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Asia's airports don't like exploding hoverboards any more than you do

Commentary: Airports in China, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand have strict guidelines concerning electronics that might explode, like battery packs and two-wheeling robots.

Jessica Dolcourt Senior Director, Commerce & Content Operations
Jessica Dolcourt is a passionate content strategist and veteran leader of CNET coverage. As Senior Director of Commerce & Content Operations, she leads a number of teams, including Commerce, How-To and Performance Optimization. Her CNET career began in 2006, testing desktop and mobile software for Download.com and CNET, including the first iPhone and Android apps and operating systems. She continued to review, report on and write a wide range of commentary and analysis on all things phones, with an emphasis on iPhone and Samsung. Jessica was one of the first people in the world to test, review and report on foldable phones and 5G wireless speeds. Jessica began leading CNET's How-To section for tips and FAQs in 2019, guiding coverage of topics ranging from personal finance to phones and home. She holds an MA with Distinction from the University of Warwick (UK).
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I planned to buy a hoverboard in China, just for the fun of riding around the streets on a motorized two-wheeler that could potentially catch fire beneath my feet. I'd relish onlookers' stares.

Well, I didn't see any of these contraptions rolling around in the wild, or in the market I later strolled through (but I did see a drone whizzing through the air). Hoverboards, which don't actually hover, were plentiful on Xiaomi's campus in Beijing, where I zipped around on a NineBot Mini (from the Chinese company that bought Segway).

I thought fleetingly about bringing one home, but I'd have never been able to get it past airport security. China has a strict policy concerning tech in airplane hulls and cabins that have a high explosion potential, and I can't blame them for that. I found out later on in my trip, that China isn't alone. South Korea, Singapore and Thailand similarly put the smackdown on batteries -- I had to carry them in my hand luggage, and couldn't have too many.

Still, it was the laminated signs at the check-in counter of my Asiana Airlines flight from Beijing to Seoul that explicitly warned (in Korean and English) against Mini Segways, "solowheels" and two-wheelers in addition to those loose batteries and external battery packs.

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If a routine security scan reveals these items in your checked luggage, you could lose them forever (or perhaps get escorted back to the check-in counter to deal with it). Airport staff carefully sifted through battery packs at the security checkpoint as well, for all six airports in Asia I flew out of, counting the total power capacity of two external packs and a packet of Xiaomi-sponsored AA batteries that I carried in my hand luggage.

As I said, I'm happy with these safety precautions against allowing dangerous gadgets and batteries to fly along with me in a metal tube in the air, and I've made my peace with the fact that my hoverboard dreams won't come true during my grand gadget-seeking trek through Asia.

And that's OK. Because I'll totally just start collecting selfie sticks instead.

This article originally posted April 24, 2016 and was updated May 6 with details on other countries in Asia.