Getting Sick in China: Hospitals, Pharmacies and Travel Insurance for Foreign Travellers

Published 2026-10-16 · 71Asia Tours

Start with the insurance, not the symptoms

Most trips to China end with nothing worse than a blister. The one time I got properly sick there, a fever in Chengdu on a panda-day I'd booked weeks earlier, I was glad I'd spent twenty minutes on the boring stuff at home. Start with the policy.

Two things catch travellers out. First, some policies treat Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan as separate territories from the mainland, so "Asia cover" does not automatically mean China cover. Second, standard plans often exclude anything above a certain altitude, which matters if Tibet or high hiking routes are on your list; you may need an add-on. While you're at it, check repatriation is included and whether you pay upfront and claim later; in China that's how it works almost everywhere outside the international clinics.

Save the policy number and the insurer's 24-hour emergency line somewhere that works without signal. The emergency line matters more than the policy document itself when something serious happens: it can guarantee payment to a hospital that would otherwise ask you for a deposit.

The numbers worth knowing

120 is the ambulance number across the mainland, 110 is the police and 119 is fire. Ambulances exist, but in big cities a taxi or a DiDi to the emergency department is often faster. Ask your hotel front desk; staff handle this more often than you'd think and will usually write the hospital's name in Chinese characters for the driver.

What a public hospital visit actually looks like

The mainland system runs on one idea: register first, everything else after. You walk in, find the registration window or the self-service machines, show your passport and pay a few yuan for the right to see a doctor. Then you wait for your number, see the doctor for ten minutes, and pay again for whatever they order: tests, scans, medication. Each step happens at a different counter, which sounds chaotic and turns out oddly efficient.

A general consultation at a big city hospital typically costs between ¥30 and ¥100. Blood tests, if ordered, add tens of yuan rather than hundreds, and results often come back the same morning. Bring your passport, have Alipay or WeChat Pay working, and keep a few hundred yuan in cash for machines that don't take foreign cards.

International departments and private clinics

Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Hangzhou all have international departments inside public hospitals or private clinics aimed at expats. You pay five to ten times the public price and get English-speaking doctors, longer appointments and proper invoices for insurance. For a routine illness the public route is fine. For anything that needs a real conversation, a chronic condition, a child, or a claim you want documented well, the international department is worth the money.

Pharmacies first, hospitals second

For the small stuff, start at a pharmacy. They're everywhere, marked with a green cross, and city chains usually have someone who can type your symptom into a translation app. Show a photo of the medicine you want, or point at where it hurts. Ibuprofen, cold remedies, lozenges and rehydration salts are cheap and easy to find, and you don't usually need a prescription for everyday items.

Two cautions. Some drugs that are ordinary at home are restricted here: anything containing codeine is treated seriously, and ADHD medication in particular can be unavailable or tightly controlled, so don't count on refilling those on the road. Bring what you need in the original packaging, with the prescription or a doctor's letter, and keep quantities to what you'd genuinely use on the trip.

What it costs, and how to get the money back

Consultation plus medication usually lands under ¥300, and an emergency visit with tests might run a few hundred more. Serious cases are different: hospitals can ask for a deposit before admitting you, which is where your insurer's emergency line earns its keep.

Whatever happens, collect every receipt. Ask for the official invoice, called a fapiao, not just a till slip, and ask for a diagnosis certificate. If you went through an international department, ask for both in English; it turns an insurance claim from a negotiation into paperwork.

Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan run separate systems

The three regions run their own healthcare and their own insurance logic, and quality is high. The catch for visitors is price: in Hong Kong, a non-resident walking into a public accident and emergency department pays around HK$1,230, and private care costs more. Travel insurance handles this well, as long as your policy covers the territory you're in.

Small habits that keep you out of hospitals

None of this is complicated, and together it covers most clinic visits.

• Drink bottled or boiled water; tap water isn't for drinking anywhere on the mainland.
• Eat where the queue is local and the food is cooked in front of you.
• Check the air quality app on hazy days; a cheap mask is worth carrying if you're sensitive.
• If Tibet is on your route, pace the first two days and read up on altitude before you go.
• Pack a tiny kit: thermometer, painkillers, rehydration salts, plasters, and whatever prescription you already take.

A checklist to save on your phone

• Policy number and the insurer's 24-hour emergency line, saved offline
• Passport on you at all times; it's your ID at every hospital counter
• Alipay or WeChat Pay set up and tested before you need it
• ¥200 to ¥300 in cash as backup
• Regular medication in original packaging, with the prescription
• A translation app with the health vocabulary downloaded

The mainland's hospitals are crowded, fast and, for ordinary problems, genuinely good. They reward a passport in your hand and a bit of patience with the queue system. Sort the insurance before you fly and the rest is logistics. And if you're travelling with us, your guide can handle the registration queue and the counters with you, which is the kind of help you only appreciate when you need it.

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