Come to China with your eyes already open
A single, structured guide: what Chinese culture actually is, how the 240-hour visa-free transit works, what to install before you fly, how to pay for a bowl of noodles, and how to leave without drama.
I want to get in legally & smoothly
Visa-free rules, documents, what immigration actually asks, and the mistakes that get people refused.
Start here → 🍜I want to understand what I am seeing
Food, tea, ancient philosophy, festivals, 56 ethnic groups, and why modern China looks the way it does.
Start here → 🗺️I want a plan I can copy
Ready-made 3 / 5 / 7 / 10-day routes, transport hacks, budgeting and departure checklist.
Start here →The 240-hour visa-free transit, explained like a human
Who qualifies, which ports accept it, how the 10 days are counted, what counts as a “third country”, and the legal ways to make the most of it.
- No advance application — you ask at the port of entry
- You need a confirmed onward ticket to a third country or region
- Register your accommodation within 24 hours
- Cross-province travel inside the permitted area is allowed
The whole guide, one card at a time
Every page works on its own. Read in any order.One journey, start to finish
Fifteen guides, in the order you will actually need them.Whether you need a visa at all, which of the 57 nationalities qualify, what the 240 hours actually mean, and what to install on your phone before you fly.
The five checks immigration makes, the exact wording at the desk, the registration rule, and the mistakes that get people turned away at check-in.
Paying for things, trains, what to eat and how to order it, the scams that really happen, and four ready-made routes you can copy.
The tax refund, in the right order. Customs, cash declarations, what you cannot take home, and the last three hours at the airport.
- Your Visa or Mastercard works in hotels and fails in noodle shops. Set up Alipay or WeChat Pay before you fly, not at the airport.
- The departure tax refund is stamped before you check in your luggage — after security, there is no desk and no refund.
- The Palace Museum releases tickets about seven days ahead and sells out in minutes. Book the moment the window opens.
- Not sleeping in a hotel? You still have to register your address within 24 hours — and the rule for a friend's home is different.