Are you ready for China?

How much you need is set by the authority handling your visa, not by us — and a renewal takes weeks. Look at the date now rather than in your last month.

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It depends on your nationality, your route and how long you stay, and the rules change. We deliberately don't list them here: check the current ones with China's immigration authority or the embassy handling your application.

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Cash is rare and foreign cards are refused almost everywhere. Both apps take a foreign card now, but verification can take a day or two — do it at home, while your bank can still reach you.

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Not every foreign card is accepted, and finding out at a top-up screen on arrival is too late. Add the card at home and spend something tiny with it, so you know it works before you need it.

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A carrier-locked phone cannot take a Chinese eSIM. The unlock is usually free, but it depends on someone at your carrier answering — so ask now, not the night before you fly.

Not sure

It is the phone book, the taxi, the restaurant menu and how your driver reaches you. New accounts often need an existing user to confirm you, which is far easier to arrange before you fly than from an arrivals hall.

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Buy and install it at home while you still have working data. China plans stay installable for weeks and start when you land, so there is no reason to leave it until the airport.

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Google Maps and Translate are unreliable in mainland China. Download the offline map of each city and an offline language pack, so a dead connection costs you a detour rather than your evening.

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The arrivals hall is where no data, no payment app and no Chinese hurt most, and it is the first hour of your trip. Either have a driver waiting or know exactly which rank you are walking to.

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Characters, not pinyin. A driver who can read the address takes you there; an English hotel name he cannot pronounce does not. Save it to your phone and screenshot it, in case you land with no data.

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You complete an arrival card on the plane or at the gate, and what you may bring in is set by China Customs. Check their current list rather than a travel blog's.

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A hotel does this for you at check-in. Staying in an apartment or with friends and you have to register with the local police yourself, and there is a deadline. Getting it wrong is a fine and a problem at visa-extension time.

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