Landing in China: What Happens at Immigration and How to Get Out of the Airport Fast

Published 2026-11-01 · 71Asia Tours

Before you land

The part of a China trip that people email me about most is not the Great Wall logistics or the hotpot spice levels. It is the ninety minutes after the plane lands. Fair enough: you are tired, the signs are unreadable, and every story you've heard about tough border questions is rattling around your head. Here is what actually happens, based on a lot of arrivals at a lot of Chinese airports.

Paper arrival cards have mostly disappeared from the big international airports, though smaller ports and land borders still use them, so keep a pen in your carry-on. More useful than a pen: save your hotel's name and address in Chinese characters, keep your booking confirmation and return flight reachable offline, and have a rough answer ready for "how long are you staying?" If you are entering under the visa-free policy, the officer may ask to see your onward booking, so don't bury it three folders deep.

The immigration counter

Queues are usually split by nationality, with a shorter line for crew and sometimes a separate one for foreigners. You hand over your passport. Most foreign visitors between 14 and 70 have their fingerprints taken on the scanner next to the counter; it takes twenty seconds. Expect two or three short questions: the purpose of your visit, where you are staying, how long. Short, honest answers work best. You are not going to be interrogated. First-time visitors get an entry stamp; visa-free entries get the permitted stay written alongside it. Check the date before you walk off, because fixing an entry record later is exactly as boring as it sounds.

What sends people to secondary inspection

Vague plans, no proof of onward travel, or a hotel that cannot legally host foreigners. None of these is fatal. Secondary is a desk with a chair and a few more questions, sometimes an hour of waiting, then a stamp. The traveler who causes their own misery here is the one who says "tourism" while their return flight is two months away and they can't name a single city they'll sleep in.

Bags and the green channel

Carousels at Chinese airports run slow, but luggage trolleys are free, which makes the wait less annoying. At the exit you pass through the customs channels. Green means nothing to declare, and that is the honest choice for most visitors. There is an X-ray machine and occasionally an officer opens a bag. If you are carrying a drone, more cash than the limit, or prescription medication, keep it accessible and know the rules before you fly, not while standing in the queue.

Four things to do before you leave the terminal

• Get online. A travel eSIM starts working the moment the plane lands. If you prefer a local SIM, the airport counters sell China Mobile and China Unicom tourist plans with your passport.
• Get cash if you want it. The Bank of China ATMs in arrivals charge nothing beyond whatever your home bank adds. The exchange counters work too, but their rates are worse.
• Find the official taxi rank. It is signposted, the queue moves fast, and the meters work. Ignore anyone inside the arrivals hall offering you a ride at a "special price".
• Screenshot your hotel's Chinese address. Your driver will see the map pin, but a screenshot saves you the moment the app glitches or the signal drops.

Getting into each city

The big airports are all wired into the metro, which is the cheapest way in and usually the fastest outside rush hour.

• Beijing: you land at Capital (PEK) or Daxing (PKX), and mixing them up is the classic first-day mistake. Capital's Airport Express reaches Sanyuanqiao in about twenty minutes; Daxing's line runs to Caoqiao in nineteen. Both cost less than a coffee back home.
• Shanghai: Pudong has the Maglev, an eight-minute float to Longyang Road that hits over 300 km/h and delights everyone who takes it. Hongqiao sits on Lines 2 and 10, and it is also the railway station.
• Xi'an: Line 14 connects Xianyang airport to the rail network; count forty minutes or so to the old city walls.
• Chengdu: Tianfu (TFU) is far out but on Line 18; Shuangliu (CTU) is closer in on Line 10. Know which airport you booked.
• Chongqing: Jiangbei sits on Lines 3 and 10, and the ride into Jiefangbei gives you your first look at the city stacked on its hills.
• Zhangjiajie: the airport is barely fifteen minutes from town by taxi. The official shuttle bus also exists and costs pocket change.
• Lhasa: your Tibet permit gets checked before you board the flight, not on arrival. The airport bus takes about an hour to the city, and your tour guide will usually be waiting at the exit.
• Hong Kong, Macao and Taipei: these run their own immigration, so you clear a separate border with separate rules. Hong Kong no longer stamps passports; you get a paper landing slip instead, and you should keep it, because some hotels ask for it.

Small things that catch people out

Land between 1 and 4 am and the metro will be closed, so the taxi queue is your friend even if it loops outside. Keep your entry stamp legible, since hotels register every foreign guest with the local police and may ask to see it at check-in. And if your first hotel turns you away at midnight because it cannot host foreigners, that is not the immigration system's fault, but it is a miserable way to start a trip. Book places that explicitly accept foreign guests, at least for the first night.

That is the whole ritual. On a normal weekday, immigration at Beijing or Shanghai takes about half an hour from gate to taxi rank, and the officers are more bored than stern. The fear of the border is the last hangover from an older version of China travel. Walk up, answer two questions, get stamped, and go eat something.

Written by the team at 71Asia Tours, a China-based tour operator with licensed Spanish- and English-speaking guides. Browse all tours · About us · Our guides · Reviews · FAQ