China On-Call · Free Arrival Self-Check
Before You Fly & Your First 3 Hours
Name check + payment check now, then a minute-by-minute plan for when you land.
Most foreigners only find these out after landing — payment fails at the hotel, train won't issue,
or the Didi driver can't find them. Do A & B before you fly. Follow C the moment you land.
A Name Consistency Check
One mismatch between your passport name and a booking can block check-in, train tickets, or refunds.
Flight ticket name = passport exactly
Letter-for-letter, including middle name and surname order.
Airlines reject boarding if it differs by one character.
Hotel booking name = passport exactly
Especially Chinese-platform bookings (Ctrip / Qunar / Meituan).
Front desk can't find your reservation → no room.
12306 (train) name = passport exactly
Real-name system matches against your passport.
Mismatch = ticket won't issue, even if paid.
Visa / arrival card name = passport exactly
Immigration delays over a typo are real.
B Payment & App Setup Check
Foreign cards often fail silently in China. Set this up before you need it.
Alipay installed & real-name verified
Bind a foreign card OR top up TourCard (prepaid RMB wallet, ¥10k cap).
60%+ of street vendors & taxis are QR-only.
VPN fully OFF when opening Alipay / WeChat Pay
Quit the app, not just disconnect.
IP mismatch silently kills payments (~40% of failures).
Bank whitelisted "Alipay / Ant Group" by name
"I'm going to China" whitelists nothing; banks auto-block.
WeChat Pay tested with a small payment
Many foreign cards bind but can't actually pay. Test early.
Carry ¥200–400 cash as backup
When QR fails, cash is the only fallback.
Know your card's foreign fee & daily cap
Some block overseas after ¥1k/day by default.
C Your First 3 Hours After Landing
Follow in order. Each block is a real window of time.
0–30 minGET CONNECTED
Airplane mode off → buy airport eSIM / data, or turn on roaming.
Turn VPN fully off (quit the app — payments break otherwise).
Open Amap (高德) or Baidu Maps; download offline map of your city.
30–60 minGET PAID
Open Alipay → confirm real-name verified (passport name shows).
Bind foreign card OR top up TourCard with ¥200–400.
Test: scan a ¥0.1 item or send to a friend. If it fails, you have time to fix.
60–90 minGET MOVING
Install Didi (Chinese Uber); link Alipay/WeChat Pay inside.
Book ride to hotel. Show driver the Chinese address (saved offline) — English won't work.
90–120 minCHECK IN
At hotel: confirm booking name = passport exactly before they look you up.
Pay with Alipay/WeChat; keep ¥ cash in hand as fallback.
Save hotel card + Chinese address to your phone.
120–180 minLOCK IT IN
Add a China contact on WeChat (family / hotel / your on-call helper).
Save emergency: WeChat 13368344745 (China On-Call, GMT+8).
Text your helper "Landed, at [hotel]" so someone knows you made it.