First 24 Hours in Guangzhou: A Checklist for First-Timers

Before you fly: five checks

Do these at home, in this order. Each one is hard to fix after you land.

1. Check your entry route. Citizens of 50 countries can visit China without a visa for up to 30 days, for business, tourism, visiting family or friends, exchange visits or transit. Unilateral visa-free entry runs until December 31, 2026, for 48 of the 50 countries, until December 31, 2027, for Russia, and has no end date for Brunei. Check again before booking trips for 2027. Try the China visa-free checker with your passport. If you are only changing planes, read the 240-hour transit guide.
2. Fill in the arrival card online. Since November 20, 2025 every foreign visitor can do this for free before the flight, on the National Immigration Administration website or its 12367 app. Our arrival card guide lists the details you need, including the address of your first night.
3. Install your apps and sign in. You need a payment app (Alipay or WeChat), a map (Amap, Gaode Maps 高德地图) and a translation app. Alipay and WeChat both say you can link a foreign bank card; see our Alipay and WeChat Pay guide. One traveller wrote on r/guangzhou that Alipay and WeChat Pay “kept getting denied” on a Chase Visa (March 16, 2025), so link the card, make a small test payment if the app allows it, and have a second card as backup.
4. Save your hotel’s address in Chinese. Screenshot the booking page that shows the 中文 name and address. A traveller on r/guangzhou recommends “the hotel business card with the address on it” (March 20, 2025). The Show your driver tool has ready cards for the main airport terminals and sights.
5. Check what you carry. Power banks without a 3C mark, sprays and knives are the usual losses. See what gets confiscated in China. Customs rules for cash and alcohol are in the customs allowances guide.

Also decide how you will get online. The apps above need data on arrival. A roaming eSIM or a local SIM both work; see the eSIM guide, and if you have no mainland number, read what works without a Chinese phone number. One traveller on r/guangzhou said you can find a local SIM “just in front of the gate in the arrival airport” (February 26, 2026). That is a traveller report, not an airport notice.

When you land: terminal to taxi

Your plane uses Terminal 2 (T2) or Terminal 3 (T3). T1 closed to passengers on May 7, 2026, and its 11 domestic airlines moved to T3, according to the Guangzhou government’s transport guide.

1. Immigration. Have your passport and boarding pass ready. If you did not fill in the arrival card online, scan the QR code or use the paper card.
2. Baggage and customs. Choose the green channel if you carry only personal items within the limits, or the red channel if you have goods or cash to declare.
3. Pick your ride. The table shows the main options. The airport transfer guide has gates, steps and the full fare breakdown.

Travellers on Reddit describe being charged ¥510, ¥570 and ¥700 for airport taxi rides. These are traveller reports. The official tariff is ¥12 for the first 3 km and ¥2.60 per km after that. See the Guangzhou taxi guide and the Didi guide.

If your hotel is in Pazhou for the Canton Fair, read where to stay in Guangzhou before choosing the metro route.

At the hotel: the first hour

Give the front desk your passport. Hotels register foreign guests with the police, and you do nothing else. If you stay in a rental or with a friend, you or your host must register. The accommodation registration guide explains the online and in-person options.

Before you go out again:

• Ask for the hotel’s business card or a screenshot of the address in Chinese.
• Ask the front desk for the Wi-Fi password and test your maps app on it.
• Check that the room has toilet paper. A traveller on r/guangzhou reported that restrooms often lack it, so keep a pack of tissues in your bag. See public toilets in Guangzhou.

Your first evening

Keep it short and close to the hotel.

1. Make one small payment with your phone, such as a bottle of water or a snack. A traveller on r/guangzhou advises a small test payment on arrival to make sure it works. If it fails, you still have time to ask your bank to allow foreign transactions.
2. Ride one metro stop if a station is near. Gates marked with a card logo take contactless Visa, Mastercard, American Express and JCB, as the metro card guide explains.
3. Eat nearby. Point at a picture on the menu or use your translation app’s camera. The Chinese phrases tool has a “Eating out” group for this.
4. Save the emergency numbers in your phone: 110 police, 120 ambulance, 119 fire. Guangzhou’s government portal says the police and the emergency assistance centre can respond in English. The 960169 hotline connects an interpreter on a three-way call, in English around the clock.
5. Sleep. Leave sights for day two.

What can go wrong on day one

• A payment app declines your card. Try a second card or the other app. Keep some cash for the first day.
• A driver quotes a flat price. Say 打表 (dǎ biǎo, “use the meter”) or walk to the next car. If the fare is wrong, the Guangzhou transport complaints line is 020-12328.
• You cannot find the pick-up point. Ride-hailing cars wait at signed areas, not at the taxi rank. The airport guide lists them by terminal.
• Someone approaches you with an offer. Fake guides and touts are a known problem. See common scams in Guangzhou.

What to do on day two

Pick one area and stay in it. The old town (Yuexiu and Liwan) suits food and walking, and Tianhe suits shopping and the skyline. If you are still deciding whether to spend several days here, read is Guangzhou worth visiting.

For plans for the days after that, see the Guangzhou itinerary.