---
type: Tip
title: Use a transit visa
description: China's transit-visa policies let you into the country for days without applying for anything — enter one way, leave another, and the whole trip is legal on a boarding pass.
tags: [visas, planning, china, borders]
timestamp: 2026-08-05T12:00:00Z
---

# Use a transit visa

Both of Harry's trips to mainland [China](/countries/china.md) run on a transit
visa rather than a tourist one, and neither required applying in advance. The
mechanism is worth understanding because it turns a country with a reputation
for difficult entry into one you can decide to visit at short notice.

**How it works.** If you hold a passport from one of the qualifying countries —
Harry gives the figure as 54 — and you have an onward ticket out of China to a
third destination, you can enter visa-free for a fixed window. The route matters
more than the paperwork: you come in one way and leave another, and Hong Kong or
Macau count as the exit.

## How Harry applies it

His first trip was six days in [Shanghai](/places/shanghai.md) on a transit visa
obtained on arrival — the whole video exists because the entry was that easy.

The second was the **240-hour** version, and he lays the route out explicitly:
in through [Shenzhen](/places/shenzhen.md) and out through
[Hong Kong](/places/hong-kong.md), with [Macau](/places/macau.md) at the other
end of the trip. He also notes what changed — UK passports have since become
visa-free for mainland China outright, so he didn't need it in the end, and he
explains the policy anyway for everyone who does.

The related point he makes across both: **Macau and Hong Kong are separate
immigration systems**, so moving between them and the mainland is a border
crossing each time, and that is exactly what makes the transit route work.

## Demonstrated in

- [I Ignored the Media and Visited China 🇨🇳](/videos/K3X46veg64I.md) — six days
  in Shanghai on a transit visa granted on arrival.
- [I Went to One of the Wealthiest and Most Advanced Cities](/videos/T263hFcMBoA.md) —
  the 240-hour policy explained in full, with the in-one-way-out-another route
  that satisfies it.