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I know that Christmas is celebrated in a big (secular) way in China these days, and that Christmas cookies are available in lots of places, but they're not (in all due modesty) my Christmas cookies. One of my lads is in China for the year, and I'd like to send some cookies to him. I know about the packaging-for-mailing bit (consensus seems to include zip-lock bags, filled but not overfilled tin or plastic container, a bit of tissue/bubble wrap) but I'm wondering if anyone has insider info 
on what would be the best bargain way to get them there and if there are likely to be any complications with customs.
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Coals to Newcastle...erm, packages to China
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As someone who has been receiving Christmas cookies from her own mother for the last 20 years or so (15 in Asia), I can attest that store bought is not the same. I don’t even care when they turn out just to be a tin of full of crumbs (I use a spoon, they work well over ice cream in that form as well by the way).
Based on my mother’s experience, I would go with US mail, insured, air mail. See your options at http://www.usps.com/international/sendpackages.htm This will be more expensive than ground/surface, but freshness is important. The insurance is just so it gets better attention. For customs just declare what is in the package. Gift: cookies.
According the US postal service website, a package mailed to China can’t include meat or “perishable infectious biological substances”. By this I am fairly confident they mean plant material, like fresh herbs. See http://pe.usps.gov/text/imm/ce_009.htm#ep1400280. I live in China, but not the mainland, so can’t speak with particularity about cookies into the PRC proper, but can say I have encountered no issues with Hong Kong. Or with Singapore (which has pretty strict rules), or with Switzerland.
You could use FedEx but that will be pretty expensive. But certainly possible. See their websites or DHL, etc.
For wrapping, you might try layers of tissue paper or thin cardboard. I also have boxes Girl Scout cookies mailed successfully to me every year by nieces and children of friends. But they are not sent in any special wrapping I have to say, just a padded envelope for the box. (The thin mints do sometimes get melted together but that is the chocolate.) So tightly packed may actually be the way to go. Less room for movement.
Thanks, Cicerone! It's nice to hear from someone "on the ground", so to speak. I'm hoping that cookies aren't "perishable infectious biological substances"--that'd be scary. The cookie advice I'm getting is that the famous filled oatmeal cookie sandwiches probably won't hold up (as there's butter in the frosting) but I've got a few runners-up...