240-Hour Visa-Free Transit via Guangzhou: Rules and Ports

The rule in one line

You have to be on your way somewhere else. The trip goes from one place, through mainland China, to a different country or region.

• London → Guangzhou → Bangkok: works.
• London → Guangzhou → London: does not work. You are going back to where you came from.

It does not matter whether you fly, take a train or arrive by ship, as long as the onward leg is booked with a confirmed date and seat.

What you need

• An ordinary passport from an eligible country. The checker tells you in a few seconds.
• An onward ticket to a third country or region, with a confirmed date and seat.
• The arrival card, which you can fill in online before you land. See our arrival card guide.

There is no form to send in advance and no fee.

At the airport or port

1. At check-in, the airline may ask to see your onward ticket. Have it ready on your phone or on paper.
2. On the way, fill in the arrival card online if you have not already.
3. At immigration, show your passport and onward ticket, and say you are using visa-free transit.
4. Keep anything the officer gives you, and note the date and time you entered. Your transit stay is counted from your entry.

The official notices do not say where the transit desks are inside Baiyun Airport. Follow the signs for international arrivals and ask an officer or your airline if you cannot find the right line. Our Baiyun terminals guide shows which terminal your flight uses.

iPhoto: 颐园居 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Details

Where you can go

In Guangdong the whole province is open to you: Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Zhuhai and everywhere in between. You do not have to leave from the port you came in through; any open port in Guangdong will do. Other provinces in the scheme are open too, and you can cross between them; Key facts gives the count and the official notice in our sources names them.

What the stay is for matters too. Sightseeing, business meetings and visiting family are fine. Working, studying or reporting are not.

Using Hong Kong as your onward stop

This is the question we see most on forums, usually from people planning Guangzhou → Hong Kong → home. Hong Kong counts as a separate region for this scheme (see Key facts), so a trip that ends in Hong Kong qualifies. Hong Kong’s MTR spells this out on its high-speed rail pages; the immigration authority’s own wording is “third country or region”.

Once you cross into Hong Kong, your transit stay is over. Coming back into mainland China is a new entry: you need a visa, or to qualify for visa-free entry again.

Entering at West Kowloon

Older forum answers say West Kowloon is not a transit port. That advice is out of date: it is on the current official list of Guangdong ports. So this route works: fly into Hong Kong, take the high-speed train from West Kowloon into mainland China, spend a few days in Guangzhou, then fly on to Bangkok from Baiyun Airport.

The border check for that train happens inside West Kowloon Station, before you board. Leave extra time for it.

If you do not qualify

• Check whether your passport gets visa-free entry instead: see our 30-day visa-free guide.
• US passport holders have their own guide: China visa for US citizens.
• Otherwise, apply for a visa at the Chinese embassy or visa centre in your country.