Before You Visit China: 10 Essential Things to Prepare

The ten things to sort out before you fly to China — visa and entry, internet, mobile payments, apps, transport, bookings, documents, weather and your first hour on the ground. Each one explained briefly, with a link to the full guide.

China runs on its own apps, its own payment rails and its own internet rules. None of that is hard to deal with — but almost all of it is easier to set up at home, on your own wifi, than in an arrival hall.

This page is the short version: ten things, each with a one-paragraph explanation of why it matters and a link to the guide that walks you through it. If you want a single list you can tick off and share, use the China Travel Checklist. If you want to browse every topic in depth, start from Before You Arrive.

China Trip Preparation Checklist

Nine jobs before you board. Your browser remembers your ticks, and every row links to the guide for that step.

1. Check Your Visa & Entry Requirements

This decides whether everything else on this list matters. China grants visa-free entry and visa-free transit to dozens of nationalities, but the rules depend on your passport, your port of entry and how you leave the country — and there is no tourist visa on arrival for anyone who does not qualify. Check your status first, because embassy appointments can take weeks.

Check visa and entry requirements →

2. Set Up Your Internet Access

Mainland China restricts Google, WhatsApp, Instagram and many foreign news sites, and those blocks apply to local SIM cards as well. Most travellers get around this with a travel eSIM that routes data through their home carrier, which keeps familiar apps working without touching a VPN. Buy and install it before you fly — activating an eSIM needs a working internet connection, and an airport counter is the worst place to discover yours does not work.

Read the China eSIM guide → · What the internet is really like in China →

3. Prepare Your Payment Methods

China is close to cashless. Street vendors, temple ticket offices, taxis and metro machines all expect a QR code scan, and more than a few small shops genuinely cannot take your bank card or your banknotes. Alipay and WeChat Pay both accept foreign Visa and Mastercard now, but link and verify your card while you still have reliable access to your bank's SMS codes. Also carry some RMB notes for the moments scanning fails.

Set up Alipay → · Set up WeChat Pay → · Cash, cards and RMB →

4. Download Essential Travel Apps

Four apps cover most of a trip: WeChat or Alipay for paying, Amap or Apple Maps for navigating, DiDi for taxis, and Trip.com for trains and hotels. Install and register them at home. Chinese apps routinely send SMS verification codes and some are awkward to download from inside the country, so this is the one task that genuinely cannot wait until arrival.

See the full app and packing list →

5. Plan Your Transportation

High-speed rail connects almost every city worth visiting, and your passport is the ticket — book it online, then walk to the staffed lane at the station. Inside cities the metro is fast, cheap and English-signed, and DiDi removes the need to negotiate with a taxi driver. During Spring Festival and the National Day week in early October, seats sell out weeks ahead.

Book high-speed trains → · Maps and navigation → · Airport transportation → · How to book a DiDi in China →

6. Book Your Flights & Hotels

Book accommodation through a platform that filters for properties licensed to host foreign guests — not every budget hotel can register you with the police, and being turned away at midnight is a real risk. Save each hotel's full Chinese address, branch name included, because large cities run several same-named properties and very few taxi drivers read English.

Hotels that accept foreign guests → · Pick your destinations →

7. Prepare Your Travel Documents

Screenshot everything: passport photo page, visa or visa-free eligibility, return ticket, insurance policy and every booking confirmation. Keep your passport valid for six months past your entry date, and keep it on your person — it is your ID for trains, hotels and a surprising number of attractions.

Work through the full checklist →

8. Learn Basic Travel Communication

English is common in big-city hotels and rare at neighbourhood noodle shops. You do not need Mandarin, but you do need three things: an offline translation app, your destination written in Chinese characters, and the ability to show a screen to someone. Download the offline language pack before you fly.

Can you travel China without speaking Chinese? →

9. Check Weather & Pack Accordingly

China spans roughly the same latitude range as Norway to Sudan, so "what is the weather in China" has no single answer — Harbin and Sanya can be 40°C apart in January. Check each stop separately, and pack for interior heating in the north and heavy humidity in the south. Avoid the holiday weeks if you can help it.

Best time to visit China →

10. Make Your First-Day Plan

Decide now how you will get from the airport to your hotel, and assume you will be tired and offline for part of the journey. Have eSIM data live before you land, Alipay already working, and your hotel's Chinese address saved. Then add one low-effort errand near your hotel — a walk, a bowl of noodles — and let the jet lag have the rest of the day.

Airport arrival and customs → · Have Alipay ready → · Turn on your eSIM →

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Only one evening before you fly? Do these three

Confirm your visa or visa-free status. Nothing else matters if you cannot board.
Install an eSIM and verify it connects. Data is what unlocks everything else.
Link a card to Alipay and make one test payment. China runs on QR codes.

Want the short, saveable version instead? China Travel Checklist — 14 items, one page, nothing to read twice.

Frequently asked questions

How far in advance should I start preparing for a China trip?

About a month if you need a visa, since embassy appointments and processing can take weeks. Everything else — the eSIM, Alipay, app accounts — takes one evening on your home wifi. Leave it until the airport and you will be doing bank SMS verification in a queue.

Can I do all of this after I land in China?

Technically yes, but it is the slowest possible way to start a trip. Payment apps often need a phone number and card verification that is harder to complete on a hotel network, and some airport eSIM counters close early. Doing the ten things here first means your first hour in China is a taxi ride, not an admin session.

Do I need both Alipay and WeChat Pay?

Start with Alipay — it accepts foreign cards most reliably. Add WeChat Pay as a backup, because a few small shops, taxis and most mini-programs only take WeChat. Two working apps means you are never stuck at a till.

What is the single most common mistake first-time visitors make?

Assuming Google Maps will work. It loads, but China uses its own coordinate system, so roads and your own blue dot are hundreds of metres apart — useless for finding a metro exit. Install Amap or use Apple Maps before you fly.

Last updated: October 2026