Pre-trip field guide · 2026
Land in China
ready.
China is easier to visit than it has been in decades — 77 nationalities now enter visa-free. But payments, apps, and trains work differently here. These tools and guides get you set up before you board the plane.
Start here
Six tools that answer the big questions
No sign-ups, no fees. Each tool cites the official policy it's built on, with the date we last verified it.
Visa-Free Eligibility Checker
Pick your passport, get your answer: 30-day visa-free, 240-hour transit, or visa required — with the official rules linked.
Open tool →02240-Hour Transit Planner
Check if your route qualifies for the 10-day visa-free transit: eligible ports, allowed regions, and the third-country rule.
Open tool →03Crowd Calendar
Golden Week and Chinese New Year turn attractions into seas of people. See exactly which dates to avoid, month by month.
Open tool →04Trip Budget Calculator
Real prices from the ground: hotels, high-speed rail, meals, and attractions — budgeted by city, days, and travel style.
Open tool →05Pre-Trip Checklist Builder
A personalized to-do list based on your nationality and trip length — apps to install, cards to bring, documents to prepare.
Open tool →06Arrival Quick Reference
Plug types, tipping (spoiler: none), emergency numbers, and the numbers gesture chart — one page to screenshot before you land.
Open tool →Step by step
Guides written on the ground
Every guide is built from real walkthroughs in China — actual app screens, actual stations, actual prices. Not rewritten press releases.
Set Up Alipay Before You Fly
The payment app you'll use fifty times a day, configured in 15 minutes with your foreign card — every screen shown.
02WeChat Pay for Tourists
The backup wallet worth having. Registration, card linking, and the verification steps that confuse everyone.
03Data in China: eSIM Guide
Land with working internet. How tourist eSIMs work, what they cost, and how to install one in five minutes.
04Riding the High-Speed Rail
Booking tickets as a foreigner, passport gates, seat classes, and why the train beats flying for most routes.
05Getting Around: DiDi & Taxis
China's Uber, in English. Setting up DiDi, reading the fare screen, and avoiding the airport taxi hustle.
06Your First Hour in China
From jet bridge to city center: SIM, cash, metro card, and the three things to do before leaving the airport.
Why trust this site
Dated, sourced, and current
- Official sources only. Visa and entry rules link directly to Chinese government publications — never secondhand blogs.
- Every page is dated. You'll always see when a page was last verified, because a 2023 guide to Chinese payments is worse than no guide.
- Written from inside China. The app screenshots are ours. The train stations are ones we've stood in.