The 240-hour transit scheme is the widest door into China for nationalities that do not have visa-free entry — Americans, Brazilians, Indians, and about forty others. It gives you ten days, and unlike the old 72- and 144-hour versions, it lets you cross provincial lines within a defined area.
The two rules everything else hangs on
Rule one: you must be going somewhere else. The scheme is for people passing through China en route between two different countries. Your entry country and your exit country must differ. Beijing in, Beijing out, is not transit. Beijing in, Bangkok out, is.
Rule two: the clock starts at midnight after arrival. Land at 06:00 on Monday and your 240 hours run from 00:00 Tuesday — you effectively get eleven usable days. Land at 23:00 and you lose that bonus entirely, which is worth knowing when you pick a flight.
Where you are allowed to go
The scheme covers 24 provincial-level regions, and you can move between them. Six of those regions admit you to named cities only:
| Province | Cities you may visit |
|---|---|
| Shanxi | Taiyuan, Datong |
| Heilongjiang | Harbin, Mudanjiang |
| Jiangxi | Nanchang, Jingdezhen |
| Guangxi | Nanning, Guilin, Yangshuo |
| Sichuan | Chengdu, Leshan, Deyang |
| Yunnan | Kunming, Lijiang, Dali, Xishuangbanna |
Outside the scheme entirely: Tibet (needs its own permit), and Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia and Jilin. That rules out the classic Silk Road route through Dunhuang and Kashgar on transit entry — a fact worth checking before you build an itinerary around it.
Three routings that work
The classic: Shanghai → Hangzhou → Suzhou → Hong Kong
Fly into Pudong, spend four days in Shanghai, a day trip to Suzhou (25 minutes by rail), two nights in Hangzhou for West Lake, then take the high-speed train to Hong Kong West Kowloon. Hong Kong counts as your third region, and the train ride is itself one of the better travel days in Asia.
The inland one: Beijing → Xi’an → Chengdu → out
Fly into Beijing, three days for the Wall and the Forbidden City, high-speed rail to Xi’an (4h20), two days for the Terracotta Army, then the new line to Chengdu (3h), and fly out to anywhere in Southeast Asia. Ten days is tight but the rail legs are the point.
The southern one: Guangzhou → Guilin → Yangshuo → Hanoi or Bangkok
Land in Guangzhou, one day for the arcaded Xiguan food streets, then the high-speed line to Guilin (2h20) and the Li River down to Yangshuo. Fly out of Guilin to Bangkok, or cross to Hanoi by rail. Guangxi admits you to Nanning, Guilin and Yangshuo specifically.
What you show at the counter
- 1Your onward booking
Confirmed, with a date inside the window, and to a different country than you arrived from. Print it.
- 2Your arrival card
Handed out on the plane. Address of your first night and flight number required.
- 3The 240-hour form
Some ports issue a separate arrival form for transit; ask the crew if you do not see one.
- 4Your passport
Six months validity and at least two blank pages, standard for China.
Things that surprise people
- You can leave and re-enter within the window only if the whole sequence still satisfies the transit logic — one entry, one exit is the safe pattern.
- Flights to Hong Kong and Macau count as third-destination exits. So does a ferry to Macau from Shekou.
- Cruise arrivals have their own 15-day visa-free rules at listed ports, which are separate from this scheme — do not mix them up.
- Overstaying is fined per day and logged. If a flight cancels, go to the exit-entry administration before your window closes.
When transit is the wrong choice
If your trip is a single-city round trip, or you want to start in Beijing and finish in Beijing three weeks later, the transit scheme cannot help you. Apply for an L visa instead — or restructure the ticket. An open-jaw booking into Shanghai and out of Bangkok usually costs less than a Chinese visa plus the hassle, and it turns a round trip into a better itinerary.