Chinese Cigarettes in Australia: The Brands, What Is on the Pack, and Which Ones You Can Buy Here

Chinese cigarettes are the brands made by China National Tobacco, the state company that sells 96 per cent of the cigarettes smoked in China and produces about 2.5 trillion cigarettes a year, more than any other tobacco company in the world. In Australia the name usually means one of eight brands, and two of them, Double Happiness and Hongtashan, are stocked by Aussie Smokes as imported cartons. The eight, in the order they appear below, are Double Happiness, Hongtashan, Chunghwa, Yuxi, Furongwang, Liqun, Nanjing, and Zhongnanhai. Most Australian buyers meet them as red-and-gold hard packs with Chinese characters and a printed tar figure. That is where the confusion starts, because one brand can carry three names and three prices.

The article covers what makes a cigarette Chinese, then the eight brands with the two you can buy here first. After that it shows how to read a Chinese pack, how the cigarettes compare with the Western brands sold in Australia, what they cost here, and where to buy. A short FAQ closes it. Printed tar and nicotine figures are machine yields and say nothing about risk. Prices are as at 22 September 2026.

What Makes a Cigarette Chinese

A Chinese cigarette is one made by China National Tobacco Corporation or one of its provincial companies, which together hold a legal monopoly over the market at home. The corporation was founded in Beijing in January 1982 and is one institution with two names, because the same body also operates as the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration, the regulator. Every brand below belongs to one of its provincial companies. Shanghai Tobacco Group makes Chunghwa and Double Happiness. Hongta Group in Yunnan makes Hongtashan and Yuxi. The rest come from China Tobacco Hunan (Furongwang), Zhejiang (Liqun), Jiangsu (Nanjing) and Beijing Tobacco (Zhongnanhai).

The cigarette itself follows a house style. The dominant Chinese blend is flue-cured Virginia leaf, much of it grown in Yunnan, the country’s largest tobacco-growing province, rather than the Virginia, Burley and Oriental mix of an American blend such as Marlboro. That difference in leaf, not any tasting note, is what people mean when they say Chinese cigarettes taste different. Packs are king size, hard or soft, in twenties. Every pack prints three figures by law, tar, nicotine, and carbon monoxide. The regulator has cut the permitted tar ceiling over time, from 17 mg in 2001 to 15 mg in 2004 and 12 mg from 2011. Chinese brands are therefore among the few imports whose printed strength can be read straight off the pack.

The pack and the culture around it explain the rest. Red and gold are the default colours because cigarettes are a standard gift in China. Chunghwa carries the Tiananmen gate and its Huabiao pillars in gold on red, and Double Happiness carries the doubled character 囍. Gifting also puts some brands, Chunghwa and the top Nanjing packs among them, at prices far above what the same factory charges for its everyday lines. And every brand carries three names, an English one on export listings, a pinyin one on some packs, and the characters on all of them, which is the practical problem an Australian buyer has when comparing listings.

The 8 Chinese Cigarette Brands Australians Ask About

Eight Chinese brands account for almost every search from Australia, and only two of them, Double Happiness and Hongtashan, are stocked here as imported cartons. The other six are either premium gift brands rarely sold outside China or regional brands that appear on one or two Australian import ranges at most. Each entry gives the maker and city, the brand’s place in the Chinese market, the pack, the printed tar where it is stated, and whether and where it is sold in Australia.

1. Double Happiness (双喜, Shuangxi): the everyday Chinese cigarette sold in Australia

Double Happiness is the Chinese cigarette most Australians actually buy, a Shanghai Tobacco Corporation brand that dates from 1906 and carries three names on its listings, Double Happiness, Shuangxi, and 双喜. Aussie Smokes stocks two versions, Gold at A$160 a carton printing 11 mg tar and Hard Pack at A$165 printing 10 mg. The brand was launched in Hong Kong in 1906 by Nanyang Brothers Tobacco and is one of the oldest Chinese brands still sold. Shanghai Tobacco makes it in mainland China. Outside China the name belongs to other companies, Nanyang Brothers, Sumatra Tobacco Trading and CTBAT among them, which is why packs from different markets look different. At home it holds the everyday position under the 囍 character on a red pack. The blend is flue-cured Virginia. Double Happiness Gold prints 11 mg tar and 1.0 mg nicotine, and Double Happiness Hard Pack prints 10 mg and 0.9 mg.

Australian import ranges list it more than any other Chinese brand, at least five of them in 2026. By printed figure its nearest Western neighbours are Marlboro Red and Manchester Red at 12 mg. The thing a first-time buyer needs to know is that Soft, Hard, and Gold are quoted under one name across those ranges, so the version has to be matched before the price is compared.

2. Hongtashan (红塔山): the Yunnan full-strength brand sold in Australia

Hongtashan is the Yunnan brand from Hongta Group in Yuxi, founded in 1959 as a gift for the tenth anniversary of the People’s Republic. Its 1956 carton at Aussie Smokes prints 12 mg tar and 1.2 mg nicotine, the highest figures of any cigarette in the shop, at A$175. Hongta Group was the Yuxi Cigarette Factory before it took the group name, and it sits in Yunnan, the province that grows most of China’s flue-cured leaf. The name means Red Pagoda Mountain, after the hill where the factory stands, and the pagoda is on the pack. Within the group it is the mainstream brand, with Yuxi above it. The 1956 variant is the one sold here, and its 12 mg print sits at the current Chinese ceiling.

Aussie Smokes stocks Hongtashan 1956 at A$175 a carton, and few other Australian ranges list the brand. By printed figure it sits with Marlboro Red at 12 mg and 1.0 mg and Manchester Royal Red at 12 mg and 0.9 mg, and above both on nicotine. A buyer coming from a Gold or Blue pack is not its customer; it is the carton for someone who already smokes a full-strength Virginia.

3. Chunghwa (中华, Zhonghua): China’s premium gift brand

Chunghwa is the premium brand of the Shanghai Tobacco Group and the cigarette most often called the flagship of China Tobacco. The pack is bright red with the Tiananmen gate and Huabiao pillars in gold. Aussie Smokes does not stock it, and in Australia it appears only through specialist importers at gift-pack prices. The name is one of the words for China itself, and the brand’s advertising has traded on that pun, with “Love our Chunghwa” reading equally as “Love our China”. It comes in soft and hard packs. The blend is flue-cured Virginia, and the printed figures sit within the 12 mg ceiling like every current Chinese pack.

For an Australian buyer Chunghwa is a brand to know rather than a brand to order. The specialist sellers who carry it price it as a gift pack, and the premium buys the name and the pack rather than a different printed strength. Its nearest frame in the Western range is a premium full-flavour such as Dunhill Red or Benson & Hedges at the top of the legal tier.

4. Yuxi (玉溪): Hongta’s upper-tier brand

Yuxi is the upper-tier brand of the same Hongta Group that makes Hongtashan, and it takes its name from the Yunnan city where both are made. It sits a price tier above Hongtashan in China and is rarely seen on Australian import ranges. The two brands come from one company and one leaf region, so the difference between them is leaf grade, pack, and price rather than a different style of cigarette. Yuxi is the brand Hongta sells to the buyer who wants the same Yunnan Virginia at a higher grade, and the group runs several Yuxi variants at different printed figures.

Aussie Smokes does not stock Yuxi and it is rare on other Australian ranges. A Hongtashan smoker who wants the same leaf at a lower printed figure would look at Yuxi’s lower-tar variants, but in Australia that search usually ends without a listing. What to know first is simply that Yuxi and Hongtashan are siblings, and a listing that quotes one price for “Yuxi” has not told you which variant it means.

5. Furongwang (芙蓉王): the Hunan full-flavour brand

Furongwang is the leading brand of China Tobacco Hunan, made at its Changde cigarette factory. Australian guides file it under “richer and stronger”, which in checkable terms means a flue-cured blend printed between 6 mg and 11 mg depending on the line. The name means hibiscus king, and the standard pack is blue and gold. In China it is one of the largest premium-mainstream brands, sold in several tiers under the one name.

It is not on the Aussie Smokes range and appears only occasionally on other Australian import ranges. By printed figure it lines up with Marlboro Red. The “stronger” reputation is about the body that comes from a higher leaf grade, not about a higher printed figure, because the ceiling applies to Furongwang exactly as it applies to Double Happiness.

6. Liqun (利群): the Zhejiang mid-range brand

Liqun is the main brand of China Tobacco Zhejiang, made in Hangzhou. It holds the mid-range position in eastern China that Double Happiness holds in Shanghai, and it has a small presence on Australian import ranges. The name means “benefit the people”. The standard pack is a plain design that changes by tier, and the brand runs from everyday hard packs to higher-priced lines under the same name.

In Australia it was listed by at least one import range in 2026 and is not stocked by Aussie Smokes. Its nearest neighbour is Double Happiness, and the two are the pair most often confused in Australian price guides, because both are everyday brands from neighbouring provinces at similar printed figures. A buyer who cannot find Liqun here has the same style of cigarette in Double Happiness Hard Pack.

7. Nanjing (南京): the Jiangsu brand with the gift-pack extremes

Nanjing is the brand of China Tobacco Jiangsu, and it is the clearest example of a Chinese brand that spans everyday packs and gift packs under one name. Its Nanjing 95 Imperial, 九五之尊, is a high-price gift pack that retails in China at many times the everyday Nanjing price. The everyday Nanjing packs sit in the mainstream tier. The 95 Imperial sits many multiples above them and is bought to be given. Both carry the same brand name and the same city on the pack.

Aussie Smokes does not stock Nanjing and it is rarely seen on other Australian ranges. What to know first is that a “Nanjing” listing can mean an everyday pack or a gift pack that costs several times more. The variant name on the listing matters more than the brand name, and a price without a variant is not a price.

8. Zhongnanhai (中南海): the Beijing lower-tar brand

Zhongnanhai is the Beijing Tobacco Corporation’s brand, named after the government compound in Beijing, and it is the Chinese brand built around lower printed tar, with variants named by their tar figure: 1, 3, 5, 8 and 10 mg. The pack is blue and white rather than red and gold, and the numbered variants let a buyer read the printed figure from the name. It is the usual answer in China to the question of a lower-tar Chinese cigarette.

In Australia it was listed by at least one import range in 2026 and is not stocked by Aussie Smokes. By printed figure its lower variants sit with Marlboro Gold at 9 mg and Manchester Classic Gold at 8 mg, both of which are stocked here. A Gold smoker in Australia already has the same printed figure in a carton that can be ordered today. That closes the eight. Two can be bought here, two are on other Australian ranges, and four are brands to know from a trip or a gift rather than to order. The next section is how to read any of their packs.

How to Read a Chinese Cigarette Pack

A Chinese pack tells you four things once you know where to look: the brand under its three names, the variant, the printed tar and nicotine, and whether it is a hard or soft pack.

The three names. The English name appears on export listings, the pinyin on some packs, and the characters on all of them. Double Happiness is Shuangxi and 双喜, Chunghwa is Zhonghua and 中华, Hongtashan is 红塔山. Match the characters, because Australian listings use any of the three.

The variant. Colour words such as Gold, Red and Blue, pack words such as Soft and Hard, and numbers such as Hongtashan 1956 or Nanjing 95 mark different products with different printed figures. The brand name on its own is not a product.

The printed line. Chinese packs print tar as 焦油量, nicotine as 烟气烟碱量, and carbon monoxide as 烟气一氧化碳量, all in milligrams, and all required by the regulator. They are among the few imported packs that print all three, and the tar figure sits at or under the 12 mg ceiling that has applied since 2011.

Hard or soft. Hard packs are the export norm and the only kind Aussie Smokes sells. Soft packs are prized at home for some brands, Chunghwa and Double Happiness among them, and on Australian import ranges the soft pack is often the version quoted at the lowest carton price, which explains part of the price spread under one brand name.

Chinese Cigarettes Compared With Western Brands

Set beside the Western brands sold in Australia, Chinese cigarettes differ in four checkable ways. The blend is flue-cured Virginia rather than American blend. The pack prints tar, nicotine and carbon monoxide. The tar figure is capped at 12 mg by Chinese regulation. And the same brand name can cover an everyday pack and a gift pack costing many times more. The blend difference is the one people notice first, and it comes from the leaf rather than from any additive. An American blend mixes flue-cured Virginia with air-cured Burley and sun-cured Oriental leaf, and a Chinese-style blend uses flue-cured leaf almost alone. The printed figures are the second difference. A Chinese pack prints three, an export Marlboro or Manchester pack prints two, and an Australian legal pack has printed none since 2006. The ceiling is the third. Marlboro Red prints 12 mg, Hongtashan 1956 prints 12 mg, and Double Happiness Gold prints 11 mg, so the stocked Chinese cartons sit at or just under the best-known Western full-flavour rather than above it.

Two things are the same on both sides. Both come as king-size packs of 20 and cartons of 200, and both are sold here as imports at similar money. The two stocked Chinese cartons cost A$160 to A$175, and the stocked Marlboro and Manchester cartons cost A$160 to A$190, so price is not the reason to choose one over the other. The reason is the leaf and the printed figure, and the next section puts the prices in one place.

What Chinese Cigarettes Cost in Australia

The two stocked Chinese cartons cost A$160 for Double Happiness Gold, A$165 for Double Happiness Hard Pack and A$175 for Hongtashan 1956 on 22 September 2026. Each carton holds 200 cigarettes, so that is A$16 to A$17.50 a pack of 20. Across other Australian import ranges Double Happiness has been listed anywhere from A$98 to A$185 a carton this year. Per stick that is A$0.80 to A$0.875 at Aussie Smokes. The wider Double Happiness range ran A$98 in a June 2026 snapshot, A$136.50 to A$149.50 in August, and A$152 to A$185 in September. The spread comes from Soft, Gold and Hard Pack being quoted under one name at different retailers. Septwolves, the other Chinese brand seen on Australian ranges, was listed at A$150 a carton in June 2026.

No Chinese brand appears on the licensed Australian retail ranges checked for this article, where packs of any brand run A$39 to A$68 in 2026. Chunghwa and the top Nanjing packs are priced by specialist importers as gift packs and are not comparable with everyday cartons. Prices move with stock, so the product page is the live price.

Buying Chinese Cigarettes Online at Aussie Smokes

Three Chinese cartons are stocked here, Double Happiness Gold, Double Happiness Hard Pack and Hongtashan 1956, and they ship only within Australia as cartons of 10 packs of 20. Aussie Smokes has traded since 2017 and lists each carton by version with the pack’s printed figures.

• Each product page prints the pack’s tar and nicotine figures and names the version, so Gold, Hard Pack, and 1956 are never quoted under one name.
• Orders paid before 1:00 pm AEST dispatch the same business day; Australia Post delivers in 1-3 business days to metro addresses and 3-7 to regional ones.
• Payment by PayID or bank transfer.
• 18+ age verification on every order.
• Support by email around the clock; delivery claims are handled within 48 hours of receipt.
• Prices include GST; shipping from A$10.55.

The two brands sit in the Double Happiness collection and the Hongtashan collection, alongside the full cigarettes range.

Frequently Asked Questions About Chinese Cigarettes

Are Chinese cigarettes legal in Australia?

Adults aged 18 and over may buy and possess cigarettes in Australia. Chinese brands are not sold through the licensed supermarket and tobacconist channel, and the cartons sold here are imports listed by Australian online retailers, with import rules and duties applying to the buyer. This article does not give legal advice.

Are Chinese cigarettes stronger than Western cigarettes?

Not by the printed figures. Chinese regulation caps tar at 12 mg a cigarette, Double Happiness Gold prints 11 mg and Hard Pack 10 mg, and Marlboro Red prints 12 mg. The two stocked Double Happiness cartons therefore sit at or below the best-known Western full-flavour, and Hongtashan 1956 sits level with it at 12 mg. Printed yields compare products under a machine method and do not measure what a smoker takes in.

What are Double Happiness cigarettes and are they good?

Double Happiness is a Shanghai Tobacco brand from 1906, sold in Soft, Hard, and Gold versions that print 10 to 11 mg tar, and whether it is good depends on what you smoke now. It is a full-flavour flue-cured Virginia cigarette, so a Marlboro Red or Winfield Original smoker is its buyer, and a Gold or menthol smoker is not. Entry 1 above covers the versions, and the Gold and Hard Pack product pages carry the printed figures.

Why are Chinese cigarette packs red and gold?

Because red and gold are the colours of celebration and gifting in Chinese culture, and cigarettes are a common gift, so the flagship packs are designed to be given as much as smoked. Chunghwa is red with a gold gate and Double Happiness is red with the 囍 character. Not every brand follows it; Zhongnanhai is blue and white.

What is the difference between soft pack and hard pack Chinese cigarettes?

The pack, and often the price. The same brand’s soft pack and hard pack can differ in price in China and on Australian import ranges. For Double Happiness the Soft version is usually the one quoted at the lowest carton price, while Aussie Smokes stocks the Hard Pack and Gold. The printed figures have to be read per version, because they can differ between packs of the same brand.

How much are Double Happiness cigarettes in Australia?

A$160 a carton for Double Happiness Gold and A$165 for Hard Pack at Aussie Smokes on 22 September 2026, which is A$16 to A$16.50 a pack of 20. Across other Australian import ranges the brand has been listed from A$98 to A$185 a carton in 2026 depending on the version. The product page is the live price.