What changed
Changes to China's entry and travel rules that first-time visitors rely on, and to this site, newest first. Follow them in a feed reader with the RSS feed.
- Rules
12306 passport verification: plan on 3 to 5 working days
Railway 12306 usually takes 3 to 5 working days to verify a foreign passport, and up to two weeks when the name doesn't match the passport's machine-readable lines exactly. Trip.com, or a station ticket window in China, are the ways around the wait.
- Rules
240-hour transit: Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang are one area
Travelers on 240-hour visa-free transit can move freely between Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, so Suzhou, Nanjing and Hangzhou are open to a Shanghai stopover; Hangzhou Xiaoshan and Nanjing Lukou are entry ports too.
- Site
Routes, how-to pages, comparisons and new tools
Ready-made routes for 7 and 10 days and for a transit stopover, step-by-step pages for trains, Didi, delivery, bikes and the airport, four comparisons, and new tools for phrases, prices, SIM cards and reading signs.
- Site
Visa-free policy tracker
The 30-day visa-free entry for most European and many other passports is set to end on 31 December 2026. The tracker follows the announcements and lists what to do if a trip runs past the end date.
- Rules
Online accommodation registration nationwide
Since 21 September 2026, foreigners staying in private homes can register their accommodation online anywhere in China, under National Immigration Administration Notice No. 7 of 2026, instead of going to a police station.