Quick Answer: Five things dominate pre-trip prep for 2026 — entry/visa-free eligibility, the core app stack, a working eSIM, payment setup with your foreign card, and insurance. Do them before you board, in that order of regret.
China rewards travelers who arrive prepared — and punishes, quietly, the ones who figure it out at the airport. Almost everything below gets 10× harder once you land: app registrations hit overseas-verification walls, and entry rules change without much fanfare. This page is the hub for the seven things to settle before departure.
1. Visa & Entry
Check three things against your passport, your dates, and today’s rules — not a forum post from last year:
- Whether your nationality currently qualifies for visa-free entry or the 240-hour visa-free transit (eligible transit travelers skip the visa entirely, but port, route and stay-area conditions apply).
- Your passport validity window and blank-page situation.
- The arrival steps: arrival card, biometrics lanes, and accommodation registration.
We cover the 240-hour transit rules in a dedicated guide (coming to this hub soon — link activates the day it publishes). Entry policy genuinely changes; treat every third-party summary, including ours, as a checklist of what to verify, not the authority itself.
2. Apps — Install Before You Fly
The four that matter on day one: Alipay, WeChat, DiDi, and a working map (Amap or Baidu Maps). Train booking and translation round it out.
The rule that surprises people: download, register, and link your card before leaving home. After landing, phone-verification and real-name steps stall without a local number — and even with our step-by-step DiDi, Maps & Translation guide open on your phone.
3. Payments
Daily life in China runs on mobile wallets. Alipay and WeChat Pay both accept international cards, and both should be set up and test-paid before you fly. Street stalls, temples, and most taxis won’t take your physical card — full walkthrough in Alipay & WeChat Pay for Tourists in 2026.
4. Money, Cards & Cash
Setup is the payments link above; the pre-trip money checklist is short: tell your bank you’re going, carry a second card, and bring some cash as the fallback that never fails (small bills). ATMs at airports work with foreign cards for pulling more. Where wallets fail and why, we break out on the Payments hub.
5. Internet & eSIM
You need data the moment you land — maps, payment QR codes, and ride-hailing all assume it. Decide between an eSIM (ready before departure, easiest if your phone supports it) and a local SIM (needs passport at a counter). Our honest comparison, including what doesn’t work, is on the Internet & SIM hub and the best eSIM for China review.
6. Transportation
City moves are DiDi (English UI) plus metro; intercity moves are high-speed rail, which supports foreign passport booking — with a few purchase-channel rules that catch first-timers. That guide is in this batch and will be linked here when live; meanwhile the transportation topic is where the pieces live.
7. Travel Checklist
Everything above, compressed into one printable page you can work through with a coffee the week before you leave: the free China Travel Checklist. Insurance, document copies, and the “first 2 hours at the airport” sequence are on it.
FAQ
Do I need a visa for China? Depends on your nationality and current policy — visa-free and 240-hour transit options cover many passports, and entry rules change. Check the latest official announcement before booking, not an old article (including ours).
Can I set up apps and payments after I land? Yes, but slower: verification codes and real-name steps go much more smoothly with your home phone number and a stable connection. Twenty minutes on the couch before departure saves you an evning at the airport.
Content type: Topic Hub Page ｜ Last Reviewed: September 16, 2026 ｟ Start here, then go to the China Travel Checklist.