The 10 worst airport lounges in Greater China: 2026

I built this list from Lounge Frog's own ratings. A lounge qualified only if it is open and has at least 8 rated metrics, and I left out nap suites, spas and restaurants sold as lounges (none of those made the bottom of this region anyway). More than 70 mainland lounges, mostly Priority Pass and DragonPass contract rooms at Pudong, Hongqiao, Daxing, Hangzhou, Zhengzhou and Kunming, have only one or two rated metrics and sit between 1.0 and 2.5.

What is left is a short list with two genuinely weak contract lounges at the bottom and, above them, airline hub lounges that score well on food and lose points on crowding, exclusivity or service.

The two at the bottom#

1. VIP Lounge No. 25, Hangzhou (2.3). The only lounge in the region below 2.5 on a full set of metrics. Priority Pass lists unlimited guests per cardholder here, which may not help the crowding.

2. VIP Lounge No. 69, Shanghai Pudong (2.8). An airport-run contract lounge on the upper floor near Gate 69, international side of Terminal 2. The better room is in the same terminal with the same cards: China Eastern's No. 77 Lounge takes Priority Pass and Plaza Premium and rates 3.6. Flying oneworld, use the Cathay Pacific Lounge above Gate 69, at 3.8.

Hub lounges that miss on one or two things#

3. China Southern International Lounge, Beijing Daxing (3.1). Quiet and seating score 4. The airport's pay-in BCS International Lounge is the other option, but it has one rated metric, so I can't tell you it is better.

4. China Eastern No. 36 Lounge, Shanghai Pudong (3.1). The Terminal 1 international lounge, 2nd floor near security checkpoints 10 and 11, open 05:00 to 23:59. Priority Pass works only if you are flying China Eastern, Shanghai Airlines, China United or another SkyTeam carrier.

5. China Airlines Dynasty Lounge, Taipei Taoyuan (3.2). Food, service, power and workspace all score 4, and there are three showers. Star Alliance flyers have EVA's The Star Lounge (3.7) in Terminal 2, but that does not help a China Airlines passenger.

6. Air China Business Class Lounge, Beijing Capital (3.3). The Star Alliance hub lounge in T3E, a floor above departures, open 05:30 to 02:00. Star Alliance first-class passengers can use the Air China International First Class Lounge (3.6) in the same terminal. Priority Pass holders have the BGS Premier Lounge near Gate E19 (3.2 from six metrics), and oneworld passengers the renovated Cathay Pacific Lounge near Gate E20 (4.3 from six metrics).

7. China Southern Sky Pearl Lounge (International, First/Business), Guangzhou (3.5). The odd one out. Guangzhou's best-rated lounge, the new Star Alliance Lounge (4.6 from five metrics), is in Terminal 3 and only for Star Alliance premium and Gold passengers.

The 3.6 tie#

Four lounges rate 3.6. I broke the tie on their lowest individual scores, which left out the International First/Business Class Lounge at Chengdu Tianfu, whose lowest score is a 3. Treat these three as close to level.

8. China Eastern No. 77 Lounge, Shanghai Pudong (3.6). Views score 5; food, seating, quiet and showers 4. The Cathay Pacific Lounge (3.8) in the same terminal is better if you are flying oneworld.

9. Air China International First Class Lounge, Beijing Capital (3.6). Exclusivity 5 and power 5, on a mezzanine over the T3E duty-free hall, renovated in 2017.

10. EVA Air The Infinity Lounge, Taipei Taoyuan (3.6). Showers and Wi-Fi score 5. Crowding scores 2. The Star Lounge, behind the same reception, rates 3.7 and is the room for Star Alliance Gold members. The gap is small enough that I would pick whichever looks quieter when you walk in.

Hong Kong and the rest of the series#

Hong Kong's lowest qualifying lounges are the Kyra Lounge at Gate 40 (3.7) and Plaza Premium First at Gate 35 (3.8), and neither made the ten. For the other end of the table, see the 8 best lounges at Hong Kong International.

Elsewhere in this series: Asia, Japan and South Korea, Southeast Asia and India. How the ratings work is explained in our methodology.