China Step by StepPractical intelligence

China pre-arrival checklist

This checklist answers one question: which preparations have to be finished before your plane leaves, and which ones can only be done once you are standing in China. Some tasks cannot be completed after landing — the 12306 passport verification normally takes three to five working days, and a travel eSIM needs a working internet connection to install. Others cannot be completed before landing — a Chinese SIM card is issued only to a person presenting a passport at a counter, and a Chinese carrier eSIM is activated in a store rather than remotely. Every item below carries the badge that says which side it falls on, and links to the page that holds the detail.

Should I do it before China?

Yes — finish this before you fly

Yes — that is what this page is. Each item earned its place because a first-party source shows what specifically breaks when it is left until arrival: a verification queue measured in working days, an install that needs the connection you do not have yet, a wallet registration that depends on an SMS you can no longer receive. The reverse half matters just as much. Several items on this page cannot be started from home at all, so they do not belong on a pre-flight to-do list, and knowing that saves you from hunting for a way to do them early.

How

  1. Do before arrivalCheck the arrival-card exemption list first. Permanent-resident ID holders, eligible non-Chinese Hong Kong and Macao permit holders, group-visa and group-waiver travellers, airside 24-hour transit passengers, same-cruise entry and exit passengers, fast-lane users and transport crew are exempt. Entering visa-free for ordinary individual tourism is not an exemption on its own.1
  2. Do before arrivalRegister a 12306 account for rail tickets. The official guidance says foreign travellers select the passport document type and may give either an email address or a phone number, and the phone numbers it accepts are registered in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan. An email address sidesteps that restriction entirely. Verification is normally completed within three to five working days of submission.2
  3. Do before arrivalSubmit the passport verification on that account and wait for it to pass. The official routes are entering name, nationality and document number for automatic checking, or uploading a photo of the passport data page for manual review. While the account status reads pending verification you cannot buy tickets, and the only remaining route is presenting the passport at a station ticket window.3
  4. Do before arrivalBuy and install a travel eSIM while you still have internet at home. Airalo states that installing an eSIM requires a working network connection, and that it can be installed before you reach the coverage area so that data works as soon as you land.5
  5. Do before arrivalCheck the phone before buying that eSIM. The stated conditions are a device that supports eSIM, is not carrier- or network-locked, and is not jailbroken or rooted; some regional model variants do not support eSIM even where the global version does.6
  6. Do before arrivalClear the Alipay identity verification for metro ride codes. The 2025 official guide describes the flow as tapping Travel, choosing your city, passing identity verification, and only then obtaining the metro QR code. The same source covers only some apps and some cities and publishes no city list, so treat a working ride code as a possibility rather than a plan.7
  7. Do before arrivalDownload every app you expect to need from the app store of your own country, and open each one once. The reason usually given is that several messaging apps were removed from the mainland China App Store in April 2024 at the request of the Cyberspace Administration of China. That comes from technology-media reporting of an Apple statement rather than from an Apple page, and the 2026 listing status has not been re-checked, so it is recorded here as unconfirmed. Doing the downloads early costs nothing either way.8
  8. Do before arrivalInstall the mainland China DiDi app and register. The 2025 official guide states that it supports registration with a foreign phone number and a foreign bank card. Note which app: a search for DiDi in a European store commonly returns DiDi-Rider, the overseas product, which does not hail cars in mainland China.9
  9. Do before arrivalInstall AMap Global, the English version released on 21 January 2025 for users outside China and available directly from the App Store and Google Play, with 14 further languages added on 9 July 2025. The source does not say whether an account is required or whether a foreign number is accepted for registration, which is another reason to open it once while still at home.10
  10. Do before arrivalSet up Weixin Pay at home: register or sign in, go to Me, Services, Wallet, then Cards and Add card, and follow the identity prompts. Passport-based verification asks you to upload a copy of the passport, and that upload is reviewed rather than accepted instantly.11
  11. Do before arrivalYou do not need a mainland China (+86) number for that. The WeChat help centre answers the question with a plain No, on the condition that your international number can receive SMS codes. The real constraint is the SMS, not the country code, so keep that number reachable for the whole trip.12
  12. Do before arrivalRegister Alipay before you fly as well. The official payment guide shows registration as download the app, then register or sign in with a phone number, on a screen that offers a country or region selector, which is why we read a mainland number as not being a precondition. Note the difference from Weixin Pay: that inference comes from a screenshot of the flow, not from a sentence stating that an overseas number is accepted. Registration depends on receiving an SMS code either way, which is exactly what breaks if you swap the SIM out after landing.13
  13. Do before arrivalCarry at least two physical cards from different issuers, and test the binding at home. Neither wallet publishes which issuers or which card types — virtual, prepaid, digital-bank — bind successfully, so no page including this one can promise that your card works. Testing at home leaves time to swap cards; testing at a till does not.14
  14. Do before arrivalIf you will carry more than the equivalent of USD 5,000 in foreign banknotes, plan to declare it in writing to customs on entry, as the 2003 SAFE and customs measures require. What you may take out again later is tied to that entry declaration record.15
  15. Can do in ChinaA Chinese SIM card cannot be arranged in advance. MIIT Order No. 25 lists a foreign passport among the valid documents and requires operators to refuse anyone who will not present one, which means appearing in person after arrival. A travel eSIM bought before departure avoids this registration entirely, because it is not a Chinese-issued number.16
  16. Can do in ChinaA Chinese carrier eSIM does not change that. State media reported on 14 October 2025 that all three carriers launched eSIM handset service nationwide, with activation either at a store or booked in the app and then completed at a store. The report does not say what a foreign national has to bring. A Chinese eSIM is not a remote alternative to a travel eSIM.17
  17. Can do in ChinaGetting renminbi is an after-landing task. The official guide points to ATMs at entry ports that accept international cards, exchange providers and self-service exchange machines at the ports, and bank branches, some hotels and marked exchange points in the cities. None of that needs doing from home.18
  18. Can do in ChinaRegistering where you sleep also happens after arrival. A hotel does it for you; in non-hotel accommodation the guest or the host must register with the local public security authority within 24 hours.19

What can go wrong

You plan to buy and install the travel eSIM after you land.

What to do instead Installing one requires a working network connection, which is the thing you do not have yet. Buy and install before departure. If you are already in China, use a carrier counter or buy a local SIM with your passport instead.5

You create the 12306 account the night before the flight.

What to do instead Verification normally runs three to five working days, so the account will not be usable for the first part of the trip. If it has not passed, take the passport to a station ticket window and have the verification done there.2

You search your app store for DiDi and install the first result.

What to do instead In a European store that is commonly DiDi-Rider, the overseas product, which does not hail cars in mainland China. Install the mainland China DiDi app instead.9

You read that China now has eSIM and decide to activate a Chinese number remotely before you travel.

What to do instead Activation is done at a carrier store, or booked in the app and finished at a store, and the report does not say what documents a foreign national needs. Install an international travel eSIM before departure and decide about a Chinese number once you are there.17

You try to buy rail tickets from Europe late in the evening and the platform will not sell them.

What to do instead Ticket sales and endorsement run 05:00 to 01:00 the next day, and to 23:30 on Tuesdays; outside those hours only queries and refunds work. Book inside that window, allowing for the time difference.4

You travel with a single card, and it is a virtual or digital-bank card.

What to do instead No official page lists which issuers and card types bind to the wallets, and you cannot apply for a new card once you are in China. Bring a second physical card from a different issuer and test both before flying.14

Last verified and sources

Each record below is shown as provenance: who published it, what kind of document it is, how far it reaches and when we last checked it. The source’s own wording is not reproduced here — most of these documents are published in Chinese, and a translation of ours would be a paraphrase standing where a citation should be. Follow the link to read any of them in the original.

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