Before you go

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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).

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.