Travel China Tips for Electricity Use

Read these helpful tips below and you will be well prepared to the electricity use in China:
The electricity voltage used in China is different from that used by many other countries. Approximately 30 countries including those of North America use a voltage of 110V~130V, whilst another 120 countries use a voltage of 220V~230V. In Mainland China, the voltage is generally 220V, 50HZ and AC. In Hong Kong it is 200V and Taiwan uses 110V. Plug shape is also variable depending on country.
In China most hotel rooms have outlets that will take three-pin style plugs. Wall outlets will often take American-style two-pin plugs, where the prongs are parallel to each other. However, such outlets will often not take the oversized grounding prong found on many North American converters. So bring an adapter with you. Generally, there are two kinds of socket in China, flat blade plug and V-shaped flat prongs. If your plugs have different configurations, you will also need a plug adapter.

Electrical appliances will require an adapter that can change the shape of the plug prongs, as well as an electrical voltage converter that will allow a normal 110-volt Canadian appliance to take 220 Volt Chinese current. Throughout China 220 volt is used, although 4 & 5-star hotels are wired for use of 110-volt electrical appliances. Transformers have a much lower maximum Watt rating, usually 50 or 100 Watts. They can be bought in China for about 100-200 Yuan. Transformers can better for low-wattage devices like battery chargers, laptop computers, cameras and camcorders, and other small devices. However, they are heavy because of large iron rods and lots of copper wire inside it.
The resistor network and transformer combo usually come with a switch that switches between the two modes. If you absolutely need to operate both high-wattage appliances and low-wattage devices, this is the type to buy. In addition, the plug shapes, plug holes, plug sizes and sockets you are used to in your country may be different from those in China.