The wording is usually explicit — a status naming customs, clearance or an import hold rather than describing movement. What separates a hold from ordinary processing is that the entry stops changing: clearance in progress that updates within a day or two is routine, while the same status sitting unchanged for a week means something is waiting. Two other signals are worth reading: a status asking for documents or information, and a request arriving by email or in the carrier’s app. Silence with no request usually means a queue rather than a problem. If you’re unsure which you’re looking at, the carrier’s own app tends to give more detail on holds than a general tracking page does.

You can read it in your own language here, which saves running everything through a translation app. Entries from the Chinese and Hong Kong legs are frequently published in Chinese, and once your parcel reaches your own country they switch to whatever the local carrier writes. That mixture is the normal shape of a cross-border shipment rather than a sign of anything wrong. Reading the sequence matters more than reading every word: an export entry, then a gap, then an arrival entry tells you most of what you need. Adding both numbers here also means the two halves appear together in a consistent order rather than in two scripts on two different sites.

After clearance, and usually under a new number. The Chinese or Hong Kong portion typically ends with an export or handover entry, then goes quiet while customs does its work; the next thing you see is a domestic carrier recording the parcel into its own system at your end. Where SF runs its own local network, entries continue under the same brand; where it uses a partner, the name changes. Your order page or the carrier’s app is where that second number normally surfaces. Add both here and the two halves join up, which saves guessing whether the silence means a handover or a hold.

Both of you can watch the same record, which is one of the better reasons to track here rather than on the carrier’s own site. Whoever posted the parcel has the number from their receipt, and sharing that one line lets both of you watch the same record from opposite ends of the world — the sender seeing it leave, you seeing it arrive. No screenshots back and forth, no describing what your side shows. Ask them to photograph the receipt on the day they send it, because those slips get lost and the number is far easier to capture then than to recover later. If a second number appears at the handover, add that too and the whole trip reads in order.

Both are possible, and the wording usually distinguishes them. A hub entry followed by silence generally means transport — your parcel is waiting for a flight, or has already left and won’t be recorded again until arrival. A status explicitly mentioning clearance, inspection or documents means customs, and that one can sit longer. Transport gaps of a few days are ordinary; customs can run a week or more depending on the destination and the contents. If nothing has changed after a fortnight and no request has reached you, ask the sender to raise an enquiry, since the shipping contract is theirs and they’ll get a fuller answer than you would.

Usually a status naming the requirement rather than leaving you guessing — something referring to documents, information required, or a clearance exception. What it rarely does is spell out exactly what’s needed, which is why the accompanying email or app message matters more than the entry itself. Common requests are an invoice showing what was paid, a description clear enough for classification, or an identity or tax number for the receiver where the country requires one. Answer through the carrier’s official channels rather than any link you were sent. Tell the sender too, because on personal shipments they’re frequently the only one who can supply what’s being asked for.

Outbound works the same way, and the mechanics mirror the inbound trip. When you send something to China or Hong Kong, you’ll get a number at the counter or from the courier’s app, covering your country’s export leg plus the international portion. A second number sometimes appears once the parcel is inside the destination network. Add whatever you have here and share it with whoever is receiving, so both ends watch the same record rather than relaying updates by message. Keep the receipt either way, since it’s what any enquiry or claim will be based on.

You may also want to explore tracking for these other destinations:

• Got a parcel from China? Track it here

• Track parcels going to or from Hong Kong

• Check on your United States delivery

• Your Singapore orders, all in one place

• Waiting on something from Japan?

• Keep an eye on Australia deliveries

These carrier pages are worth a look too:

• Check your China Post shipment

• China EMS updates in one place

• Waiting on Yun Express? Track it here

• Track your 4PX parcels

• Following a CNE Express delivery?

• Yanwen tracking, step by step