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Hopefully everyone has heard that you can stay in China for 72 hours without a visa if:

  • you fly into Beijing (PEK), Shanghai (PVG or SHA), Guangzhou (CAN), or Chengdu (CTU)
  • fly out of the same airport
  • stay in the city/province the entire time
  • arrive with an onward ticket to a third country departing less than 72 hours after arrival
  • hold a passport from one of 51 countries including the United States

Here’s what the U.S. State Department says about transiting without a visa:

“If Beijing Capital, Shanghai Pudong, Guangzhou Baiyun, or Chengdu Shuangliu airport is your international transit point, you may stay in mainland China for 72 hours without a Chinese visa if you have: a valid passport, a visa for your third country destination, an onward plane ticket departing from the same airport, and you remain in the same municipality/province in which you entered,.  Make sure you get an endorsement stamp at the immigration desk before you leave the airport.”

The Chinese Embassy’s site basically says the same thing except they add Shanghai’s other airport to the list of airports where you can enter without a visa for 72 hours.

But what I have not seen defined anywhere is what qualifies as a third country.

The requirement of heading to a third country from China basically means that you cannot fly Los Angeles to Beijing and then back to the United States without getting a Chinese visa. Nor can you fly from Los Angeles to Beijing and then on to Shanghai without a Chinese visa.

What I want to do is fly from the United States to Beijing and then on to either Taiwan or Hong Kong within 72 hours.

Does Taiwan or Hong Kong count as a “third country” for the purposes of transiting Beijing without visa?

I ask because I know that the official Chinese position is that both are part of China.

Please help me out if you have transited China for under 72 hours without a visa on your way to Hong Kong or Taiwan or if you can link to a definitive source saying whether it’s OK.

Thanks!




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