China during the sensitive period of the big congress. During that period, for at least 3 weeks to 1 month nothing much of possible to do. Because you know... Sensitive matter again
4- If you really want to go to Zhangjiajie, I would suggest the following route: Taipei - Hong Kong, then Hong Kong to Guangzhou (or Shenzhen) by train then take a local flight GZ (or Shenzhen) to Zhangjiajie. Of course, it is longer and more hassle but the custom clearance HK/CN is easier than the interntional one in any airport, especially in Guangzhou airport...

To give you an idea, I live in Guangzhou and we had a big international meeting: Fortune 500's global forum, Global Forum 2017 | Fortune Conferences and while in normal days here are the NFZ in Guangzhou:
View attachment 92829

During that congress, for almost 2 weeks, the NFZ's were:
View attachment 92830

So, it was really bad luck for you.

Concerning transit, there should be no issue.

If you come back to China and have the same issue, send me an mp. And I'll see how can I help you.

Hello there,
It seems things change often in China in relation to drones. I am planning to bring my drone to China in August. Would it be possible to register it in China after my arrival and before flying it? Would I have problems at the airport?

Do you know anything about flying drones in Tibet by any chance?

Many thanks
#BK

 

[Tomas Juricek]

Hi Tomas --- If you come back to China and have the same issue, send me an mp. And I'll see how can I help you.

Thanks for your answer and all further comments. My issue was not with no-fly zones, rather than the fact of being denied entry with a drone by the customs officers at the DYG airport. Your suggested route would certainly bypass this or at least increase the chance, maybe.

Anyway, I hope the information shared and the following conversation will give someone a better idea what and how to deal with bringing their toys to the country of origin, technically back to "home".

 

[mikevarel]

For what it's worth, I was just in China in April. I flew United Airlines into Shanghai with a Mavic Air in it's gray shoulder bag that it came with. I went through security/customs just fine and no one asked me anything as long as I took the drone batteries out of the bag and put them in a plastic bin going through security. I flew into Shanghai for a day, back out of Shanghai domestically to Kunming, then on to Pu'er City and none of the airports (6 total flights) ever said a word as I went through security as long as I had the batteries in the bin for security. They make you do that with your cell phone charger battery too if you have a portable one. I went on trains as well as several in-country flights and no one ever bothered me about my drone. I too was worried I'd have to register it but I never did. Twice before flights I got a message on my screen that said "confirm your phone number" but I closed the app and re-launched it and flew just fine. I did not fly in any no-fly zones as I was primarily in the country filming tea farms. I checked the no-fly zone maps on DJI's website and they seemed to be correct. When I was in Pu'er City there's a large no-fly area because of the airport and just to test it, I turned my drone on at the hotel and it did say "cannot take off" because I was in that zone. Every city we went to for our two week trip I found the DJI zone map to be accurate for no-fly areas. Again, I never registered my drone while in country, but I also never flew near police or anyone of authority.

 

[ZhinK]

hi guys, i will travel to china Xi'an in december and would like to bring my Dji Mavic Air. I check the rules and law of civil aviation china, china requires to register our drone at CAAC which requirss a china sim card as well as loval phone number. questoon is how we going to get a local sim card at custom clearance?