China 72 hour transit without visa

Temple of Heaven, Beijing — photo (c) David Ourisman, all rights reserved

A relatively new policy allows travelers to China with US passports (and quite a few other European and Asian countries as well) to avoid the hassle of applying for a Chinese visa if you meet some rather precise criteria. To summarize:

1. Your stay in China is under 72 hours
2. You are both arriving and departing from the same city — Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, and a few other cities
3. You're stopping in China enroute from your country of origin, through China, to a third country

My friend Ben S of PointsPros just took advantage of this program on his flight (which routed him from Zurich through Beijing en route to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — don't ask!) and blogged about it here. A really interesting article with some practical advice, if you're planning to do the same thing. (Ben's team has been phenomenal in helping me use miles for award travel).

Traveling to Beijing or Shanghai? Any Virtuoso travel consultant can provide you with free amenities at ten (10) hotels in Beijing and seven (7) hotels in Shanghai — complimentary daily breakfast for two, room upgrades, and other added perks — added value making these luxury hotels your best deal in these cities.

copyright (c) 2014 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.