240-Hour Transit Itineraries from Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chengdu
Entering visa-free somewhere other than Beijing or Shanghai. Why the southern ports make the onward-ticket rule easy, and four routes through Guangdong, Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan and Guangxi.
Almost every guide to China's visa-free transit policy assumes you are landing in Beijing or Shanghai. Most travellers do. But there are around 65 approved ports across 24 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, and the southern and western ones have a specific advantage that the northern hubs do not.
Hong Kong and Macau count as a third region.
The hardest part of the transit policy is the onward-ticket requirement: you must be continuing to a third country or region, not returning to where you came from. From Beijing, satisfying that means booking a genuine international flight to Seoul, Tokyo, Singapore or wherever. From Guangzhou or Shenzhen, it means a 48-minute train to Hong Kong West Kowloon for around ¥185–215.
That single fact makes a southern entry the cheapest way into this policy, and it is the reason this route set exists.
The mechanics, briefly
Same policy, same rules, wherever you enter.
Eligibility. Ordinary passports from 55 countries as of May 2026 — 40 European, six in the Americas, Australia and New Zealand, and seven Asian including South Korea, Japan and Singapore. Three months' passport validity. Check the current list against the National Immigration Administration.
Onward ticket. Confirmed, to a third country or region, within 240 hours.
The clock. Starts at 00:00 on the day after entry, once the temporary entry permit is issued. Arrive at 15:00 on 12 March and the window runs 00:00 on 13 March to 00:00 on 23 March.
Permitted area. 24 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, including Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan, Guizhou, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi and Fujian. Excluded: Tibet, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia and Jilin.
Tibet is the one that catches Chengdu arrivals. Chengdu is the main gateway city for Tibet, the flights are frequent, and it is outside the zone. A transit permit does not get you to Lhasa — that needs a visa plus a Tibet Travel Permit.
Getting the permit. At the arrival airport, at the temporary entry permit counter, with your passport, onward booking and completed arrival card. No fee, no advance application. Allow an hour.
The Hong Kong exit, in detail
If you enter at Guangzhou Baiyun or Shenzhen Bao'an, your onward "international" leg can be a high-speed train.
Hong Kong West Kowloon is reached from Guangzhou South in about 47 minutes and from Shenzhen Futian in about 15 minutes, with 60-plus services a day and second-class fares in the ¥185–215 range.
Immigration is handled under a co-location arrangement inside West Kowloon station — both Mainland exit and Hong Kong entry are cleared in one pass before you leave the terminal. Arrive at least 45 minutes before departure when travelling out of Hong Kong; in the northbound direction you clear at West Kowloon before boarding.
Two things to be clear about:
Hong Kong is a separate immigration jurisdiction. Entering Hong Kong is exiting Mainland China. Your transit permit is spent at that point. You cannot pop over and come back on the same permit.
You need to be admissible to Hong Kong. Many nationalities get visa-free entry to Hong Kong for 7 to 180 days, but not all. Check your own position before building a route around it.
The same logic applies to Macau via the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge from Zhuhai, or by ferry.
Route 1: Greater Bay Area, six days
Short, dense, and the least logistically demanding version.
| Days | Where |
|---|---|
| 1–3 | Guangzhou |
| 4–5 | Shenzhen |
| 6 | Exit to Hong Kong by rail |
Guangzhou is an underrated city for foreign visitors. Morning dim sum in Liwan, Shamian Island's colonial quarter, the Chen Clan Ancestral Hall, the Canton Tower after dark, and food that many Chinese people will tell you is the country's best. Three days is enough to like it.
Shenzhen is forty years old and looks it, in a way that is genuinely interesting if you have just come from Guangzhou's old lanes. OCT-LOFT, the Shenzhen Museum, Dafen oil painting village, and Huaqiangbei's electronics markets.
Then the train out. Six days used, four in hand.
Route 2: Guangdong and Guangxi, nine days
Adds the karst landscape that Guangdong lacks.
| Days | Where | Getting there |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | Guangzhou | Arrive Baiyun |
| 3–6 | Guilin and Yangshuo | ~2.5–3 h HSR |
| 7–8 | Shenzhen | ~3.5 h HSR |
| 9 | Exit to Hong Kong | 15 min |
Yangshuo, not Guilin city, is where you base. Four days there covers a Li River trip, a cycling day in the Yulong valley, a climb up Xianggong Hill or Moon Hill, and one weather buffer.
The buffer is not optional. Guangxi gets substantial rain and the karst scenery is the entire reason for the detour.
Guangzhou South to Guilin West runs roughly two and a half to three hours on high-speed rail. Guilin back to Shenzhen North is around three and a half.
Route 3: Chengdu and Chongqing, eight days
For entry at Chengdu Tianfu (TFU) or Shuangliu (CTU), or Chongqing Jiangbei (CKG).
| Days | Where |
|---|---|
| 1–3 | Chengdu |
| 4 | Leshan or Dujiangyan day trip |
| 5–7 | Chongqing |
| 8 | Depart Chongqing to a third country |
Chengdu, days 1–3. The Panda Base at opening — pandas are active early and asleep by mid-morning, and admission runs around ¥55–60 with advance online booking as the normal route in. Then People's Park teahouses, Wenshu Monastery, Kuanzhai Alley, and hotpot. Ask for a yuanyang split pot if chilli is not your thing; nobody will mind.
Day 4 goes to the Leshan Giant Buddha, about an hour by high-speed rail from Chengdu East plus a local transfer, or to Dujiangyan and Mount Qingcheng, an hour out and an easier day.
Chongqing, days 5–7. Roughly 1 to 1.5 hours from Chengdu East by high-speed rail. A vertical city built on cliffs above the confluence of two rivers, with a metro line that runs through an apartment block and the Hongyadong stilt complex lit up at night. The Dazu Rock Carvings are a day trip southwest and are among the best late-period Buddhist sculpture in China.
Chongqing Jiangbei has international routes, so you can exit directly. Confirm it is an approved port for your exit before you book.
Do not add Tibet. Chengdu makes it look easy. It is outside the permitted area.
Route 4: Chengdu in, Kunming out, ten days
The most ambitious of the four, and the one that uses the different-port rule properly.
| Days | Where | Getting there |
|---|---|---|
| 1–3 | Chengdu | Arrive TFU/CTU |
| 4–5 | Chongqing | ~1–1.5 h HSR |
| 6–7 | Kunming | Fly, ~1.5 h |
| 8–9 | Dali | ~2 h HSR |
| 10 | Kunming, depart | ~2 h HSR |
Yunnan is inside the permitted area, and Kunming Changshui has international service including good connections to Southeast Asia — which makes the third-country onward ticket straightforward.
Dali at around 2,000 m is a comfortable altitude and two hours from Kunming by high-speed rail. Stay in the old town or Xizhou rather than Xiaguan, which is the modern transport city.
Lijiang is tempting as an addition — another 1.5 to 2 hours beyond Dali for about ¥80. On ten days with an international flight at the end, it makes the route too tight. Save it for a trip with a visa.
This route uses all ten days. Build the return to Kunming as a full day, not a morning.
Route 5: Guangzhou and Zhangjiajie, nine days
Hunan is inside the permitted area, and Zhangjiajie is the landscape that most people have seen without knowing where it is — the sandstone pillars that inspired the floating mountains in Avatar.
| Days | Where | Getting there |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | Guangzhou | Arrive Baiyun |
| 3–6 | Zhangjiajie | ~5 h HSR, or ~1.5 h flight |
| 7–8 | Shenzhen | Fly, or HSR via Changsha |
| 9 | Exit to Hong Kong | 15 min |
Four days in Zhangjiajie is the minimum. The Wulingyuan core area, Tianzi Mountain, the Bailong glass elevator, and Tianmen Mountain — which is a separate ticket and a separate day, right beside the city rather than in the park.
The park is large and the internal shuttle system is not intuitive. Decide which entrance you are using before you go, and stay inside or immediately outside the park rather than in Zhangjiajie city, which is a 40-minute drive from the gates.
Weather is the risk. The pillars are frequently in cloud, which is atmospheric on one day and frustrating on four. Build the fourth day as a buffer rather than a plan.
Land and sea ports
The southern region has approved ports that are not airports, which is unusual and occasionally useful.
Shenzhen's land crossings with Hong Kong — including Futian and Huanggang — appear among the approved ports, which means you can enter the Mainland on foot or by rail from Hong Kong rather than by air. If you are already in Hong Kong on a separate trip, that turns a visa-free Mainland side trip into a same-day decision.
Zhuhai's Gongbei crossing with Macau works on the same principle, as does the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge crossing.
Two cautions. First, the approved-port list changes and not every crossing at a given city is included — check the specific port, not the city. Second, the onward third-country requirement still applies in full: entering at Futian from Hong Kong and then flying home from Guangzhou to your own country does not satisfy it. You would need to exit to a third country or region again.
Choosing an entry port
Guangzhou or Shenzhen if you want the cheapest possible onward ticket and a short trip. The Hong Kong rail exit is the whole argument.
Chengdu if you want food and pandas and are willing to fly out on a real international ticket.
Chongqing if you like cities that are strange. It is the most distinctive urban environment in China and it gets a fraction of the foreign visitors of Chengdu.
Kunming as an exit port rather than an entry one, unless you are coming from Southeast Asia.
The usual failure modes
Assuming Tibet is reachable from Chengdu. It is not, on this permit.
Assuming Hong Kong is a round trip. Entering Hong Kong ends your Mainland stay.
Not checking Hong Kong admissibility. Your Mainland transit eligibility says nothing about your Hong Kong entry rights.
Counting from arrival instead of 00:00 the next day. Write the expiry down.
Same-day travel before the international flight. Return to the departure city the night before, every time.
If this does not fit your trip
A straight return from home cannot use this policy, and a throwaway onward ticket is a bad plan — it gets checked at your origin airport. For more than ten days, a same-city round trip, or access to Tibet, Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia or Inner Mongolia, apply for a tourist visa.
Run your own nationality, passport type, dates and route through the entry checker, then confirm with the National Immigration Administration before booking anything non-refundable.
Official sources
- National Immigration Administration, visa-free transit: https://en.nia.gov.cn/n147418/n147463/c183412/content.html
- China Railway 12306, English site: https://www.12306.cn/en/
- Hong Kong High Speed Rail, ticketing information: https://www.highspeed.mtr.com.hk/en/
- Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding: https://www.panda.org.cn/
Approved ports, permitted regions and eligible nationalities change. Verify for your dates.
Last reviewed: 30 July 2026.