Everything a foreign visitor needs, gathered in one place. Welcome, visitors across China. This section is being compiled — no verifiedd entries published yet.
This site is written for China first. This page is the way in for someone who reads neither the language nor the habits — the practical things, in the order they come up.
The transit is 240 hours, not 144 — the shorter figure was replaced on 17 December 2024 and still appears on most travel pages. 57 nationalities, 65 ports of entry, 24 provinces.
Filed online before you land, at s.nia.gov.cn. Digital since 20 November 2025. Immigration hotline 12367, English available.
Two pedestrian metro crossings at Shenzhen. You clear immigration on foot and arrive inside an MTR station.
Five metro networks accept a foreign bank card at the gate: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen. Everywhere else needs an Alipay or WeChat QR linked to your passport, or a paper ticket. Alipay and WeChat both accept foreign cards now.
Foreign visitors must register their address with the local police within 24 hours of arrival. A hotel does it for you. Staying with friends or in a rental, you do it yourself — and almost nobody mentions this.
A foreign passport works on 12306, but verification takes time. Trip.com sells the same tickets without a Chinese ID.
A local SIM needs your passport. Airport counters do it on arrival. Roaming and eSIM both work — the difference is which networks you reach.
Emergency numbers differ between the mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. Dialling the wrong one costs minutes.
Embassies are in Beijing; consulates in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenyang. Which one covers you depends on the province you are in, not the city.
The part almost nobody writes about in English, and the part that actually stops people at the airport.
China allows 5 000 RMB of personal purchases brought in duty-free. Above that, declaration and duty. The allowance is higher for residents returning from Hong Kong or Macau under certain regimes.
Leaving with a professional camera, a laptop or an expensive watch? Declare it as a temporary export at the customs desk on the way out. Without that paper, it can be treated as a foreign purchase on the way back.
Every metro station in China has an X-ray checkpoint. A power bank must show a readable capacity marking and stay under 100 Wh — roughly 20 000 mAh. Aerosols over 150 ml are refused on the metro and on high-speed rail.
Purchases at participating stores can be refunded at the airport on the way out. Keep the receipt and the goods unused, and allow extra time before the flight.
Civil drones taken abroad must meet the destination's radio rules and be declared on the way out, or they can be held at customs on return.
China has 69 land crossings. 31 are bilateral only — open to citizens of China and the adjoining country, closed to every other passport. Turning up at the wrong one costs a day.
Rules change by announcement. Figures here were checked against the National Immigration Administration and China Customs in August 2026 — confirm before travelling.
Pick a city to see its districts and categories.
Nothing is published here yet, so there is nothing to attribute. When entries are added they will come from OpenStreetMap under ODbL, marked unverified.
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