Can you skip the visa? Usually, yes.

01Two rules cover almost everyone

China's 2026 entry setup is simpler than it looks: a 30-day unilateral visa-free policy for 50 passports visiting China directly, and a 240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit for 57 nationalities passing through to somewhere else. A handful of countries also have mutual exemption agreements with their own terms, and several provinces run their own schemes on top.

02The 30-day rule, in practice

If your passport is on the unilateral list, you simply board the plane. No application, no fee, no print-outs beyond your arrival card. The policy covers tourism, business, family visits, exchanges and transit, and the current trial runs through 31 December 2026 — with two exceptions worth knowing: Brunei's inclusion carries no end date, and Russia's runs to 31 December 2027.

The 30 days count from the day after entry. They are not extended just for convenience — but if something genuinely changes, you can apply to the local exit-entry administration for a stay permit (停留证件), which the MFA describes as an ordinary procedure rather than an emergency one (see the question below). If you already expect to need longer, getting a visa before flying is still simpler. Border officers occasionally ask for proof of onward travel and your first hotel address; have both reachable offline.

03The 240-hour transit, step by step

This is the rule that matters for US passports — British and Canadian passports moved onto the 30-day visa-free list on 17 Feb 2026. The logic: China lets you stop over visa-free as long as you're genuinely in transit — meaning your next stop is a different country or region than the one you came from (Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan count as different regions).

1. Book a routing where China sits between two different places — e.g. London → Shanghai → Tokyo. A round trip back to your origin does not qualify.
2. Enter at one of the 65 designated ports — all inside the 24 participating provinces and municipalities, so not every big airport counts (Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Jilin, Gansu, Qinghai and Ningxia take no part in the scheme). File your arrival card online before landing.
3. At immigration, use the staffed lane and say "240-hour transit". Show your passport and the confirmed onward ticket departing within 240 hours.
4. Stay inside the permitted zone. It is a single area of 24 provinces and municipalities and you may travel across it whichever port you entered at — the old per-port regions went in December 2024. Six provincial-level areas are only partly open: Shanxi (Taiyuan and Datong only), Heilongjiang (Harbin only), Jiangxi (Nanchang and Jingdezhen only), Guangxi (12 of its cities), Sichuan (11 of its cities) and Yunnan (9 of its prefectures). Jiuzhaigou, Daocheng, Snow Town and Tengchong all sit outside the zone — check the current NIA list before you book a trip that leaves the big cities.
5. Exit from any eligible port before your 240 hours run out. The clock starts at 00:00 the day after entry.

04At the border: what they actually check

Whatever rule you enter under, the desk wants four things: a valid passport (the transit rule says three months minimum; six is a margin, not the rule), your arrival card (file it online before boarding — 4 minutes), your first night's address, and for transit, the onward ticket. Screenshot everything; airport wifi requires a Chinese number.

After entry, remember the registration rule: hotels register you automatically; if you're staying with friends or in a private rental, you must register at the local police station within 24 hours.

05Questions people ask before they go