An adult Chinese striped hamster weighs , and has a body length of  with a tail of . It is smaller and has a much shorter tail than the greater long-tailed hamster, Tscherskia triton, which inhabits much of the same range.
Adult Chinese striped hamsters weigh , with a body length of  and a tail of . They are smaller and have a significantly shorter tail compared to the greater long-tailed hamster, Tscherskia triton, which is found in the same geographic area.