Prepare your China trip: verified, dated, no sales pitch
German passport holders currently get 30 days visa-free entry, valid until 31 Dec 2026. Rules vary widely by nationality – check your own eligibility with the Visa Checker. Every fact here is dated and sourced, tracked monthly.
Tools & Maps
Visa, cost and checklist
Visa Check
Check whether visa-free or transit-free entry to China is possible for over 68 countries.
Trip Cost Calculator
Build a route on the map and calculate costs by city, season, and travel style.
Pre-Trip Checklist
A base list plus extra points based on your travel profile and a clickable city map for location-specific tips.
Customs & Duty-Free Allowances
Duty-free allowance, cigarettes, e-cigarettes, alcohol and cash at a glance, plus a check for whether you need to declare.
Best time, holidays and weather
Golden Week 2026
Crowds day by day, a date check for your own trip, train ticket sale dates and reservation rules for the big sights.
China Open Beijing 2026
Tickets, getting to Olympic Park, and the date check for all 14 tournament days – including the overlap with Golden Week.
Current Time in China
Live comparison to your own time zone (default Berlin), a call-time planner, and a map of the five natural sun times.
Best Time to Visit
A climate map by month – where in China the weather is pleasant for travel right now.
School Holidays in China
School holidays in 20 cities for 2026/2027 on a timeline, with a date check against China's public holidays for your own trip.
Understand Public Holidays: 调休 & Regions
How makeup workdays work, what public holidays mean for travel, plus regional holidays in Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, and Macau.
Theme Parks
China's best-known and largest theme parks at a glance.
Trade Centers
Trade fairs, wholesale markets, land border crossings, and seaports.
Direct Flights
Nonstop connections from 15 Western and Northern European countries to China, on a map and in a schedule.
Understanding China
Geography & Location
Elevation relief, climate zones, and coordinate grid in a map comparison.
Mountains, Lakes, Rivers
China's most important mountains, lakes, and rivers in a map comparison.
Health & Medication
Recommended vaccinations, a travel medical kit sorted by priority, and medications that are banned or restricted.
Regional Cuisines
China's eight great regional cuisines on an interactive map, with flavor profiles and typical dishes.
China Trip Status
Visa-free entry still applies for
110 days
Valid until 2026-12-31 · last verified 2026-07-30
| Topic | Status | Last verified |
|---|---|---|
Visa-free entry30 days visa-free for German citizens, extended until 31 Dec 2026 – for business, tourism, visiting relatives, exchanges and transit. | Currently stable | 2026-07-30 · Source |
Digital arrival cardSince 20 Nov 2025, fillable in advance online or via QR-code scan; a paper form on arrival is still possible too. | Currently stable | 2026-07-30 · Source |
Direct flightsNonstop connections from Germany, Austria and Switzerland remain available – Frankfurt–Shanghai is the most frequent, while Zurich–Beijing was dropped and Frankfurt–Shenzhen was cut sharply in 2026. | Currently stable | 2026-08-05 · Source |
More topics (Alipay, WeChat Pay, VPN situation, direct flights) are in preparation and will follow once verified data is available.
Payment
Alipay & WeChat Pay with a foreign card
Domestic debit cards generally don't work at all, and even with Visa/Mastercard the passport NFC verification sometimes fails.
Mobile
Getting by without a Chinese phone number
Some apps, ticket purchases, and reservations require a Chinese phone number – we show practical alternatives.
Connectivity
VPN availability varies by city
Whether a VPN currently works reliably differs from city to city and changes over time – there's no blanket answer.
Transport
Train tickets and sleeper cars via 12306
Trip.com doesn't always show all the quota – when it pays off to check the official 12306 system directly.
Our three promises
Every statement carries a verification date.
If a page shows no date at the top, we haven't checked it — and we say so.
We don't sell trips — and we say openly how we make money.
No package tours, no guided trips, no partnerships with tour operators.How we're funded →
What we're not sure about is marked as uncertain.
Where sources contradict each other, we write that down instead of smoothing it over.