Source Ledger
This ledger lists the main sources used for high-risk China arrival guidance. It is not a complete legal database. It is a maintenance record that helps users and reviewers see what each page depends on, when it was checked, and what needs periodic review.
Review rules
- High-risk travel policy pages are checked at least weekly, and sooner when official sources announce changes.
- Broader preparation guides are reviewed monthly; trust, legal, and low-risk pages are reviewed quarterly or when triggered.
- When an official source changes, a user reports a high-risk issue, or an ad-review request touches disclaimers, the related page should be reviewed the same day.
- Where possible, ChinaReady links official government or institutional sources rather than travel blogs or summaries.
- Final decisions are always made by official authorities and service providers, not by this site.
Registered sources
| Topic | Review class | Cadence | Primary sources | Applicable scope | Source date | Checked | Last updated | Next review | Confirms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 240-hour visa-free transit | High-risk policy | Weekly source check; same-day event review | Current National Immigration Administration policy page, 2025 port-expansion notice, and current port table; the 2024 54-country/60-port notice is historical only. | Travelers who meet the listed nationality, route, port, purpose, ticket, and stay-area conditions; final authority remains Chinese border agencies. | / | Eligible countries, 240-hour duration, eligible ports, permitted stay areas, and bounded route-pattern examples. | |||
| 30-day visa-free countries | High-risk policy | Weekly source check; same-day event review | National Immigration Administration country list | Listed ordinary-passport travelers and listed short-stay purposes only; final authority remains NIA and border inspection agencies. | Listed unilateral visa-free countries, ordinary-passport scope, listed purposes, 30-day limit, and next-day 00:00 counting rule. | ||||
| Arrival Card | High-risk policy | Weekly source check; same-day event review | National Immigration Administration online arrival-card notices | Foreign visitors who need arrival-card filing through official channels; exempt groups and airport handling can vary. | / | Free official channel, direct NIA filing URL, launch timing, exempt categories, and port QR/device/paper fallback. | |||
| Payments | Preparation guide | Monthly source check; same-day event review | State Council payment service guidance | Overseas visitors generally; app, card, bank, merchant category, and provider behavior can vary in practice. | / | Mobile payment limits, international-card support guidance, payment-method decisions, QR interaction choices, and fallback order. | |||
| Accommodation registration cluster | Preparation guide | Monthly source check; immediate review when NIA changes the pilot or process | Seven National Immigration Administration announcement, interpretation, service and channel pages in English and Chinese | National hotel and non-hotel rules, the seven-region online pilot, official channels, host/traveler roles and retained local public-security fallback. English 2021 guidance is for reference; the service Q&A has no displayed source date. | / / undated service Q&A | Overview plus friends/family and short-term-rental scenarios. The ledger does not decide whether a property can host a foreign traveler or whether a filing succeeded. | |||
| Shanghai airport arrival | Preparation guide | Monthly source check; same-day event review | Shanghai Municipal Government airport transport page; Shanghai Airport Authority transport page; State Council payment guidance | PVG/SHA and Shanghai transport only; airport/operator schedules, pickup locations, queues, metro hours, payment provider behavior, and service rules can change. | / / | PVG/SHA transport categories, terminal-aware decision workflow, live-service verification, and payment fallback preparation. | |||
| Lost passport | Preparation guide | Monthly source check; same-day event review | National Immigration Administration lost-passport guidance; NIA Government Service Platform exit-entry permit guidance | Foreigners who lose a passport in China; the exit-entry permit branch applies only within the eligibility scope stated by NIA, and local handling can vary. | / January 2022 | Passport loss certificate, consular replacement, visa renewal/reissuance, and the limited permit path when a consulate cannot reissue a document. | |||
| China train travel for foreign visitors | Preparation guide | Monthly source check; same-day event review | China Railway 12306 English FAQ; State Council 2025 guide | English and Simplified Chinese preparation for foreign-passport booking, identity verification and station flow; ticket, station, payment, change and refund handling remains operator-specific. | Live 12306 page / 2025 official guide | Official channels, foreign-passport verification routes, original-document use, station flow and official fallback points; no availability or refund promise. | |||
| Mobile internet for visitors | Preparation guide | Monthly source check; same-day event review | State Council 2025 SIM guidance; Apple mainland-China eSIM support; Google Pixel SIM/eSIM support | English and Simplified Chinese local-SIM registration and device compatibility preparation. It does not confirm a particular plan, airport counter, phone number, price, coverage, speed, routing or online-service access. | 2025 official guide / / live device page | Passport-based operator-office route, plan variability, device/provider eSIM dependency, data-versus-number distinction and fallback planning. | |||
| My China arrival plan | Product tool | Monthly editorial and interaction review | Existing verified ChinaReady guide rules and route registry | English and Simplified Chinese local-only routing of constrained preparation categories. It makes no visa, transit, border, airline, Customs, pet-entry or service decision and sends no answer set to a server. | Product rule set | Five-stage checklist routing, locale-aware privacy/storage boundary, safe analytics categories, no-JS fallback, print and clear controls. | |||
| Beijing airport arrival | Preparation guide | Monthly source check; same-day event review | Beijing municipal PEK/PKX service pages; Beijing Daxing International Airport first-party transport directory; dated Beijing airport-bus change notice | PEK and PKX arrival decisions only. Each fact is airport-scoped; terminals, routes, pickup zones, schedules, fares and support remain operator-specific and require a live check. | Live PEK/PKX service pages / bus update | PEK/PKX separation, airport-express categories, airport bus/taxi/ride-hailing decision points, late-arrival and support fallbacks; no fixed fare or timetable. | |||
| China Customs baggage declaration | Preparation guide | Monthly source check; same-day event review | China Customs current passenger-baggage service guide; official English Customs clearance and carried-baggage guidance | Inbound passenger declaration preparation. Customs, airline baggage, aviation-security and destination-use rules remain separate; Customs makes final declaration, inspection, tax and release decisions. | Current official service guide / live official English guidance | Red/green channels, uncertainty fallback, declaration categories, personal-use boundary, unaccompanied baggage and conservative decision language; no unsupported thresholds or release promise. | |||
| Getting around China: city transport, maps and taxis | Preparation guide | Monthly source check; same-day event review | State Council 2025 transportation guide; Beijing municipal inbound-transport and railway-station pickup guidance; Shanghai municipal airport transport guidance; State Council overseas-visitor payment guide | English and Simplified Chinese preparation for choosing city transport and preparing a Chinese destination, connectivity and payment fallback. Beijing and Shanghai records are city examples only; routes, maps, pickup points, fares, schedules, accessibility and provider acceptance require a current local check. | 2025 national guide / / / / | Metro, bus, official taxi queue and ride-hailing preparation; separate pickup-point examples; Chinese destination card; network/payment fallbacks; no live route, fare or availability promise. | |||
| International medical treatment planning and Shanghai service directory | High-risk content | Weekly page review; institution fields within 30 days; story links within 90 days | State Council international medical-tourism policy direction; Shanghai international medical services directory; 16 linked government/institution detail sources; seven Shanghai government case reports | English and Simplified Chinese planning, 12 non-ranked Shanghai institution records and seven minimized individual-case summaries. It does not assess medical quality or suitability, recommend treatment, accept records, confirm hospital acceptance, predict outcomes or decide entry. | to ; some official directory pages do not display a publication date | page review; institution fields; story links | Field-level source status, institutional contacts, broad service categories, evidence level and bounded source-reported story stages. Hospitals and official authorities retain all decisions. | ||
| International patient journey preparation: records, remote contact, costs and companions | High-risk content | Weekly page review; same-day review after a material source change | Shanghai international medical services directory; Shanghai local-hospital process guide; Zhongshan Hospital government directory page | English and Simplified Chinese preparation questions and fixed contact templates. The sources do not establish universal record formats, remote-service availability, prices, insurance coverage, reimbursement, direct billing, companion need or hospital access. | / two directory pages do not display a publication date | A general Shanghai hospital process, an official institution-discovery channel, and one government listing that includes remote consultation. Every institution-specific arrangement must be reconfirmed. | |||
| Domestic flights, security and disruption recovery | Preparation guide | Security sources every 30 days; passenger-service and disruption sources every 60 days | CAAC CCAR-273 passenger-service rules; CAAC CCAR-300 flight-regularity rules; CAAC identity, baggage and 2025 power-bank guidance; SAMR CCC traceability notice; scoped carrier and airport examples | English and Simplified Chinese preparation for mainland-China domestic passenger flights. Passport acceptance, booking, baggage, power-bank, delay and refund facts retain national, carrier, ticket and airport boundaries. No specific product, boarding, compensation, hotel or meal is approved. | / / / / | security; passenger service | Foreign-passport document status, operator-specific cutoff and baggage terms, same-contract connection boundary, domestic power-bank CCC restriction, cause-aware recovery, refund handling versus bank posting and written disruption proof. | ||
| Departure tax refund, refund-upon-purchase and port processing | Policy-sensitive guide | Monthly source review; effective-date review before scheduled changes | State Taxation Administration policy Q&A, current guide, administrative notices, refund-upon-purchase procedure and 2026 paperless-processing update | English and Simplified Chinese preparation for overseas visitors. Eligibility, participating stores, goods, Customs, refund agencies, pre-authorization and port workflows retain transaction-specific limits. No personal tax advice, refund calculation or successful-refund promise is provided. | to | ; cross-region effective-date check | Current RMB 200 threshold, standard timing and goods conditions, refund methods, advance-versus-final-refund boundary, paperless processing and the future-only 1 September 2026 cross-region workflow. | ||
| China phone number, SMS verification and visitor SIM/eSIM preparation | Privacy-sensitive guide | Monthly official-source review; same-day review after a material operator-policy change | MIIT real-name registration and number-reassignment guidance; official telecom-operator service and cancellation channels; scoped target-service verification policies | English and Simplified Chinese preparation. It distinguishes data connectivity from a local phone number and SMS, keeps operator and target-service decisions separate, and never asks for a phone number, code, account, passport scan or other identity data. | Current rules and official service descriptions; some operator pages do not display a publication date | Foreign-passport real-name registration, data-only eSIM limits, service-specific verification fallback, replacement and cancellation boundaries, number reuse and unlink-before-cancel preparation. | |||
| Attraction booking, real-name ticketing and event entry checks | Identity-sensitive guide | Monthly official-source review; same-day review after a material venue or performance-policy change | Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Ministry of Public Security large-performance notice; Palace Museum instructions; Beijing municipal parks guidance; dated Beijing 12345 venue response | English and Simplified Chinese preparation. Venue examples remain venue-specific, and the over-5,000 rule remains limited to large commercial performances. No ticket sale, live inventory, ranking, walk-up promise or personal-data collection is provided. | / ; two live venue pages do not display a publication date | ; event-policy review | Official-channel discovery, passport and original-document checks, attendee binding, staffed fallback boundaries and large-performance scope. | ||
| Dining communication and food-allergy cards | Published communication guide | Monthly source-context review; repeat the editorial language and safety review whenever the fixed phrase version changes | Hong Kong CFS general allergen guidance; NHC GB 7718-2025 scope Q&A; Beijing market-regulator effective-date explainer | English and Simplified Chinese communication guides. All 21 fixed phrases completed a version-bound editorial language and safety review on . Hong Kong guidance is general safety context rather than mainland law, and future-effective GB 7718-2025 is not a current restaurant rule. | October 2025 / / ; GB 7718-2025 effective | ; future-standard review | Communication aids only. No clinical review, restaurant certification, food-safety guarantee, diagnosis, treatment, editable health data, storage, transmission, advertising or analytics-body collection. Phrase version SHA-256: d4f073eaddcc597e079b15b8292e0cda2a86164b6a2c91f2968ca5a1d2a7e13d. | ||
| Dog or cat entry to China | High-risk policy | Weekly source check; same-day event review | USDA APHIS China pet travel page; China Customs pet quarantine public-service translation | USDA APHIS: U.S.-origin pet export paperwork and timing only; not a global departure-country rule. China Customs public-service translation: China-side dog/cat entry, document, microchip, titer, port, and quarantine-risk framework. | / public-service page | One dog or cat per traveler, microchip, rabies proof, health or quarantine certificate, titer and quarantine risk. |
How to report a source problem
If an official source has changed or a page needs a correction, contact feedback@gochinaready.com with the page URL and source URL.