Before you fly: set up?
The pre-flight setup phase — typically the 1-2 weeks before departure — is where the difference between a smooth China trip and a frustrating one is made. Alipay International binding for foreign cards takes 24-72 hours and cannot easily be done from inside China without a Chinese bank account. eSIMs need pre-activation. The real-name attraction booking system requires passport details for Forbidden City / Terracotta Army tickets, which sell out a week ahead in peak season.
The umbrella article — Pre-trip Checklist (10 essentials) — is the single piece to read if you skip everything else here. It has 4 anchor sections that the other stage entries link to directly: payments (#payments), hotels (#hotels), attractions (#attractions), and airport arrival (#airport-arrival).
The payment setup is the highest-leverage 30 minutes you'll spend pre-departure. Alipay International KYC accepts most Visa / Mastercard / Amex from major Western markets; once bound, you scan and pay at every China merchant who accepts Alipay — including taxis, attractions, restaurants, and hotels. Without it, your trip is materially harder. The Singapore-issued card binding has been personally verified (DBS / OCBC / UOB cards work as of 2025-2026).
All articles + tools in this stage (6)
Frequently asked questions
How long does Alipay International binding take?
Typically 22-72 hours from KYC submission to working state. The editor has personally re-bound foreign cards on 3 occasions (2025-11, 2026-01, 2026-04) and observed 22-56 hours each time. Start the binding at least 5 days before departure to leave buffer for verification rounds.
Which eSIM is best for China travel?
Holafly, Airalo and Nomad are the three most-used foreign eSIMs that work in mainland China — all three personally tested by the editor (Holafly 2026-04 / Airalo 2025-11 / Nomad 2024-09). They route traffic outside the Great Firewall, so Google, WhatsApp and Instagram work without a separate VPN. They are data-only, though, so keep your home SIM on roaming for the SMS codes Chinese apps send. See the ad-free eSIM vs VPN comparison and the get-online hub for the full setup.
Do I still need a VPN in China in 2026?
Short answer: don't plan around one. A crackdown through April 2026 took most consumer VPNs offline on the mainland, and survivors are unstable. The reliable route is a foreign roaming eSIM (Holafly / Airalo / Nomad) — it routes outside the Great Firewall so Google / WhatsApp / Instagram work with no VPN at all. A Chinese SIM or hotel Wi-Fi stays behind the firewall, and a VPN is no longer a dependable workaround. See the VPN-for-China verdict for the full reasoning.
What is the 24-hour hotel registration rule?
Chinese law requires all hotels to register foreign guests with local police within 24 hours of check-in. This is routine, not a red flag — the hotel handles it automatically when they scan your passport at check-in. The 2026 update allows online filing (the hotel's system pings the local PSB digitally instead of physical paperwork), so the process is faster than in earlier years. See the PSB lodging registration article in Stage 7 for the full procedure.
All 8 decision stages
From “Should I go?” through “Heading home?” — the full 8-stage decision journey for foreign visitors planning a China trip.
Back to homepage stage mapOr jump straight to booking
For decision-stage research we own the editorial layer; for booking, we recommend Trip.com — China's largest English-language travel platform.
Stage hubs at China for Travelers aggregate the editorial articles, tools, and planned future content for each phase of a 2-month China trip-planning arc. Items marked “Planned” have no link yet and will unlock once the underlying article ships. Last reviewed: 2026-05-20.