Set it up at home
01
Find your passport below.
If the 30-day route covers your nationality, purpose and dates, use it: you need not add an artificial onward stop. For example, an eligible British tourist can fly London–Shanghai–London.
02
For transit, write the route as A → mainland China → B.
A and B must be different countries or regions. Paris–Shanghai–Paris fails that route test; Paris–Shanghai–Tokyo passes the route test, subject to the other conditions. Compare the places immediately before and after the mainland stop.
03
Book the confirmed onward journey and check every mainland stop against the permitted areas below.
Prepare your passport, transport confirmation and accommodation details; request the appropriate entry procedure at border inspection. Submitting an arrival card alone is not transit permission.
If it goes wrong
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Questions people ask
Can I enter China visa-free with an organised tour group?Entry & documents · checked 16 oct 2026For 240-hour transit, do the places before and after mainland China have to differ?Entry & documents · checked 17 oct 2026China visa-free entry or 240-hour transit: which applies in 2026?Entry & documents · checked 17 oct 2026What information is needed to check my China entry route?Entry & documents · checked 17 oct 2026All entry & documents answers →