China Packing List for Tourists: The Complete Checklist
Planning a trip to China? This packing list for tourists covers visas, mobile payment setup, seasonal clothing, and China-only tips. (132 characters)
Flying to China soon? Packing for China differs from other destinations: your phone is your wallet, translator, and transit card. This china packing list for tourists covers the essentials — documents, mobile payment setup, seasonal clothing, and the China-only items visitors forget. Get it right before departure, and your first day runs smoothly.
China Packing List for Tourists: What to Pack by Category
Documents: The Non-Negotiables
Passport. Check the expiry date now, not the night before your flight. China generally requires your passport to be valid for at least six months beyond your arrival date, and airlines may refuse boarding if it isn't. Keep a photo of the data page on your phone as a backup.
Visa or confirmed visa-free eligibility. Most visitors enter China with either a visa obtained in advance or under a visa-free policy. The current framework includes 30-day visa-free entry for citizens of many countries and a 240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit for travelers passing through to a third country. Confirm which applies to your nationality before you book — policies change, so verify against the official Chinese embassy or consulate website close to your travel date. For a plain-language walkthrough, see our visa and entry guide: https://hellochina.fans/guides/visas-entry.
Hotel booking confirmations. Immigration officers sometimes ask where you are staying. Save offline screenshots of each booking — hotel name, address in Chinese, and check-in dates — not just confirmation emails that need internet to open.
Return or onward ticket. Even under visa-free entry, officers may ask for proof you plan to leave. Keep your return flight confirmation saved on your phone.
Money: Set Up Mobile Payment Before You Fly
China runs on QR-code payments. Market stalls, taxis, subway ticket machines, and small restaurants all expect you to pay by phone — cash is legal tender but increasingly impractical for daily life.
Install Alipay or WeChat Pay and link your bank card before departure. This is the single most important item on this list. Both apps accept foreign bank cards now, but setup involves identity verification that can take a day or two. Do it from home, make a small test payment if possible, and don't wait until you land — you'll need working payment for the airport express train or a taxi. Our step-by-step setup walkthrough is at https://hellochina.fans/payments.
A small amount of RMB cash. Bring the equivalent of about 200–500 RMB (roughly 30–70 USD), and ask for small notes — 20s and 10s. Useful for street vendors, temple donations, and the rare shop whose card reader is down.
A backup bank card. Carry a second card on a different network (Visa vs. Mastercard/UnionPay) in case your primary one fails or is lost. Tell your bank you're traveling so the card isn't frozen.
Staying Connected: Internet, Maps, and Apps
Buy and install a travel eSIM before you leave. Do this on your home Wi-Fi, follow the installation steps, and confirm data works before your flight. Landing with working internet means maps, translation, and ride-hailing from minute one.
Download offline maps and translation packs. Install a local map app — Amap (Gaode) or Baidu Maps, both of which offer English interfaces — and download your destinations for offline use. Do the same with an offline Chinese language pack in your translation app; you'll use it constantly for menus, signs, and chatting with shopkeepers.
Know what won't work. Google, Google Maps, WhatsApp, Instagram, and most Western social apps are blocked in mainland China. Plan around it instead of fighting it: install WeChat for messaging, DiDi for ride-hailing, and the map and translation apps above before you go. More detail in our connectivity guide: https://hellochina.fans/guides/staying-online.
Don't bet your trip on a VPN. VPNs in China are unreliable — they slow down, drop out, or stop working entirely during sensitive periods. Treat a VPN as a nice-to-have backup, never as the foundation of your connectivity plan.
Clothes: Think in Layers
China's climate swings hard between seasons and regions. Layering beats packing a separate outfit for every scenario: a base layer, a mid layer, and an outer shell you can add or shed as the day changes.
| Season | Rough temperatures | What to pack |
|---|---|---|
| Spring (Mar–May) | About 5–20°C, warming up | Light layers, a windproof jacket, comfortable walking shoes; rain is common in the south |
| Summer (Jun–Aug) | About 25–35°C, humid in the south | Breathable fabrics, a sun hat, a light rain jacket for southern downpours; indoor air-conditioning is fierce, so keep one light layer handy |
| Autumn (Sep–Nov) | About 10–25°C, often the nicest weather | T-shirts plus a warm mid-layer and a light coat for evenings |
| Winter (Dec–Feb) | North: often below 0°C; South: about 10–20°C | North: heavy down coat, thermal base layers, hat, gloves, scarf; South: a warm jacket and layers suffice |
Two more clothing notes: bring broken-in walking shoes (you'll walk far more than you expect), and pack one modest outfit covering shoulders and knees for temple visits.
Health and Medicines
Pharmacies are everywhere in Chinese cities, but the language barrier makes buying the right medicine stressful. Bring your own:
- Cold and flu medicine, stomach remedies (an unfamiliar diet upsets many visitors), antihistamines, and basic painkillers.
- Sunscreen — the sun is strong, especially at altitude in places like Yunnan.
- Mosquito repellent — essential in southern China in summer.
- Prescription medicines: bring enough for your whole trip plus a few days' buffer, keep them in original packaging, and carry your prescription or a doctor's note in English.
If something serious happens on the road, see our emergencies guide: https://hellochina.fans/guides/emergencies.
Electronics and Power
A power bank — essential, not optional. Your phone is your wallet, map, translator, and subway ticket; a dead battery in China is a genuine problem. Bring a high-capacity bank. Note: power banks must travel in your carry-on, never in checked luggage (airlines typically allow up to 100Wh without special approval).
A plug adapter. China uses Type A, C, and I plugs on a 220V supply. Most modern phone and laptop chargers handle 100–240V, so check the fine print on your charger — you usually need only a plug adapter, not a voltage converter.
Offline content downloaded in advance. Offline maps, translation packs, hotel addresses in Chinese, and entertainment for long high-speed rail rides.
China-Only Reminders Most Visitors Forget
Pocket tissues and wet wipes. Many public restrooms don't provide toilet paper. A pack of tissues in your day bag solves this instantly — you'll thank yourself on day one.
The 24-hour registration rule. Hotels register foreign guests with the police automatically. But if you're staying with friends or in a private apartment, you (with your host) must register at the local police station within 24 hours of arrival. Don't skip this.
Every hotel address in Chinese, saved as a screenshot. Taxi drivers rarely read English. Showing the Chinese address on your phone gets you there without mime games. Save one for every stop on your itinerary.
What You Can Leave at Home
- Hair dryer — nearly all hotels provide one.
- Stacks of cash — your phone handles payment; see the money section above.
- Printed guidebooks — heavy and outdated fast; your phone plus offline downloads covers it.
- "Just in case" outfits — laundry services are cheap, fast, and everywhere.
FAQ
Do I still need cash in China, or is mobile payment enough?
Mobile payment covers nearly everything — shops, taxis, subways, restaurants. Still, bring about 200–500 RMB in small notes (20s and 10s) as backup for street vendors, temple donations, and small shops whose terminals occasionally fail. Cash is legal tender everywhere, so it always works as a fallback.
Will Google Maps work in China?
No — Google Maps is blocked in mainland China and its data there is unreliable anyway. Before you go, install Amap (Gaode) or Baidu Maps, both of which offer English interfaces, and download offline maps for your destinations. Pair it with a translation app carrying an offline Chinese pack for street signs and menus.
Do I need a power adapter for China?
Yes, in most cases. China uses Type A, C, and I plugs on a 220V supply. Check your charger's label: if it says 100–240V (as most phone and laptop chargers do), you only need a simple plug adapter, not a voltage converter. One universal adapter plus a power bank covers nearly every traveler.
Can I drink the tap water in China?
No — don't drink tap water anywhere in China. Bottled water is cheap and sold everywhere, and most hotel rooms provide a kettle plus free bottled water; boiling tap water for tea is standard local practice. For brushing teeth, tap water is generally considered fine by most travelers.
Related guides on HelloChina
- https://hellochina.fans/guides/visas-entry — visa and entry requirements explained in plain language
- https://hellochina.fans/payments — how to set up Alipay and WeChat Pay with a foreign card
- https://hellochina.fans/guides/staying-online — eSIM, apps, and staying connected without Google
- https://hellochina.fans/guides/emergencies — what to do if you get sick or need help in China