Everything you need to land in China
Visa, payments, connectivity, registration, transport, health — the real, current playbook for arriving and living in China. Every claim dated and sourced. Policies change fast; most guides are out of date.
Your guide, by stage of the journey
Six deep guides — tap any to open. Each is current, specific, and sourced.
1
Before you fly
- Install a VPN before you arrive — its website is blocked in China
- Bind a foreign card to Alipay / WeChat (call your bank first)
- China Digital Arrival Card, 72h before landing
Read the checklist →
2
Visa & entry
- Which of the 3 tracks you're on (see above)
- Customs limits, arrival card, fingerprinting
- HK / Macau are separate · Tibet needs a permit
Read guide →
3
Landing & setup
- SIM vs eSIM — a China SIM does NOT beat the firewall
- Payments: the 5 ways card-binding fails, and fixes
- 24h police registration — the Airbnb trap
Read guide →
4
Daily life
- Trains (12306, passport), DiDi, metro QR, bikes
- Use Amap, not Google Maps (it's broken in China)
- Food: vegetarian / halal / allergy survival, tap water
Read guide →
5
Health, safety & emergencies
- 110 / 120 / 119 — and what to say if you don't speak Chinese
- Meds you can't bring: ADHD, Sudafed, CBD
- The tea-house & art-student scams, named
Read guide →
6
Culture & etiquette
- Don't tip · "face" and how "no" is said indirectly
- QR codes for everything · loud calls are normal
- What surprises foreigners most
Read guide →
Do these before you board — order matters
- Install a VPN (two of them) and test — VPN sites are blocked once you're in China; use obfuscated protocols.
- Set up Alipay + WeChat, bind a foreign card — Call your bank first to whitelist “China mobile payments”; get a friend to verify your new WeChat.
- Download offline maps + translate — Amap, Google Translate Chinese offline pack, 12306 (verify your passport early — it can take days).
- File the China Digital Arrival Card — Within 72 hours of landing; screenshot the QR.
- Book timed-entry tickets — Forbidden City, Panda Base sell out ~2 weeks ahead.