China’s 240-hour visa-free transit lets citizens of 57 countries pass through China for up to 10 days without a visa, but only with a confirmed onward ticket to a third country and entry at one of 65 approved ports. The checker below tests the four conditions that actually decide it: your passport group, whether your next flight leaves for a third country, which port you enter through, and how long you plan to stay.
- 240 hours is the maximum stay, counted from 00:00 on the day after entry.
- 57 countries are on the transit list, including the United States and Mexico.
- A return to where you came from does not qualify — the next flight must be to a third country or region.
- 65 ports are approved, and each one limits where inside China you may travel.
- Nothing is stored: the checker runs in your browser and sends no data anywhere.
Last verified: 2 November 2026 · Sources: National Immigration Administration (NIA), Shaanxi government English service, Guangming
Four questions, one answer. Answer for your own trip. The result names the rule that applies, the maximum stay and the area you may travel in.
What does the checker actually test?
Five conditions decide a transit entry, and failing any one of them means the rule does not apply. The checker asks about the four that travellers get wrong; the fifth, passport validity, is in your hands before you fly.
| Condition | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Your passport is from one of the 57 countries on the transit list — a different list from the 50-country visa-free list |
| Travel document | At least three months of validity remaining on your passport |
| Onward ticket | A confirmed booking to a third country or region, departing inside the 240-hour window |
| Entry port | You arrive at one of the 65 approved ports and complete an arrival card |
| Permitted area | You stay inside the province or city that your entry port governs |
Which passports are on the 57-country transit list?
The list is grouped by region: 40 in Europe, 6 in the Americas, 2 in Oceania and 9 in Asia. The American group includes the United States and Mexico, which are not on the 30-day visa-free list — that is why transit is the only route that opens China to those passports without an application.
| Region | Countries | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Europe | 40 | The largest group; the official table lists every country by name |
| Americas | 6 | Includes the United States and Mexico |
| Oceania | 2 | Australia and New Zealand |
| Asia | 9 | Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Brunei, the UAE, Indonesia, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, Vietnam |
Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam joined the list on 20 August 2026, and the port list last grew on 5 November 2025, when five entries were added, including West Kowloon high-speed rail station in Hong Kong. Both changes are why a 2024 article or an old airline page cannot be used to plan a 2026 transit.
Which ports can you use, and where can you travel?
Each of the 65 ports carries a permitted area, and the area — not the airport — decides what you can do. A Shanghai entry does not permit a side trip to Suzhou or Hangzhou, and a Beijing entry does not permit a trip to Xi’an, even though both are an hour or two away by train.
| Entry port | Area you may travel in | What that allows in practice |
|---|---|---|
| Beijing — Capital and Daxing airports | Beijing municipality | The city and the Great Wall sections inside Beijing, including Badaling and Mutianyu |
| Shanghai — Pudong and Hongqiao airports | Shanghai municipality | The city only; Suzhou and Hangzhou are outside the permitted area |
| Guangdong — Guangzhou Baiyun, Shenzhen Bao’an, Shekou, Hengqin, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge port and Zhongshan | Guangdong province | Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan and the rest of the province, with exit from any open port inside it |
| Chengdu Tianfu | 11 cities | Chengdu and the surrounding cities, including the panda base inside the city |
| Kunming Changshui | 9 prefectures | Kunming and prefectures across Yunnan |
| Guilin Liangjiang and Beihai Fucheng | 12 cities in Guangxi | Guilin, Yangshuo and the Li River area; Beihai on the coast |
When does 240-hour transit fail?
Refusals cluster around a small set of mistakes, and every one is detectable before you fly. The two that catch most people are the return ticket and the permitted area.
- A ticket home. A London-Shanghai-London trip is a round trip, not a transit, even if you never leave the terminal. London-Shanghai-Hong Kong qualifies, because Hong Kong counts as a third region.
- An onward flight outside the window. A departure on day 11 fails even if you planned to spend the last day at the airport; book the ninth or tenth day and keep a buffer.
- A port that is not on the list. Crossing at a land border, or arriving at a regional airport that is not one of the 65, does not create a transit entry.
- A passport with less than three months left. This is stricter than the visa-free rule, which asks only that the passport covers the stay.
- Leaving the permitted area. The area is printed on the entry permit and checked at hotels, at train stations and on exit, so a spontaneous day trip is the most likely way to turn a legal entry into a problem.
Is transit better than 30-day visa-free entry or an L visa?
The three routes differ in who qualifies, how long you can stay and where you can travel, so the right choice depends on your passport and itinerary rather than on which rule sounds simpler.
| Route | Who qualifies | Maximum stay | Onward ticket | Where you can travel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unilateral visa-free entry | Ordinary passports of 50 countries | 30 days per entry | No, but carry return and hotel bookings | Anywhere in China |
| 240-hour visa-free transit | 57 countries, with a genuine third-country transit | 240 hours (10 days) | Yes, to a third country or region | Only the area tied to the entry port |
| L visa | Any nationality | As granted on the visa | No | Anywhere within the visa terms |
For a short stopover, transit is the efficient answer and the only route that opens China to US and Mexican passports without an application. A 7-day China itinerary fits inside the window with a day to spare; a ten-day trip that starts and ends in the same country does not, and needs the L visa process instead. Where a passport qualifies for both transit and the 30-day rule, the more favourable rule applies and the country-wide travel right makes visa-free entry the better choice.
This checker summarises the published rule; it is not legal advice, and the country list, port list and permitted areas change. Confirm the conditions on the official 240-hour transit table before you book, and treat the permitted area printed on your entry permit as the limit.
FAQ
Does the checker store my answers?
No. It runs entirely in your browser with a small script, sends nothing to a server and sets no cookies, so nothing about your passport or itinerary is recorded.
Can I leave the airport on 240-hour visa-free transit?
Yes. The permit is an entry permission, not an airside transit, so you can leave the airport and stay in a hotel inside the permitted area — but you cannot travel beyond it.
Does a flight to Hong Kong count as a third country?
Yes. Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan count as third regions for the third-country test, so a London-Shanghai-Hong Kong itinerary qualifies while a return to London does not.
Can I enter through Shanghai and leave from Beijing?
Not on a Shanghai entry. A Shanghai port covers Shanghai municipality only, and Beijing is outside it; you may exit from any open port inside the permitted area.
Sources
- Shaanxi Provincial Government English service, 240-hour visa-free transit: conditions, 57 countries and the 65-port table with permitted areas (24 November 2025, based on the NIA announcement of 3 November 2025)
- Guangming, report on the expansion of transit ports from 60 to 65 and the five new ports (3 November 2025)
- Shanghai municipal government, visa-free policies: 57 countries and 65 ports (24 August 2026)
- National Immigration Administration, unilateral visa-free country list (17 February 2026)
If the answer is an L visa rather than a transit, the visa eligibility checker covers the other two routes, and the 240-hour transit page sets out every port and permitted area in detail.