Employee Defined Combination Plan - Additional Information (Detail) $ in Thousands, ¥ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2016 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2016 CNY (¥)	Dec. 31, 2015 CNY (¥)	Dec. 31, 2014 CNY (¥)
Defined Contribution Pension and Other Postretirement Plans Disclosure [Abstract]
Amounts incurred for employee defined contribution plan	$ 329,610	¥ 2,290	¥ 2,230	¥ 1,640

Full time employees of the Group in the PRC participate in a government mandated multi-employer defined contribution plan pursuant to which certain pension benefits, medical care, unemployment insurance, employee housing fund and other welfare benefits are provided to employees.The line item represents the total amounts expensed as incurred for such employee defined contribution plan.

No definition available.

Name:	bidu_EmployeeDefinedContributionPlanAmountsExpensed
Namespace Prefix:	bidu_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	duration