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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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I don’t know about Taiwan but you can travel to Hong Kong on the 72 hr transit visa.
We’ve done Yyz-PEK-HKG and reverse last year connecting in PEK. So you’re fine
Awesome. Thanks!
According to Flyertalk, Hong Kong, Macua and Taiwan are considered 3rd countries for the purposes of the 72-hr visa rule (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/china/894437-faq-prc-visa-free-transit-aka-transit-without-visa-twov-73.html).
I have a similar situation. I’m flying IAH-PEK-SYD, however the PEK-SYD flight makes a stop of 2 hours in PVG and then onward to SYD. The layover in PEK is 14 hours so I want to leave the airport, will I be allowed to because of that stop in PVG.
I flew TPE-PEK-SFO and I had no issues seeing Beijing without visa. This was 1 month ago.
Yes, why do you ask these dumb questions?
Because I don’t want to show up the day of my trip and be denied boarding or show up in China without a visa when I needed one and all the internet sources I found didn’t define third region. Why are you so rude?
I expect someone earning a living blogging would know this. Additionally I am not sure why, aside from the fact that you can, you would make a blog post about this instead of searching FT, etc. You’re supposed to be the pro!
I’m a pro at earning and redeeming frequent flyer miles. I am not a pro at traveling as I make clear whenever anyone asks me travel (destination) advice. You come to me with a travel goal. I help you achieve it. I didn’t find that FlyerTalk thread.
This reminds me of the people who read a Kardashian article and then wrote a post about how sick they are of reading about the Kardashians.
We did FRA-PEK-HKG in February. And we had a _very_ quick trip to the great wall during our 6 hour layover in Beijing without a visa.
Great Wall is our main plan too!
Also, from the AirChina website: http://www.airchina.co.uk/en/aboutus/airchinanews/2012/20140315.html
“Passengers must also hold tickets on a non-stop flight* to the third country with a confirmed departure date within 72 hours. Passengers traveling between Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are regarded as international passengers.”
@ZS – Your Sydney flight by way of Shanghai will not qualify .
Incredible! Thank you very much.
I am curious about transiting on a separate itinerary. I was in Kuala Lumpur transiting through Yangon but the inbound ticket KUL-RGN was on Air Asia and the outbound was on MH. Air Asia would not allow me to fly the segment because it was not connecting me there for onward travel, and though I clearly had the tickets from RGN within a four hour connection, they would not allow me to fly. This meant a thousand other complications later, but my question based on a poor experience elsewhere is this. If I book, for example, ORD-PVG on AA and then had tickets on CX PVG-HKG within 72 hours, would they consider this to be a transit?
Separate unrelated tickets on CX that is. Or any other airline for that matter.
I hadn’t considered this question because everything I read made it sound like as long as you have an onward ticket in advance within 72 hours you’re fine. I will be traveling on separate tickets.
That’s how the Myanmar tourism department (and our own State Department reads as well) but as I was quickly and abruptly reminded at the LCC terminal in KL (possibly the third ring of hell) – they aren’t big on legalese at the counter. They had determined that a transit visa (no formal visa required) meant that it was on the same carrier and ticket and would be a connection. As Air Asia does not connect passengers outside of KL, it could not possibly qualify for a connection and thus they would not let us check-in nor fly. It could have been a serious problem for us because that meant we did not start our next trip from RGN and our tickets were cancelling all day long right up to departure. Here is my nightmare trip report on it in case you are curious – http://bitly.com/1jIQhZW. Feel free to email me any findings as the rates into PVG/PEK are routinely less expensive and easier to upgrade using instruments than HKG on AA.
My data point: About 6 months ago, with my US passport, I flew from HKG to PVG on Hongkong Airlines, entered Shanghai using the 72-hour rule by showing my itinerary of Air China to TPE, without any problem.
Excellent data point. Thank you very much.
not only can you stopover without a visa, there are also tours packaged for these visa free stop.72 Hours Visa Free Beijing Highlights Tour
Tour Code: INBJ0301
Destination: Beijing
Price: from only $ 299
including tour and hotel
Day 1. Arrive at Beijing
Upon arrival at Beijing, you’ll be met at the airport and then escorted to your luxury hotel.
Day 2. Explore Beijing (AB, L)
Today experience a highlight of your trip today as you visit the renowned Great Wall. After lunch, visit a Jade Factory and observe the skilled artisans at work as they create intricate designs. This afternoon tour Beijing’s 700-year-old Hutongs (narrow lanes) area by old fashioned pedicab.
Optional – Peking duck Dinner and Kung Fu Show
Day 3. Depart from Beijing (AB)
After breakfast, drive to Tiananmen Square, the biggest downtown Square of the world. Stroll around the famous city square and then visit the Forbidden City, also called Palace Museum, located at the center of Beijing. It was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Rectangular in shape, Forbidden City is the world’s largest palace complex. Finally, the guide will transfer you to the airport to board the homebound flight. Your amazing Beijing tour ends.
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Cool. I’ll have to look into whether those are better for us than DIY. Normally tours are anathema to me, but this is a spot where one could make sense.
Just read this blog. The official wording of this policy (see below) includes the sentence “citizens from 45 countries destined for a third country (region)”. The term “region” here specifically means Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
http://www.mps.gov.cn/n16/n84147/n84196/3912430.html
Ok guys. What about Sydney – Hong Kong – beijing ( 68 hours) – Macau – ( then ferry to Hong Kong ) – flight to Sydney? Any ideas … I need to get the visa tomorrow if I need one as leave Monday…
[…] I was careful to coordinate this flight’s arrival time in Beijing with the departure time of our flight from Beijing to Seoul. We’ll have 70 total hours in the Chinese capital, which comes close to the 72 hours maximum you can spend in the city without a visa. […]