Travel Documents and Visas
► All visitors to Mainland China, except the nationals of Singapore, Japan, and Brunei, are required to have a valid visa on entry. A standard single-entry visa is valid for 30 days, and needs to be used within three months from the date of issue.
► Multiple-entry visas, lasting from 60 to 90 days, are issued to travelers, but not always. The procedure for acquiring these visas is fairly tedious. In case you extend your stay, both single and multiple-entry visas can be renewed in China.
► You can apply for a visa at the Chinese embassy in your home country; however, in certain countries like the US and the UK, the embassy has outsourced the visa service. For further information on the terms and conditions of a Chinese visa, and to acquire one, visit the
official website of the Chinese embassy in the US. The entire process takes up to three weeks time.
► If you intend to visit Hong Kong, and are a citizen of the EU, the US, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand, you will not need a visa for a 90-day stay. Similarly, nationals of the UK are allowed to stay in Hong Kong for 180 days without a visa, and those of South Africa are allowed to stay for 30 days.
► For all other nationals, visa will be required to visit Hong Kong, which they can procure from Chinese consulates in their home countries.
Note: Visitors wanting to enter Hong Kong from China are required to have a multiple-entry visa, if they want to re-enter China. However, if they don't have one, they will have to get a new visa for Mainland China from Hong Kong.
► If Macau is where you are headed to, citizens of most countries can get a 30-day visa on arrival. However, nationals of the EU, the US, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia are exempt from this rule.
► Again, those wanting to re-enter Mainland China from Macau require a multiple-entry visa to be able to do so.
Tip: Your Chinese visa application form will ask you the details of your itinerary. Note that if you provide an in-depth point-to-point itinerary (some places such as the Tibet Autonomous Region are politically very sensitive), your visa processing may get complicated. So, as far as possible, try to list only standard tourist destinations like Shanghai, Beijing, etc., as this list is not binding in any manner. You can then visit other unlisted places once you get there, and also acquire special permits while you are there, in case they are required for visiting certain locations.