Must-know before the trip

Entry rules: the good news first, then the asterisk

Travellers from more than 50 countries — including the UK, Ireland, most of the EU, Australia and New Zealand — can enter visa-free for up to 30 days, and the current policy runs to 31 December 2026. US and Canadian travellers still need a visa. Entry rules have changed several times in recent years, so treat any number you read — including this one — as something to re-check against the official source before you book. The Digital Arrival Card is mandatory for foreign nationals and free to file online.

Payments: your phone works, your card is the problem

Alipay and WeChat Pay both take foreign cards now — the single change that makes the country usable for a visitor. Paying with a foreign card in Alipay is fee-free on small amounts, but cross a threshold around ¥200 on some transactions and a service fee appears; knowing where the line sits saves real money across a two-week trip. Small vendors and older terminals still want cash, which is why the ¥500–1,000 in small notes is on the must-do list. Guangdong has also been rolling out payment-friendly measures for foreign cards through 2026 — the direction is one-way.

Hotels: the refusal that isn't personal

Not every hotel can legally check in a foreign guest — hotels registered to accept foreign nationals hold a filing that smaller ones don't. It shows up two ways: a cancellation when they see your passport at booking, or a walk to a "sister property" at 11pm. The government ordered hotels to stop refusing in 2024, but enforcement is still more guideline than mandate. The booking apps carry a foreign-guest filter — it's a toggle to find before you sort by price, not a keyword to type. Every hotel area we put in a plan is checked for foreign-guest acceptance before it goes near your dates.

Trains: the 15-day window and the twin-station trap

12306 wants a face-scan and a Chinese phone number, which is why the booking click-path ships with every plan. Tickets go on sale 15 days out at 14:00 local, and popular routes sell out that afternoon. And the trap nobody warns you about: China has pairs of train stations whose names differ by a single character — book the wrong one and you're in the wrong city, at the wrong end of the line. Every intercity leg in your plan is checked against the exact station, not the city.

Closed days: Tuesday, not Monday

The reflex the whole world has — museums shut Mondays — is wrong often enough here to matter. The Chen Clan Ancestral Hall, the one piece of architecture a first-timer shouldn't miss, is closed every Tuesday except public holidays. National museums close Mondays. The good sights sell out their timed slots days ahead. A temple open at 9am can be shutting at 17:00 with last entry at 16:30. None of this is in the guidebook you skimmed — it's in the closed-day table every plan carries.