A Step-by-Step Arrival Guide for First-Time Travelers
You planned the trip. You installed the apps. You set up Alipay. You saved your hotel address.
Then the aircraft door opens.
And suddenly you’re standing in a huge Chinese airport thinking:
What do I do now?
Don’t worry. Arriving in mainland China is usually much more straightforward than first-time travelers imagine.
The airport may be enormous, the signs may look unfamiliar, and your phone may not behave exactly as it did at home—but you don’t need to solve China in your first hour.
You only need to do things in the right order.
Your first hour is basically this:
✈️ Leave the aircraft
↓
🛂 Immigration
↓
🧳 Collect your luggage
↓
🛃 Customs
↓
📱 Make sure your phone is online
↓
💳 Check that you can pay
↓
🚕 Get to your hotel
↓
🏨 Check in
That’s it.
This guide walks you through that first hour step by step.
ChinaTravelBUG Quick Answer
After landing in mainland China, follow the signs for Arrivals / Immigration, complete immigration formalities, collect your luggage and pass through Customs. Once you enter the public arrivals hall, get your phone connected before worrying about anything else. Then confirm that Alipay or WeChat Pay is working, find your transport, and head to your hotel.
Don’t try to solve every problem at the airport. Your first goal is simply to get yourself, your luggage and your phone safely to the hotel.
⚡ Quick Answer: What Do I Do After Landing in China?
After landing in mainland China:
Immigration → Baggage → Customs → Internet → Payment → Transport → Hotel
Keep your passport, phone and hotel address in Chinese easy to reach.
Before leaving the airport, make sure:
✓ Your phone has internet
✓ Alipay or WeChat Pay opens normally
✓ You know how you’re getting to the hotel
✓ Your hotel name and address are saved in Chinese
You don’t need to solve everything during your first hour.
Your job is simply to get yourself, your luggage and your phone safely to the hotel.
Before You Fly: Make Your First Hour Easier
Do these at home:
- Save your hotel name, Chinese address and phone number offline.
- Install and log into Alipay / WeChat Pay.
- Set up your roaming or travel eSIM.
- Download an offline translation option.
- Screenshot your hotel and flight confirmations.
- Work out roughly how you’ll travel airport → hotel.
- Keep a backup bank card and some emergency cash.
- Charge your phone and power bank before landing.
ChinaTravelBUG Tip: Don’t wait until the arrivals hall to set up the systems you’ll depend on after landing.
Continue Planning Your First China Trip
Now that you’ve reached your hotel, these guides will help with the next steps:
📱 Internet, eSIMs & Phones in China
For choosing and troubleshooting your connection.
💳 Alipay & WeChat Pay
For paying with international cards and keeping a backup.
🚄 Getting Around China
For high-speed rail, metros, DiDi, taxis and domestic flights.
🏨 Booking Hotels in China as a Foreigner
For hotel location, check-in and practical booking considerations.
🆘 What If Something Goes Wrong in China?
For Plan B when payments, internet, transport or bookings don’t behave as expected.
And remember:
China Usually Has Another Way. 🐞
1. Before You Even Leave the Aircraft
Before stuffing everything back into your backpack, take 30 seconds.
Make sure you have:
- Passport
- Phone
- Wallet
- Arrival information
- Hotel name and address in Chinese
Keep your passport and phone with you, not buried inside your carry-on.
You’ll need your passport shortly.
And that Chinese hotel address may become one of the most useful things on your phone once you leave the airport.
🐞 ChinaTravelBUG Tip
Before flying, save a screenshot containing:
Hotel name in English
Hotel name in Chinese
Full Chinese address
Hotel telephone number
Don’t assume you’ll have internet immediately after landing.
A screenshot works even when nothing else does.
2. Follow the Signs to Immigration
After leaving the aircraft, follow:
Arrivals / Immigration / Passport Control
Major international airports in China generally have English signage, so you do not need to read Chinese to find your way through the terminal.
Don’t follow passengers blindly.
Some may be transferring to another flight while others are entering China.
You want the signs for Arrivals and Immigration.
Depending on the airport, arrival time and how far your gate is from immigration, this walk can take a while.
China’s major airports are big.
Don’t panic if you’ve been walking for ten minutes and still haven’t reached passport control. 😂
3. The China Arrival Card
Foreign travelers entering China may need to provide arrival information as part of immigration formalities.
Since 20 November 2025, China’s National Immigration Administration has provided an online arrival-card service. Travelers can complete it before arriving through official NIA channels. The service is free.
If you haven’t completed it beforehand, don’t panic.
China’s NIA says travelers can also complete the information using devices provided at entry ports, and paper arrival cards remain available.
You’ll typically want basic information readily available, such as:
- passport details;
- flight information;
- purpose of visit;
- where you’ll be staying in China.
This is another reason to keep your first hotel’s details somewhere easy to retrieve.
⚠️ Watch Out for Fake Arrival-Card Websites
China’s National Immigration Administration has specifically warned about fraudulent websites charging travelers to complete the arrival card.
The official Chinese arrival-card service is free.
Use the official National Immigration Administration service rather than a website simply because it appears near the top of a search result.
4. Immigration: What Actually Happens?
When you reach immigration, join the appropriate line for foreign passport holders.
Keep your passport ready. Depending on your nationality and how you are entering China, the officer may also want to see supporting information such as your visa, onward travel or accommodation details.
Usually, the process is straightforward:
Passport → immigration check → entry approved → welcome to China.
Don’t bury your hotel booking or onward-flight details deep inside an app. Having screenshots available makes life easier if you’re asked.
ChinaTravelBUG Tip: Immigration is not the place to reorganize your backpack. 😂 Keep your passport, phone and travel details together until you’ve cleared the checkpoint.
5. Collect Your Luggage
Next, follow the signs for:
Baggage Claim
Check the screens for your flight number and carousel.
Once your suitcase arrives, take a quick look at it before walking away. After a long flight, remarkably similar black suitcases suddenly become very popular. 😂
If your luggage doesn’t arrive, report it at the airline or baggage-service counter before leaving the baggage area.
6. Go Through Customs
After collecting your luggage, follow the signs toward Customs / Exit.
If you have nothing that requires declaration, follow the green “Nothing to Declare” channel.
If you are carrying something that must be declared—or you’re unsure which channel applies—use the red declaration channel and ask Customs. China’s current rules require travelers carrying declarable items to make the appropriate declaration.
For most ordinary tourists carrying normal personal travel belongings, this should be another simple step.
Then the doors open.
You’ve entered China. 🇨🇳
Now comes the part that matters most for your first hour.
7. Before Leaving the Airport: Get Your Phone Online
Don’t rush straight into a taxi.
First, stop somewhere in the arrivals hall and check your phone.
Can you access the internet?
If you prepared an eSIM or roaming plan before departure, switch it on and test it now.
Try opening:
- your maps;
- Alipay or WeChat;
- your hotel booking;
- your translation app.
Airport Wi-Fi may be available, but I wouldn’t make it my only plan.
Your phone is about to become your:
map + translator + wallet + taxi caller + booking folder.
So getting online is more important than finding coffee. ☕😂
ChinaTravelBUG Tip: Set up your China internet solution before you fly, not while standing in the arrivals hall wondering why Google isn’t loading.
8. Test Your Payment Before You Leave the Airport
Before heading into the city, it’s worth checking that your mobile payment actually works.
If there’s a convenience store, café or other small shop in the airport, buy something inexpensive—a bottle of water or a snack is enough.
Open Alipay or WeChat Pay, scan the merchant’s QR code or let them scan yours, and make the payment.
If it goes through:
Great. One less thing to worry about. 👍
You’ve now confirmed that your app, linked card and payment verification are working in China.
If it doesn’t work, don’t panic. Try your other payment app, another linked bank card, or use cash if necessary.
🐞 ChinaTravelBUG Tip: Testing your payment with a purchase of any value at the airport convenient store is much better than discovering a problem later when you’re tired, hungry and trying to pay a taxi driver or restaurant.
Once your internet works and you’ve successfully made one small payment, you’re ready to leave the airport.
9. Now Decide How You’re Getting to the Hotel
Only now do you need to solve transport.
At major Chinese airports, your main choices will usually be some combination of:
🚇 Metro / Airport Rail
🚕 Official Taxi
🚗 DiDi
Which is best depends on the airport, time of arrival, luggage and where your hotel is located.
For a first-time traveler arriving tired with luggage, paying a little more for the simplest option can be money well spent.
If Taking a Taxi
Use the official airport taxi queue.
Have your hotel’s Chinese name and address ready to show the driver.
Avoid accepting random unsolicited rides from people approaching you inside the terminal.
If Using DiDi
Enter the destination carefully and check that it matches your hotel.
The tricky part isn’t usually ordering the car.
It’s finding the correct pickup zone in a huge airport.
Follow the app’s pickup instructions and airport signs rather than wandering outside hoping to spot your driver.
If Taking the Metro or Airport Train
This can be fast and inexpensive—but think about your luggage and how many transfers you’ll need.
Saving a little money isn’t always worth dragging two suitcases through three metro interchanges after a 12-hour flight. 😂
10. Arrive at Your Hotel
When you reach the hotel, have your passport ready for check-in.
Hotels in China register foreign guests’ accommodation information as part of the normal check-in process.
Once you have your room:
Put down the luggage.
You made it. 🎉
Don’t feel that you immediately need to conquer Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu or wherever you’ve landed.
Connect to the hotel Wi-Fi. Charge your phone. Confirm tomorrow’s plans. Get some food.
And breathe.
Your first hour in China is over.
🐞 ChinaTravelBUG’s First-Hour Checklist
Before leaving the airport, try to have these four things sorted:
✓ Passport safely back in your bag
✓ Phone connected to the internet
✓ Alipay/WeChat Pay accessible
✓ Hotel name and address in Chinese
If those four things work, you’re in pretty good shape.
China can feel intimidating when you’re planning it from thousands of kilometres away.
Once you’re actually here, you’ll often discover something much simpler:
You solve one small problem at a time.
And if Plan A doesn’t work?
Well…
