China Travel Pulse
Guide category
Independent pre-trip guidance on visas, exemptions, transit, and arrival formalities.
China added Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam to the 240-hour transit and Hainan 30-day schemes on 20 August 2026. This practical update separates the two options and shows travelers what still needs to be proved.
A plain-language compliance checklist for passports, permitted activities, accommodation registration, cameras and drones, medicines, police checks, and consular help.
Act promptly, but do not assume that an ordinary police report alone completes the process. National Immigration Administration guidance describes a sequence involving the local public security exit-entry administration, your embassy or consulate, a replacement passport or temporary travel document, and reissuance or replacement of the Chinese visa or stay document when required.
A decision hub that matches passport, purpose, dates, route, ports and destinations to the relevant visa, exemption, transit, Hainan or cruise option.
An L visa is intended for tourism. Apply through the official Chinese consular or visa-service channel responsible for the place where you legally reside or are permitted to apply. There is no safe worldwide promise for the fee, processing time, appointment, fingerprint procedure, or exact document list.
China's official online arrival-card service is **free**. The National Immigration Administration introduced online filling for foreign travelers on 20 November 2025 and later warned about counterfeit websites charging travelers for a service that does not require a fee.
Follow the arrival process in order: prepare documents, complete the free official arrival card, pass immigration, collect baggage, choose the correct Customs channel and complete accommodation registration.
A definitive route-first guide to China's 240-hour transit policy, including the passport, third-country ticket, port, permitted-area, purpose and timing tests.
Hainan's regional visa-free list reached 61 countries on 20 August 2026. This update explains the Hainan-only boundary, eligible activities and booking checks.
China's new exit-entry regulation takes effect on 15 September 2026. It reinforces truthful applications, consistent purpose evidence and travel-risk information without replacing visa rules.
A printable six-part checklist for testing passport, third-country routing, ticket, port, permitted area and purpose before booking a 240-hour China transit.
A route-first comparison of China's 240-hour transit and Hainan 30-day visa-free options for Kyrgyz and Vietnamese ordinary-passport travelers.
The M visa turns on one document you cannot produce yourself. What counts as business, what the invitation letter must contain, and the line between M and a work visa.
A side-by-side explanation of unilateral and mutual exemptions, 240-hour transit, Hainan regional entry and the cruise-group policy.
Where to go, what to bring, and the seven-day deadline that decides whether you have an application or a problem. Plus why visa-free entries are harder to extend than visas.
You cannot get the permit yourself, you cannot travel independently, and arriving from Nepal needs a different visa entirely. The four documents, the timeline, and the mistakes that cost trips.
A traveler-focused explanation of China's organized cruise-group visa-free policy, including group, agency, port, area and same-cruise departure conditions.
Which of China's land borders are actually open to foreign passports, which provinces they drop you into, and why your visa-free scheme may not work at a land port.
An evergreen Hainan guide covering the 61-country list, eligible purposes, open ports, 30-day limit and the hard boundary with Mainland China.
Three immigration systems, and every crossing is a fresh entry. How single-entry visas get burned, whether a Hong Kong trip resets your visa-free clock, and the six scenarios worth working through.
There is no appeal and no explanation. The eleven things that actually cause refusals, how to fix an application before you resubmit, and why the form matters more than the itinerary.
Hong Kong and Mainland China operate separate immigration systems. Permission to enter Hong Kong does not automatically permit entry to Mainland China. Before comparing transport, check the Mainland entry document, visa-free arrangement, or transit policy that applies to your passport and route.
A first trip to China is easier when you separate official entry requirements from practical setup. Confirm your own entry basis first, then prepare payments, connectivity, transport, accommodation, and a small offline backup kit.
Plan with your actual itinerary
Answer one question at a time and compare the published options that may fit your passport, dates and route.