China Travel AtlasPrivate trips & local supportPlan my trip ↗Before you book
Start with your passport, travel dates and flight route. A visa-free holiday and a visa-free transit stop have different requirements.
Entry information checked 29 October 2026. Recheck the linked official rules for your travel dates, especially for a trip in 2027.
Compare the published nationality lists. The results explain which conditions to read next; they do not replace a visa or a border decision.
Enter a country to compare entry options.
The current unilateral waiver covers ordinary-passport holders from 50 countries for qualifying short visits, including tourism. Eligible travelers can visit independently; an organized tour is not required.
The published waiver runs through 31 December 2026 for 48 of those countries, through 31 December 2027 for Russia, and has no stated end date for Brunei. The stay is counted from the day after entry.
Separate agreements cover other nationalities. Read the agreement for your country and passport category; the length of each visit and any cumulative stay limit vary.
Check the ordinary-passport conditions in the MFA table and the notice from the Chinese embassy or consulate serving your country.
This allows eligible ordinary-passport holders from 57 countries to spend up to 10 days in the published travel areas while continuing to a different country or region.
You need an onward ticket with a confirmed seat and departure date, a designated entry port and a route within the permitted areas. It is a transit arrangement, so a simple return journey to the same country does not qualify.
If your passport, route or length of stay does not fit an applicable exemption, follow the tourist-visa instructions for the Chinese embassy, consulate or visa centre serving your place of residence.
Start before making bookings that cannot be changed. The visa states its validity, allowed number of entries and duration of stay; read each of these separately.
London → Shanghai → Tokyo
The places immediately before and after mainland China are different. The other transit conditions still apply.
London → Shanghai → London
This is a return holiday. Use an applicable holiday visa exemption or tourist visa.
For the 240-hour policy, 65 designated entry ports and permitted areas in 24 provincial-level regions are published by NIA. Some provinces are only partly covered. Compare every stop with the official chart before adding side trips.
| Region | Permitted area |
|---|---|
| Beijing | Whole municipality |
| Tianjin | Whole municipality |
| Hebei | Whole province |
| Liaoning | Whole province |
| Shanghai | Whole municipality |
| Jiangsu | Whole province |
| Zhejiang | Whole province |
| Anhui | Whole province |
| Fujian | Whole province |
| Shandong | Whole province |
| Henan | Whole province |
| Hubei | Whole province |
| Hunan | Whole province |
| Guangdong | Whole province |
| Hainan | Whole province |
| Chongqing | Whole municipality |
| Guizhou | Whole province |
| Shaanxi | Whole province |
| Shanxi | Taiyuan and Datong only |
| Heilongjiang | Harbin only |
| Jiangxi | Nanchang and Jingdezhen only |
| Guangxi | Nanning, Liuzhou, Guilin, Wuzhou, Beihai, Fangchenggang, Qinzhou, Guigang, Yulin, Hezhou, Hechi and Laibin only |
| Sichuan | Chengdu, Zigong, Luzhou, Deyang, Suining, Neijiang, Leshan, Yibin, Ya'an, Meishan and Ziyang only |
| Yunnan | Kunming, Yuxi, Chuxiong, Honghe, Wenshan, Pu'er, Xishuangbanna, Dali and Lijiang only |
Planning Jiuzhaigou or a wider Yunnan trip? Check the named areas carefully. Jiuzhaigou is outside the published 240-hour Sichuan area; the Yunnan list also does not cover every part of the province.
A separate 24-hour transit policy applies to travelers continuing to a third country or region. Leaving the restricted area of a port requires a temporary entry permit from border inspection.
Hainan and some organized-group visits have their own waivers, travel areas and entry conditions. Read the scheme for that exact journey; do not use a regional exemption as permission to travel throughout the mainland.
Use NIA’s official arrival-card service if you fill the card online. Keep the submitted record available on your phone. Hong Kong and Macao have separate entry rules; check each mainland entry again if your trip crosses those borders.
Hotels register guests at check-in. For a stay with friends or other non-hotel accommodation, you or your host must register within 24 hours. NIA’s online service is available nationwide, alongside registration with local public security authorities.
A return to the same country does not meet the third-country-or-region transit requirement. Check a separate exemption or apply for a tourist visa.
Eligible travelers may visit independently or with a group. Passport, purpose, stay and policy-validity conditions still apply.
Use the current NIA 240-hour policy and port chart when planning a transit visit. Older 72-hour and 144-hour articles may describe different ports or travel areas.
Use the Chinese embassy or consulate serving your place of residence, or NIA’s 12367 immigration service. Give the passport nationality, travel dates and full route; do not send passport scans through our general inquiry form.