Before you go

A practical pre-trip checklist for entry documents, payments, connectivity, transport and stays.

6 min readReview due

Personalised checklist

Choose a passport to prepare your entry checks.

Your nationality alone cannot confirm entry eligibility. Use your actual travel document and recheck official sources before departure.

Passport country or region

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Stage 1

Entry

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Choose a countryCheck rules by passportThese routes are not interchangeable. Check your passport, purpose, stay and itinerary; current National Immigration Administration guidance and border inspection decisions take precedence. The checker currently covers unilateral visa-free short tourism with a valid ordinary passport only. Use the official sources below for mutual exemptions and transit.Open the detailed guide →

Check passport validityKeep at least six months of validity and enough blank pages for your route.Open the detailed guide →

Prepare the arrival cardUse only the official NIA channel or the NIA 12367 app.Open the detailed guide →

Keep onward travel and lodging readyKeep your onward ticket, first-night address and itinerary available offline.Open the detailed guide →

Stage 2

Money

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Set up AlipayAdd your international card and finish identity verification before departure.Open the detailed guide →

Tell your bank you are travellingKeep the bank support number handy in case the first wallet charge is blocked.Open the detailed guide →

Carry a cash fallbackA few hundred yuan covers moments when an app or foreign card fails.Open the detailed guide →

Stage 3

Phone & internet

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Choose roaming, eSIM or a local SIMInstall and test your chosen data option before the flight.Open the detailed guide →

Keep your home SIM activeBanking, wallets and bookings may still send verification messages.Open the detailed guide →

Install essential tools before arrivalDownload and test any service you depend on before entering mainland China.Open the detailed guide →

Stage 4

Getting around

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Set up China Railway 12306Verify your passport early and learn when tickets for your dates are released.Open the detailed guide →

Prepare DiDiUse the standalone app or the mini app inside Alipay.Open the detailed guide →

Save addresses in ChineseKeep hotel and attraction names available for drivers even when offline.Open the detailed guide →

Stage 5

Stay

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Confirm the property accepts your documentsAsk the property directly if the booking page is unclear.Open the detailed guide →

Understand accommodation registrationHotels normally register you; private stays require a separate local process.Open the detailed guide →

Stage 6

Useful apps

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Prepare Amap or Apple MapsSave the places you need and download any useful offline data.Open the detailed guide →

Download an offline Chinese packTest text, voice and camera translation before departure.Open the detailed guide →

Set up WeChatIt is widely used for communication, mini apps and payment backup.Open the detailed guide →

This checklist helps you prepare, not determine visa or entry eligibility. Rules can change; verify current requirements with a Chinese mission or the National Immigration Administration before departure.

Pre-trip preparation notes

Everything worth setting up before you fly to China, in one list. Tick things off as you go; each item links to the guide that explains it.

Your passport

Whether you need a visa depends almost entirely on the passport you hold. Choose yours and the entry item below shows your simplest route in.

Entry 入境

✓Check your entry rule

Choose your passport above. Nationals of 50 countries can enter visa-free for 30 days, 29 more have bilateral agreements, 57 can pass through for up to ten days on the way somewhere else, and everyone else applies for a visa before travelling.

✓Check your passport has six months left

Airlines commonly insist on six months’ validity even for visa-free entry, and a visa application needs more than six months and two blank pages.

✓Fill in the arrival card online

It is free on the National Immigration Administration site or in the NIA 12367 app; use only those, because copycat sites charge for it.

✓Keep your onward ticket and first hotel booking to hand

Printed or on your phone: airlines check tickets at departure, and border officers can ask about your itinerary and where you are staying.

Money 支付

✓Set up Alipay with your foreign card

Do it at home on Wi‑Fi with your passport beside you: add a Visa, Mastercard, American Express, JCB, Diners or Discover card, then verify your identity, which can take a day.

✓Keep your bank’s phone number handy

Some banks block the first wallet charge as suspicious; if verification fails twice, call them, say you are travelling to China and try again. Prepaid and virtual cards are often refused.

✓Carry a few hundred yuan in cash

For the moments an app fails. ATMs at Bank of China, ICBC, China Construction Bank and Agricultural Bank accept foreign cards.

Phone & internet 上网

✓Get a travel eSIM or a roaming plan

Google, WhatsApp, Instagram and most Western sites are blocked on Chinese networks, and roaming data gets around that: install the eSIM at home and activate it on landing.

Stay online. Google, WhatsApp and Instagram are blocked on Chinese networks; a travel eSIM that roams gets around it. Install one before you fly — Saily takes US$5 off a first plan with the code CHINA. See Staying online. The code earns us the same amount in Saily credits, at no cost to you (how that works).

✓Keep your home SIM active

Alipay, WeChat and train booking all work with a foreign number, and you will still need it for verification texts.

✓If you rely on a VPN, install and test it now

The app stores inside China do not carry them, and reliability on a local connection varies.

Getting around 交通

✓Get the 12306 app for trains

The official app and website have an English version and accept foreign passports. Tickets go on sale about two weeks ahead, and popular routes sell out at weekends and holidays.

You can also book through Trip.com, which charges a small fee and has better English support; 12306 stays our first recommendation. That is an affiliate link: a booking through it earns us a small commission at no cost to you (how this works).

✓Set up Didi, or use it inside Alipay

Didi has an English interface, and its mini-app inside Alipay is easier because your payment is already set up.

✓Save your addresses in Chinese

Taxi drivers rarely speak English. Every place page here has a Show in Chinese card that fills the screen with the name and address to show the driver. Tap Save on it to keep it on your phone for when the signal drops.

Stay 住宿

✓Book hotels that take foreign guests

Many budget and mid-range hotels are not licensed to register foreigners. On Trip.com tick the China travel essentials filter; international chains and most four-star hotels and above are fine.

✓Know how registration works

Hotels photograph your passport at check-in and register you with the police. In a private home, your host must register you at the local police station within 24 hours.

Apps 应用

✓Install Amap, or get Apple Maps ready

Google Maps is blocked on Chinese networks; Amap (高德) and Apple Maps both work well. Download offline maps before you land.

✓Download a Chinese translation pack

Apple Translate with the Chinese pack works offline, camera mode for menus included; Alipay also has a translator built in.

✓Install WeChat and add WeChat Pay

Hosts and guides message on WeChat rather than WhatsApp, and WeChat Pay is the fallback when Alipay says “card not supported”. Registering needs a phone number and sometimes a friend who already uses WeChat.

Done? The rest can wait until you land. Pick your cities and take them slowly.