What It's Like to Travel in China: Opportunities and Challenges

Tourists at Shichahai in Beijing, photographed this month. China has been taking extraordinary measures to attract overseas visitors.

Traveling to China has never been easier in some ways, but it still comes with its challenges. In recent months, China has been actively working to attract more foreign tourists by rolling out visa-free policies for citizens of dozens of countries, with the list of beneficiaries growing longer. The country is also promising easier access for foreign travelers when it comes to payment systems, hotel bookings, and transportation.

After three years of strict pandemic controls, which made it difficult for most foreigners to enter the country, these measures are part of China's effort to send a clear message to the world: China is open for business—and tourism. The government is particularly eager to attract tourists to boost economic growth.

China also wants to show that, despite tensions with the West and the growing influence of domestic security agencies, it remains connected to the global community. The fact that Beijing is unilaterally offering visa-free entry to several countries—an unusual move for a government that typically insists on reciprocity—demonstrates China’s urgency in welcoming foreign visitors.

However, traveling to China can still be a significant challenge. Here’s what you need to know:

What’s New?

China has unilaterally extended 15-day visa-free entry to citizens of several countries, including many in Western Europe, such as France, Germany, and Spain. This program started in December last year and has since expanded to include Australia, New Zealand, and Poland as of last month. The policy is set to last until 2025.

Taxis at Beijing Daxing International Airport. According to the Chinese government, the majority of overseas entrants in the first half of this year used the visa-free program.

In addition, citizens of over 50 countries, including the United States, can now take advantage of visa-free transit if they are traveling onward to other destinations. Depending on the port of entry, travelers can stay in China for 72 or 144 hours. However, transit passengers are limited to certain areas. For example, travelers arriving in Shanghai can only visit Shanghai and the neighboring provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

China has also promised to simplify the travel process for foreign tourists. The country’s most popular super apps, WeChat and Alipay—which are essential for everyday activities like electronic payments, transportation, and restaurant orders—can now be linked to international credit cards, unlike in the past when only Chinese bank cards were accepted. Additionally, in May, the government required hotels to stop refusing foreign guests, a practice that had been common.

Why Is China Doing This?

In short, it’s about economic recovery.

As China’s economy slows and consumers become more cautious, concerns about deflation have emerged. The government is also keen to attract foreign investment, especially as many foreign businesses have grown wary of China’s long COVID lockdowns and increasingly restrictive political climate. The 15-day visa-free policy is not only meant for tourists but also serves as an invitation for businesspeople.

Bringing in more foreign tourists also helps counter the narrative, especially from the United States and other Western countries, that China is becoming increasingly unfriendly toward foreigners.

Tourists in a lavender field in Inner Mongolia.

Last year, China revised its Anti-Espionage Law, broadening the definition of espionage, while state propaganda has warned that some seemingly harmless foreigners could be undermining China’s national security. Despite this, the government insists that reports of rising xenophobia and nationalism are fabrications by nations seeking to hinder China’s rise.

Will More Foreign Tourists Come to China?

According to official statistics, 14.63 million foreigners entered China through its ports in the first half of this year, most of them via the visa-free entry program. This is 2.5 times more than last year’s numbers but still far below the 24 million who visited in the first half of 2019, before the pandemic.

China’s efforts to improve the tourist experience have seen mixed results.

On a recent Friday, 24-year-old Luca Lefevre and 21-year-old Charlotte Collet, traveling from Paris to Vietnam, made a 10-hour stopover in Shanghai and tried to see as many sights as possible. They visited Yu Garden, a famous pavilion complex, and took photos on the iconic Nanjing East Road.

However, they ran into trouble when trying to use mobile payment apps, eventually resorting to using cash instead. They were also surprised by the omnipresent surveillance cameras. "It’s a bit too much for us because we don’t have this in France," Collet said. "But we understand it’s for safety."

Huangpu District in Shanghai, photographed last month.

"Ten hours under surveillance isn’t too bad," Lefevre added.

Even tourists who have mastered China’s apps find them challenging to use at first.

While strolling along the historic Bund in Shanghai, Swiss university students Mélanie Lachat and Nadia Hofmann shared how they linked their credit cards to Alipay during their travels in Xi’an, Chongqing, and Shanghai. They found the convenience “amazing.”

But for first-time visitor Lachat, the learning curve was steep, relying on Hofmann, who had studied Sinology and had visited China before. Lachat didn’t realize that Alipay could be used not only for payments but also to order food at restaurants, with menus available only in Chinese.

Many of China’s major tourist attractions, such as the Forbidden City in Beijing, also require visitors to book tickets in advance via platforms like WeChat, which are mostly in Chinese. "China is not for beginners," Hofmann said.

The Overall Experience

While China’s new visa-free policies have made travel more accessible, challenges remain for tourists. Foreign visitors still need time to adapt to the use of China’s super apps and navigate language barriers. Popular tourist destinations often require advance planning and booking, which may pose difficulties for those unfamiliar with Chinese platforms.

Yet, for those willing to take on these challenges, the experience of exploring China offers unique rewards, from its rich cultural heritage to modern conveniences that make travel in the country easier than ever.

As China continues to refine its tourism infrastructure and services, its doors are open wider to foreign tourists, signaling that the country is eager to reconnect with the world and welcome visitors back to explore its vast and diverse landscapes.