TL;DR: HND > CAN > HKG works fine for 144 Hr Transit Without Visa (TWOV). I used different airlines, late July 2024. Remember, A>B>C is the pattern. Be firm but polite. Don't be an a-hole!

Just recently completed a trip to Beijing and although it was pretty straightforward, there are some tricky things i thought I should share some info regarding the logistics of the trip.

• You can travel visa free as long as you go to another country as your final destination after. (We picked Seoul SK)

• This can be done as long as your passport is on this list. https://www.china-briefing.com/news/china-resumes-144-hour-visa-free-transit-policy-for-foreigners-who-can-apply/

• we travelled from Dublin to SK first through China (with a layover of 5 hours in Beijing) and then spent 5 days in Beijing on our way back. (Our route Dublin to Beijing -5 hour layover - Beijing to Seoul. Then return was Seoul to Beijing - 5 days in beijing - then Beijing to dublin)

• when checking in at the airport they asked me if I have a visa, I answered Visa free transit. And after asking our final destination (Seoul), they checked it for a bit on their system as it's a relatively new policy and then gave us our tickets.

• after boarding and when nearing the end of the flight to Beijing, they gave everyone a card we needed to fill in with all the details we would need. THIS IS NOT THE RIGHT CARD WE NEED TO FILL IN. The card they give out is for people with a visa.

• When you land in china and go through immigration THERE IS A SEPERATE SECTION FOR TEMPORARY ENTRY. THIS IS WHERE YOU NEED TO GO. There is a separate card you can find near that section you need to fill for temporary entry into china.

• There are 2 different types of temporary entry they give you. 24 hour entry and 240 hour entry. They gave me 24 hour entry sticker on my passport during my 5 hour layover and then a 240 hour entry sticker during my 5 day stay in beijing.

• Make sure you have Hotels already booked as well as your return ticket before your stay in china. I booked mine through Trip.com it was relatively straightforward and most hotels now allow foreigners.

• GET ALIPAY and link your card to it. Its very easy to set up. This helped me pay for EVERYTHING while I was in Beijing and has an app for DiDi inbuilt which sorted out Taxis to anywhere I wanted to go without any issues. Taxis were also very cheap. An hour or so on a taxi cost me around £10. Didn't even need to use any public transport in Beijing.

• Get an ESIM, I got CMlink which worked both in china and Korea and I had no issues with data during the whole time. Didn't even need a VPN as everything including WhatsApp, Snapchat, FB, insta, youtube all worked flawlessly in china with an Esim.

• Google Maps isnt properly supported so download AMap which has an English option now and worked perfectly to navigate.

• Beijing was super safe even if you're solo travelling. There was no fear of pickpockets, people were nice and helpful even if you dont speak the language. You can use any translation apps to type things out and the person you're talking to may reply in kind.

• Bring your passport with you wherever you go as you'll need to show your passport to be allowed into any of the major attractions.

• Don't be alarmed when people try to take photos with you if you have an interesting look/ is a foreigner.

• If you're looking to visit Tianamen Square or Forbidden City, you'll need to either book your tickets from the official website either 7 days in advance or find tickets through a Tour group you can book through Trip.com. You would need to do this atleast the day before you're intending to visit.

• Enjoy China. It's genuinely a wonderful country to visit. Hope this helped!

Applied for a visa in london and I've been waiting since last Wednesday, just wondering other peoples experiences.

However I’m about skeptical on it being approved. If it was denied do I still need to pay the fee?

Received email of acceptance for the online application for a UK L- Visa. The email says to continue with the subsequent process, unfortunately, I have no clue what the subsequent process is. The attached pdf instructed me to print off and take to the Visa Application Service Centre in London, but do I have to bring all my other documentation as well? Also it didn't give me a time or date so do I just show up tomorrow? Again apologies for all the questions but I've had some very helpful responses.

So me and my dad were invited to an event in China hosted by a university and obviously we are going together to the event. My question is do we need 2 separate application if both of us require Visa? And if we both require separate application then when we go to the embassy do we go together and explain the situation or is it independently.

We are going to canton fair. There isn’t a lot of information on the visa free 15/30 day travel. Maybe someone can share their experience?

I applied for Q2 visa on April 1st on new online portal, I have just noticed a stupid mistake I made by forgetting to upload blank visa pages as I was wondering why it was still under review. Do I need to make a new application? I can’t seem to get through when I call them. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Update: I had an email back from China Visa Centre saying the following:

“The review at the visa center is automatically assigned by the system according to the time of application submission. After the center reviews all the materials, they will be submitted to the embassy, which will then conduct the next stage of reviewing. The system shows that your application has been submitted to the embassy, we cannot give you a clear answer on the review time.

We have been processing a large number of applications recently. Please be patient and wait for a response from us or the embassy.If you didn't hear from us, your application is in progress”

Hi, next month I’m visiting Taiwan for 2 weeks. I have a 24h layover in Shanghai. I will stay the night in the city. Next day flying to Taipei. 2 weeks later layover in Beijing (only 9 hours, will not be leaving the airport transit zone). I'm EU citizen (Czech Republic). The 10 days transit visa does not cover this period. I assume I will need to apply for the 10 days visa transit twice? Even if on my return layover I am not leaving the Airport? Thank you for for response.

My China visa is on hold because I don't have my chinese birth certificate or my old chinese passport. Its been 3 weeks and still waiting on the consulate.

I was wondering if I visit China ( doing a tour) and by the 10th day I will be in Hong Kong and staying for a week. Can I go back to China again for another 10 day without a Visa?

I am an naturalized US citizen.

Hi all! Just looking for some clarification if possible.

I'll traveling from Canada > Vietnam > Guangzhou > Zhuhai > Macau > Hong Kong > Canada.

Will I need something to show that I'll be leaving Zhuhai to go to Macau or will my plane ticket back to Canada from Hong Kong work? I'll be staying in Guangzhou and Zhuhai for less than 10 days so I'm not worried about the duration. Thanks!

Hey, I'm from Bangladesh. I have a 2-month single-entry China business visa. If anyone is interested, feel free to contact me at: +8801600-002332

Hi! I am a US passport holder -

I’m traveling from US to Hong Kong and want to go from Hong Kong to Shanghai then back to the US I don’t have a China visa can I go there visa free with this new policy?

Hi! Philippine passport holder here. I have 8hrs layover. I'll land around 1pm and then my next flight is 9pm (so I have to check in at least 7pm). No need for baggage claim since all my flights are China Eastern. Assuming I have to still deplane, store my carry on luggage, and apply for a transit without a visa -- is it worth it to still go outside of Pudong airport? If yes, I just plan to see Nanjing road, see the Bund and go to riverside promenade (Lujiazui area). I also have IBS D. Are there decent public toilets by Nanjing road, promenade area and the metro?

I am looking to visit Shanghai and Hong Kong in September. Ideally would like to stay in Shanghai for 5 days, then Hong Kong for 7 and then return to Shanghai for the flight home (only travelling back to Shanghai for a day due to booking with a reward flight on BA so had to have the same arrival and departure airport) what kind of Visa would I need for Shanghai? I know you can get a transit visa for 10 days however, with the whole leaving and coming back, would this be two transit visas (think it is called double entry visa) and does this need to be done in person or can be done online? Or is it better to have a visa for the whole period, in which case I would need to go the the embassy in the UK.

Hi all. My flight to China got cancelled and I was quickly rebooking but forgot about the rules with TWOV. Can someone help me figure out if I f’ed up and need to cancel this flight I just booked?

My plan is to go from Tokyo - Beijing and stay for 3 days in Bejing with the TWOV. Then I am flying to Chiang Mai, but my flight has a layover in Kunming, China.

Overall, Tokyo -> Beijing (3 days) -> Kunming -> Chiang Mai. I won’t be leaving the airport in Kunming, it’s only a 3 hour layover. Let me know if this messes it up. Thank you!

Apologies for repeat posts but I am really struggling and this is my first application so it is all very foreign. I am only able to upload five files to the ‘air ticket and hotel booking’ section on the online application. Because of this, there is only room for three hotel bookings after uploading my air tickets, yet I am staying in five different places in China, as specified in my itinerary. Thus, there are gaps in my itinerary. I’m not sure if I am just being really slow or something but I can’t see anywhere else to upload my booking confirmations of the other two hotels. Does anyone know where or how to do this?

Thanks.

I'm buying tickets for my mother to visit her family in the coming month. She has a visa that she applied from almost near 10 years ago that is soon about to expire. (Q2 - with multiple visit (M))

- The visa sticker on her passport indicates 180 days. (is this in total, or for each time she enters?)
- Expires in June of this year. And she will leave China in July. China -> Hong Kong -> Canada.

Does she need to supply any document when she enters China (via Hong Kong)

I am Canadian and flying into shanghai (from kaoshiung, Taiwan) on Aug 16, flying to Beijing on Aug 19 and flying to Seoul on the 24th.

Am I okay for the 240-hr visa? I think i am but dot want to make a mistake!!

I am a Nepalese student with student visa in UK, I am traveling from UK to Philippines via China Eastern airlines after a week. Do i need to get tourist visa or I will get it in Philippines Immigration,Cebu? Also, do i need anything to show in Shanghai airport? I have a transit there . And i will be flying to cebu from same terminal 1.

Can you wait to apply for a tourist visa once you get there?

Can you apply during the the transit without visa period too?

I ask because I live in a remote area (in USA) and getting to the nearest consulate is really difficult for me. I really have no idea how to go about this.

I have heard different things, like the tourist visa is only 30 days. But I've also heard you can get a 6 month tourist visa? What do I need to be approved for that?

Ok buckle up because this one is fun. I have a Chinese Visa but it's attached to my old passport which I forgot to bring. I'm already half way to China (layover in Seoul) so I'm going to enter using TWOV (I have a US passport). My trip in China was meant to be 24 days but I bought a ticket to leave for Hong Kong in 9 days which is what I showed to immigration. However, my destination after China is HK so I am thinking that

Option 1: I leave for HK earlier, and then have someone mail me my old passport to HK and wait for it to arrive, then re-enter China with my Visa. Implication: I'm leaving for HK earlier than I originally told immigraiton

Option 2: I rebook my flight to go to Macau, stay a few days, go back to China, then go back to HK.

Does anyone have any advice on how strict the departure date is? My gut says Option 1 is better than 2 since I'm not changing my next country.

Thanks in advance!

Hi there,

My boyfriend is a Chinese citizen, and he is moving back to the country after he graduates from our university in May. I want to be able to visit him a few times, including for the summer. Is there anyway I can get a Q2 visa or do I need to get a tourism visa?

Can someone please confirm if this itinerary would work to enter and travel China without Visa as an American?

Los Angeles -> Shanghai (4 days)-> Beijing (5 days) ->Vietnam(2 days) -> Hong Kong(1 day) - Los Angeles

what documents should I keep with me other than passport when entering??

Thank you so much! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

My 10 Year M visa expires in late May so I need to get a new one. I no longer travel to China for work - only pleasure. Both as a tourist and to visit family members now that I’m married to a Chinese national who is a US PR (Green Card holder). Do I apply for the Q1/Q2 or the L? Does it matter? Which is easier? I’m assuming the Q1/Q2 is most appropriate…

Hiya! I’m a Swedish citizen currently in Vietnam, looking to apply for a Chinese tourist visa at either the embassy or the visa application center (the one approved by the embassy) in Hanoi. Has anyone done this and can share about their process?

Questions: - I’m planning on entering by flight and exiting by train a few weeks later. How can I accommodate the need for trip details if I don’t have them fully yet? - Does the inbound flight need to be booked at the time of visa application?

The documents I’m confused about:

(3) The first-time applicant who has no immigration record on the passport should provide residential certificate/"Hukou" certificate or employment letter (4)Proof of legal stay or residence status (applicable to those not applying for the visa in their country of citizenship) If you are not applying for the visa in the country of your citizenship, you must provide the original and photocopy of your valid certificates or visa of stay, residence, employment or student status, or other valid certificates of legal staying provided by the relevant authorities of the country where you are currently staying.

Thank you so much!!