China Layover Guide 2026: Can You Leave the Airport, Do You Need a Visa, and What to Do in 6–17 Hours

Short answer: If your passport is on the 240-hour visa-free transit list and you fly on to a third country or region, you can usually leave the airport without a visa. If you are not on that list, you may still be covered by 30-day visa-free entry. Check your passport below. Whether you should leave on a 6–17 hour layover depends on how long immigration, the trip into town and the way back will take.

For the full rules, see our transit and layover guide.

Before you start

• Your passport. Nationality decides everything here.
• Your onward ticket to a third country or region, easy to show. Going back to the country you came from does not count as transit.
• Your hotel or address in China, if you leave the airport. You need it for the arrival card.
• A way to pay and get online. Set up a travel eSIM and Alipay before you fly.

Step 1: Check if your passport qualifies

Rules below come from the National Immigration Administration (NIA) and the visa.json data behind our visa-free checker (last verified 18 October 2026).

240-hour visa-free transit (you must fly on to a third country or region). 57 countries:

Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam.

Eligibility also requires an ordinary passport and a confirmed onward interline ticket to a third country or region; you must enter through an eligible port and remain within the designated permitted area. Check the NIA port and area list for your itinerary. Immigration authorities handle the temporary-entry formalities. (NIA)

Other visa-free options. 48 countries have unilateral 30-day visa-free entry until 31 December 2026, and some have mutual 30, 60 or 90-day exemptions. This is entry for a visit, not transit. Use the visa-free checker and our visa-free entry rules for your passport.

Not on any list? Don’t guess. Check the checker, then ask your airline or the Chinese embassy before you book. If you stay airside and never pass immigration, you are not entering China, but your airline decides whether you can board each leg, so confirm with them.

Step 2: Decide: stay airside or leave?

Situation	What to do
Short layover, tight connection	Stay airside. Follow the international transfer signs. Minimum connection times vary by airport, terminal and airline, so on one ticket let your airline’s booking system set it.
Long layover, passport on the 240-hour list	You can leave via the transit lane if your onward ticket qualifies
Separate tickets, or you must collect bags	Ask your airline first. Check before you go.

A realistic time budget. Our arriving in China guide says to budget 45–90 minutes from landing to the taxi rank. Add the trip into the city, the trip back, and time to get through departure checks again. If what is left is only an hour or two, stay in the airport. Check your airline’s check-in closing time for your onward flight and plan to be back well before it.

Step 3: If you leave: arrival card and immigration

You still need China’s free online arrival card, even on 240-hour transit.

1. You may submit the arrival card online before travelling through an official NIA channel; if you cannot, you can complete it at the port on arrival or use a paper card. The form is free. The official form is at https://s.nia.gov.cn/ArrivalCardFillingPC/ (switch to English). The NIA portal is https://s.nia.gov.cn/.
2. Or use the official app, listed as 移民局12367 (NIA 12367). On iPhone it is on the App Store (the listing may only show in the China storefront). For Android, the official app is distributed through Tencent’s 应用宝 (MyApp) store; we found no Google Play listing. The website is the easier route for most visitors.
3. Pick the transit option and enter your onward flight.
4. Screenshot the QR code. You may not have internet when you land.
5. At immigration, take the 24/240-hour visa-free transit lane and show your onward ticket.

Full steps: Arriving in China. The card is free. Ignore sites that charge.

What to do in 6–17 hours

We don’t have full city plans for each airport yet. Rules of thumb that hold anywhere:

• Pick one area, not a list. Choose one place near a metro or airport train line.
• Pay with your phone. Alipay works for almost everything.
• Have your hotel or destination in Chinese for the taxi.
• Be back early. Allow extra time for departure checks.

Two links to know:

• Beijing Capital (PEK): the Airport Express train runs to Dongzhimen metro station for about ¥25, in roughly 20–30 minutes depending on the terminal.
• Shanghai Pudong (PVG): the maglev goes to Longyang Road metro station in about 8 minutes. Guides list a single fare of about ¥50. Check the current price at the station.

Allow more time for the rest of the trip: the airport leg is only part of it. If you want to leave luggage in town, ask your hotel or look for a storage counter at the airport. Availability and prices differ by airport.

If it doesn’t work

Problem	Why	Fix
Officer questions your transit	Onward ticket not clearly to a third country or region	Show the booking with dates and destination. Keep it saved offline.
No arrival card QR	You didn’t file it or lost signal	Fill the card at the airport, or on paper. Expect a slower queue.
Your country isn’t on the list	Different rules apply	Use the visa-free checker, or ask the embassy.
Running late	Immigration took longer than planned	Cut the trip short. Missing your flight costs more than a sight.

FAQ

Do I need a visa for a layover in China?

It depends on your passport. If you’re on the 240-hour list above and you fly on to a third country or region, you don’t need a visa to leave the airport. Otherwise check the visa-free checker.

Can I leave the airport on a 6-hour layover?

It is possible on paper, but tight. Immigration, travel into town and returning for departure take a big share of those hours. Check before you go.

Do I need the arrival card for a transit?

Yes, if you enter China, including on 240-hour transit.

Can I fly back to where I came from?

No. Transit means a third country or region.

Still stuck?

Do it yourself with the steps above, or get help from a real person.

Sources: NIA English site, NIA arrival card notice, China Briefing visa-free guide, Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles notice, NIA arrival card. Some links on this site are affiliate links, see our disclosure.