Our China Travel · 23 September 2026 · Original planning worksheet
The published number of countries that can enter China without a visa differs from source to source, because they are counting different schemes on different dates. Fill in the tables below for your own passport instead of relying on a headline figure. Record the date you checked every row, because the arrangements themselves carry expiry dates.
| Scheme | What it requires | Typical stay length | Applies to my passport? (yes / no / unknown) | Date checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unilateral 30-day visa-free entry | Your nationality is on the current published list for tourism, business, family visits or transit | |||
| Reciprocal visa-free entry | Your country has a standing agreement rather than a temporary listing | |||
| 240-hour visa-free transit | You are passing through to a third country, arriving and leaving by eligible ports | |||
| 24-hour visa-free transit | You will not leave the restricted area of the port | |||
| Regional visa-free entry | You are staying inside a specific province or island scheme | |||
| None of the above | You need a visa in the category that matches your purpose |
| Condition | The figure you found | Where you found it | Date checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum passport validity after arrival | |||
| Blank pages required | |||
| Maximum stay on this scheme | |||
| Whether the stay may be extended | |||
| Permitted activities on this scheme | |||
| Whether you need a confirmed onward ticket | |||
| Authorised ports of entry and exit | |||
| Expiry date of the arrangement itself |
| Your trip detail | What you have booked | The rule it must satisfy | Inside the rule? (yes / no) | If no, what you will change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country you depart from | The arrival and onward destination must be different | |||
| Country you fly on to | Must be a third country or territory, not the one you came from | |||
| Port of entry | Must be on the authorised list for the scheme you are using | |||
| Port of exit | May differ from the port of entry if the scheme allows it | |||
| Arrival date and time | Sets the start of any hour-based clock | |||
| Departure date and time | Must fall inside the permitted window | |||
| Regions you plan to visit | Must sit inside the permitted stay area for the scheme | |||
| Purpose of your visit | Must be one the scheme permits |
1. An allowance quoted in hours: divide by 24 to get days. A 240-hour window is 240 ÷ 24 = 10 days, and a 72-hour window is 72 ÷ 24 = 3 days.
2. Check when the clock starts. A published rule that the window starts at midnight on the day after arrival means your usable stay can run past the nominal number of hours, so write the actual cut-off date rather than the number of hours.
3. A validity margin quoted in months: add the months to your arrival date, then compare the result with your passport expiry date, and write both dates down.
4. A list that gives a country total: add the regional counts yourself before trusting the total. A published total of 57 that breaks down as 40 + 2 + 4 + 2 + 9 should be checked against your own addition.
5. A scheme with an expiry date: write the expiry date next to the scheme, because a check you did under one expiry date is not evidence about travel after it.
1. Different schemes are being counted. A figure for unilateral visa-free entry is not a figure for transit, and a regional scheme is a third number again.
2. Different dates are being compared. An article written in February and an official page updated in August can both be accurate and still disagree.
3. Temporary arrangements expire. A number that is correct this year may describe a scheme with a published end date rather than a permanent arrangement.
4. Some nationalities qualify under more than one scheme at once. Being counted twice in two different totals is normal and is not an error in either.
5. Your own passport is the only unit that matters. Every headline figure is a summary of other people's passports, so convert it into a yes, a no or an unknown for your own.
Personal planning worksheet; blank cells contain no destination data and no eligibility claims. Every entry rule, permitted stay and scheme expiry date must be confirmed against the current official source that applies to your nationality, and the date you checked it recorded above.