China Arrive

Arrive ready in mainland China

Set up payments, mobile data, and everyday transport before you land—or fix problems fast when something fails. China Arrive is an independent English guide for first-time visitors to mainland China.

Start your pre-trip checklist · How to pay

A crowded pedestrian shopping street at night, lined with lit shop signs, in Shanghai
East Nanjing Road, the pedestrian shopping street in Shanghai, at night.Photo: Hermann Luyken on Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0. Resized to a 2000-pixel long edge. GPS and other EXIF removed.

Pay

A customer's hand holds a smartphone toward a handheld scanner, while a clerk in a yellow sleeve points the scanner at the phone.
A clerk scans a customer's phone at a shop counter. AI-generated illustration, not a photograph.AI-generated illustration created for China Arrive. Not a photograph. Resized to a 2000-pixel long edge. No GPS was present. The Chinese AIGC implicit identifier was kept (Label 1, ContentProducer 001191110000802100433B10005, ProduceID 1338239458938009751).

Most shops, metros, and street vendors expect a mobile wallet. Foreign-issued cards can often be linked to Alipay or WeChat Pay—confirm card brands and fees in the official Help and in your app.

Connect

The glass entrance of a China Mobile shop, with phone displays inside
A China Mobile shop in Shenzhen, a carrier counter where visitors register a prepaid SIM.Photo: SIENUEM bongeilOW on Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0. Camera clock cropped off the bottom. Resized to a 2000-pixel long edge. GPS and other EXIF removed.

Get a number that can receive SMS for app codes, and data that works for maps and messaging. We cover local SIM real-name basics and foreign-carrier travel eSIM roaming (home routing) facts only. Follow local laws.

Get around

A silver high-speed train stopped beside a covered platform at a large railway station
A high-speed train at Tianjin Railway Station. The phone number on the platform display is covered.Photo: Baycrest on Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.5. Share-alike: adaptations of this photo must be shared under the same or a compatible license. Opaque block covers the phone number on the platform display. EXIF removed. Long edge already under 2000 pixels.

Hotels

A wide hotel lobby under a glass roof, with cream sofas on a patterned rug and a polished stone floor
Lobby of the Fragrant Hill Hotel in Beijing, with cream sofas under a long glass roof.Photo: N509FZ on Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Share-alike: adaptations of this photo must be shared under the same or a compatible license. Resized to a 2000-pixel long edge. GPS and other EXIF removed.

A prepaid stay at a property that can register a foreign passport avoids most late-night refusals. The desk still needs the original passport.

Health

A grey-brick hospital with green tiled roofs, seen across a city crosswalk
The old building of Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Beijing.Photo: N509FZ on Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Share-alike: adaptations of this photo must be shared under the same or a compatible license. Resized to a 2000-pixel long edge. GPS and other EXIF removed.

A foreign passport is enough to be seen. Registration, language, and paying before the test are the hard parts. This is how the hospital system works for a visitor — not a clinic and not a booking service.

Payment failed? Start with the error you see

Jump to a fix guide:

Before you fly

Use our pre-trip checklist so wallets, SMS, and tickets are ready on day one.

About this site

China Arrive is independent. We are not Ant Group, Tencent, Alipay, WeChat, or any government. App screens change—always confirm fees and limits in the live app and official Help. About · Disclaimers