TYN-Spot1
Taiyuan Wusu Intl. Airport – Spotting Guide
- last modified on October 24, 2026
Taiyuan Wusu International Airport (ICAO: ZBYN, IATA: TYN) is an international airport located in the Shanxi province in northern China and welcomed 13.5 Mio passengers in 2018. This airport is a purely civil airport, but occasionally there are Chinese Air Force aircraft to train or transport important personnel. The airport is the base of China Eastern Airlines, Hainan Airlines and Kunming Airlines. There were many international flights at the airport, such as flights to Denpasar, Thailand, Bangkok, Russia, Moscow and Nagoya, Japan, but these flights were grounded by COVID-19.At present, the airport mainly operates domestic routes, but there will be an international flight from Warsaw Chopin International Airport in Poland operated by Air China every Saturday, and a cargo flight from China Southern Airlines to San Francisco International Airport in the United States on the same day. At present, you can see many domestic airlines in China, such as China Eastern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, China Southern Airlines, China International Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Sichuan Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Shandong Airlines and so on.
General tips for China
many foreign websites and apps are blocked and don’t work in China. Below you will find some helpful apps:
- WeChat: every Chinese use this app, it also has a good translation function that helps really a lot because the language is the main barrier. You can translate from Chinese writings and they can translate your English into Chinese characters. This is a must have. The common western messenger services like Facebook, WhatsApp etc. don not work in China!
- Alipay: it is a major Chinese App that can be registered abroad and almost all shops/stores/hotels etc. support it as an official payment. You can add your western credit card like Amex, VISA or Mastercard to Alipay in advance. Furthermore you can also book and pay flights, hotels, restaurants, didi etc. with the app. This app is a must have!
- Didi: the Chinese “Uber”. Very helpful to reach the spots which are not connected to the public transport.
- Baidu Maps or Gaode Maps: this is the chinese google/apple maps.
We recommend to buy a chinese eSIM in advance from airalo for example. It is cheap and simple to install.
Written by Zeyi Guo and Jayden Han. Last Update: October 2026, new Spot 2 added
| Rating | |
| Movements |  |
| Airline Variety |  |
| Photo Locations | |
| Weather |  |
| Airport Information | |
| Runways | |
| 13/31 | 3.600m (11.811 ft) Concrete |
| Terminals | |
| Terminal 1 | Domestic flights of Hainan Airlines, HNA Group, Shenzhen Airlines, Kunming Airlines, Shandong Airlines and Air China |
| Terminal 2 | Domestic flights of China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, 9 Air , Spring Airlines, Sichuan Airlines,Junyao Air, OK Air, China Express and Chengdu airlines, as well as all international / regional flights of the airport. |
| Spotting Information | |
| Ladder | Needed for location 4 |
| Car/Public Transport | Cars are necessary here because there is no public transport to all four locations. |
| Drinks/Food | There are no shops near the four locations. It is recommended that you prepare enough when you go. |
| Hotels | Nearby hotels can be queried on Ctrip. https://m.ctrip.com/html5/ |
| Season | It’s very hot in summer and cold all day in winter. According to the weather here, the visibility is very high after rain in summer; In winter, only the weather with very cold and northwest wind can have better visibility and bluer sky. |
| Runway Usage | |
| 13/31 | Runway 13 / 31 is the only runway of the airport, which runs northwest to Southeast. Due to the prevailing northwest wind in Taiyuan, the probability of using runway 31 will be very high. |
Due to national security concerns, the use of geographic information in China is restricted and the layers in google maps don´t fit. The satellite images are correct but the street layers are displaced!
Please click on the link at each location (WHERE) to get to the chinese website baidu where you find an exact map with satellite and street view images. If you use a smartphone please download the Baidu App.
 |
Spot #1 – Parking – Ramp |
|---|---|
| WHERE | The International apron of the airpot is a suitable place for night shooting. It usually takes long exposure to shot rare international flights arriving at night. You need to search Taiyuan Wusu International Airport No. 1 staff parking lot 太原武宿国际机场1号职工停车场 on Baidu map in Chinese.Then follow the navigation point to the East and find a suitable space in the parking lot in front of the barbed wire and stop. |
| WHAT | Ramp |
| TIME | Summer before 10 a.m. and at any time at night. |
| MISC. | It is close to the airport terminal, so it is convenient to buy food and water. However, there is a high barbed wire fence. It is recommended to carry a 1.5-2m ladder or stand directly on the roof of the car. At the same time, pay attention not to touch the barbed wire of the airport, and pay attention to the movement of airport security personnel. Most importantly, it is located in the international area. Many international passengers will enter and leave the nearby doors, and suggest wearing masks throughout COVID-19. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | Ramp:24-70mm. |
 |
Spot #2- Road Junction – 13L arrivals |
|---|---|
| WHERE | The spot is next to a road junction at the X246. Stay a bit southeast of the junction on the sidewalk. Bus lane S13 is there, but best by taxi services. No parking nearby. |
| WHAT | Arrivals on runway 13L only. |
| TIME | Morning hours only. |
| MISC. | Nothing nearby. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | 737 = 300mm |
 |
Spot #3 – Malianying Town 13 arrivals, and line-up, taxiway |
|---|---|
| WHERE | “Malianying” is a village next to the threshold of runway 13. You need to use Baidu map to search Malianying village 马练营村 in Chinese, and then find a yellow and white 6-storey building according to the navigation point. After entering the building, take the stairs up to the roof of the building. |
| WHAT | RWY13,TWY A,TWY A7,TWY A8 |
| TIME | Sunny days: 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. in summer, 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in spring and autumn, and 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in winter. |
| MISC. | It should be noted that the village and the shooting building are inhabited by residents, so please keep quiet and take away the garbage when you leave. There are many restaurants and shops here. Basically, you don’t need to worry about food and water, and you can park downstairs, which is very convenient. However, due to the prevailing northwest wind in Taiyuan, the probability of shoting here is not very high. As there is barbed wire on the roof, it is recommended to carry a small ladder of about 60cm. |
| FOCAL LENGTH | RWY:70-150mm. TWY:150-250mm. |
Hi, just wanted to add that this airport spans over two cities, Taiyuan and jInzhong. The only downside is that taxi services will charge an extra fee, but no security checks will happen.
Sorry typo it is Jinzhong
thanks for share but since 2025/12/26，the airport started to use a new runway and the old runway was closed for repair
Thanks for sharing, which is very helpful to me.