Using 240-Hour Transit When You Were Born in China

A US passport holder born in China can use the 240-hour transit-without-visa policy. The United States is one of the 55 eligible countries, Guangzhou Baiyun is a designated port, and the officer processes you on your US passport. A Chinese birthplace does not bar you, though border staff often ask travelers born in China for their former Chinese name, so have it ready, typed or written, to keep the check quick. The policy requires genuine transit: you arrive from one country and depart to a different third country or region within 240 hours, so a routing like Tokyo into Guangzhou, onward to a Chinese city, then out to Seoul qualifies. Carry hotel bookings covering your stay and proof of the onward third-country flight. A printed email confirmation of the booking works as onward-travel proof, and a seat assignment is not required; the ticket only needs to show you leaving within the time window. Keep your stay under the 240-hour ceiling and confirm your route actually continues to a third place rather than looping back to where you started, since a return to the origin country breaks the transit requirement. Because questions about former nationality can be sensitive at the border, enter as a US national and present only your US passport; do not volunteer a Chinese passport or hukou at the foreigner counter. Confirm the current port list and your specific routing with your airline before you fly, since carriers verify transit eligibility at check-in.