A packet forwarding method, applied to a low-rate wireless mesh network, wherein the method comprises: obtaining, by a network node, an original MAC address based on a source IPv6 address of an Internet Protocol version 6, IPv6, packet, and obtaining a final MAC address based on a destination IPv6 address of the IPv6 packet, wherein the original MAC address is a Media Access Control, MAC, address of the network node, and the final MAC address is a MAC address of a final node; obtaining, by the network node, a MAC address of a next-hop node based on the final MAC address; generating, by the network node, a data frame based on the IPv6 packet, wherein the data frame comprises an IPv6 over Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Network, 6LoWPAN, compressed IPv6 packet, and a MAC header and a layer-2 forwarding header that are located in an outer layer of the 6LoWPAN compressed IPv6 packet, the layer-2 forwarding header comprises the original MAC address and the final MAC address, the MAC header comprises a source MAC address and a destination MAC address, the source MAC address is the MAC address of the network node, and the destination MAC address is the MAC address of the next-hop node; and sending, by the network node, the data frame to the next-hop node, so that the next-hop node forwards the data frame directly based on the final MAC address in the layer-2 forwarding header, wherein the obtaining, by the network node, the MAC address of the next-hop node based on the final MAC address comprises: querying, by the network node, a layer-2 forwarding table of the network node based on the final MAC address, to obtain the MAC address of the next hop node, wherein the layer-2 forwarding table comprises a correspondence between the final MAC address and the MAC address of the next-hop node; wherein before the querying, by the network node, a layer-2 forwarding table of the network node based on the final MAC address, the method further comprises: translating, by the network node, a layer-3 routing table of the network node into the layer-2 forwarding table based on a correspondence between an IPv6 address and a MAC address of the final node and a correspondence between an IPv6 address and a MAC address of the next-hop node. obtaining, by a network node, an original MAC address based on a source IPv6 address of an Internet Protocol version 6, IPv6, packet, and obtaining a final MAC address based on a destination IPv6 address of the IPv6 packet, wherein the original MAC address is a Media Access Control, MAC, address of the network node, and the final MAC address is a MAC address of a final node; obtaining, by the network node, a MAC address of a next-hop node based on the final MAC address; generating, by the network node, a data frame based on the IPv6 packet, wherein the data frame comprises an IPv6 over Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Network, 6LoWPAN, compressed IPv6 packet, and a MAC header and a layer-2 forwarding header that are located in an outer layer of the 6LoWPAN compressed IPv6 packet, the layer-2 forwarding header comprises the original MAC address and the final MAC address, the MAC header comprises a source MAC address and a destination MAC address, the source MAC address is the MAC address of the network node, and the destination MAC address is the MAC address of the next-hop node; and sending, by the network node, the data frame to the next-hop node, so that the next-hop node forwards the data frame directly based on the final MAC address in the layer-2 forwarding header, wherein the obtaining, by the network node, the MAC address of the next-hop node based on the final MAC address comprises: querying, by the network node, a layer-2 forwarding table of the network node based on the final MAC address, to obtain the MAC address of the next hop node, wherein the layer-2 forwarding table comprises a correspondence between the final MAC address and the MAC address of the next-hop node; wherein before the querying, by the network node, a layer-2 forwarding table of the network node based on the final MAC address, the method further comprises: translating, by the network node, a layer-3 routing table of the network node into the layer-2 forwarding table based on a correspondence between an IPv6 address and a MAC address of the final node and a correspondence between an IPv6 address and a MAC address of the next-hop node. querying, by the network node, a layer-2 forwarding table of the network node based on the final MAC address, to obtain the MAC address of the next hop node, wherein the layer-2 forwarding table comprises a correspondence between the final MAC address and the MAC address of the next-hop node; wherein before the querying, by the network node, a layer-2 forwarding table of the network node based on the final MAC address, the method further comprises: translating, by the network node, a layer-3 routing table of the network node into the layer-2 forwarding table based on a correspondence between an IPv6 address and a MAC address of the final node and a correspondence between an IPv6 address and a MAC address of the next-hop node.