Your First 24 Hours in China: A Step-by-Step Arrival Checklist
A practical first-day China checklist: arrival card, immigration, mobile data, airport transport, hotel registration, payment testing and emergency contacts.
Your first day in China should be operational, not ambitious. The goal is to reach the correct hotel, get registered, confirm that data and payment work, and make tomorrow's bookings available offline. Sightseeing can wait until those foundations are stable.
Before landing: prepare four offline items
Save these where they open without internet:
- passport data-page copy;
- onward or return booking;
- first hotel's Chinese name, address and phone number;
- entry-rule evidence relevant to your passport and itinerary.
China's online arrival card is free through official National Immigration Administration channels. Completing it before travel can save time, but paper cards remain available at ports for travelers who cannot submit online. Avoid websites that charge a fee or imitate the official service.
Hour 0–2: entry, baggage and customs
Follow the lane for your actual entry route. A traveler using 240-hour visa-free transit may need a temporary-entry counter rather than the standard immigration queue. Keep the confirmed onward booking ready and be able to explain the permitted itinerary.
If a rule is unclear, use the official counter or call 12367. Do not rely on a screenshot from a travel forum, and do not treat an old airport sign mentioning a 144-hour scheme as proof of current eligibility.
After immigration, collect baggage and complete customs declarations when required. Before leaving the secure area, check that you still have your passport, phone, wallet, cards and baggage receipts.
Hour 2–3: make your phone usable
Turn on the connectivity option you prepared:
- activate roaming;
- enable the installed travel eSIM; or
- buy a local SIM with passport registration.
Test a map search and a message before leaving the terminal. Airport Wi-Fi often requires verification and may disconnect, so it should not be the only connection supporting your transfer.
Open your hotel in a locally reliable map and compare its Chinese address with the booking. Save a fresh screenshot that includes the entrance name or nearby landmark.
Hour 3–5: travel to the hotel without improvising
Use one of three predictable routes:
- the airport rail or metro when luggage and operating hours make it practical;
- the official taxi queue;
- a pre-booked transfer from a provider you can identify.
Ignore unsolicited drivers inside the arrivals hall. For ride-hailing, verify the licence plate and pickup point in the app before entering the car. Keep your baggage with you until the driver and vehicle match.
Our getting-around guide explains metro, taxi and DiDi use, while each destination guide covers city-specific airport links.
At check-in: confirm registration and payment
Give the hotel your physical passport. Hotels normally submit accommodation registration during check-in; ask the front desk to confirm it is complete. If you stay in a private home, apartment or with friends, the hotel process does not apply—ask your host and local public-security authority how to register promptly.
Confirm how the deposit will be authorised and released. A card that paid successfully online may still fail at a physical terminal, so keep a second card and cash available. Do not hand over your passport as a deposit.
Before dinner: test data, payment and navigation
Make three small tests while hotel staff can still help:
- Open your map and route back to the hotel.
- Make a small Alipay or WeChat Pay purchase.
- Show the hotel's Chinese address to another app or translation tool and confirm it remains readable.
If payment fails, try the other wallet, a different card or cash. Do not repeatedly retry a declined payment until the account locks. The payment guide explains QR directions, fallback methods and why app limits can differ by account.
Evening: prepare tomorrow offline
- Confirm any timed attraction reservation.
- Download or screenshot the train or flight booking.
- Save the route from the hotel to the departure point.
- Charge the phone and power bank.
- Put the passport, backup card and a small amount of cash in separate secure places.
- Share the hotel and next-day route with someone you trust.
Keep the first dinner close to the hotel. Jet lag, unfamiliar streets and a low phone battery are a poor combination for a distant reservation.
Numbers to save on day one
- 110: police
- 120: ambulance
- 119: fire
- 122: traffic accidents
- 12367: immigration and stay-related service questions, with 24-hour English support; not an emergency line
- Your hotel front desk: practical translation and local help
- Your own embassy or consulate: consular emergencies for your nationality
- Your insurer's assistance line: medical referral and claim instructions
The Chinese MFA's 12308 line is for Chinese citizens who need consular protection overseas, not foreign visitors inside China.
The first-24-hours checklist
- Entry route confirmed against an official source
- Arrival card completed through an official free channel or at the port
- Mobile data tested
- Hotel address saved in Chinese
- Official transport used from the airport
- Accommodation registration confirmed
- One payment method tested and two backups retained
- Tomorrow's tickets and route saved offline
- Emergency, embassy and insurance numbers saved
- Phone and power bank charging overnight