I'm a US citizen planning about 9 days in China (Beijing and Shanghai). My flights connect through South Korea both on the way in and on the way out, and then I fly back to the US. Does the 240-hour visa-free transit apply, or do my two transit points have to be in different countries?

Question

MyChinaGuide · Accepted Answer

China's 240-hour visa-free transit is built for genuine transit: you travel from one country, pass through China, and continue to a different country or region. The country you arrive from and the country you depart to must be different. A round trip that returns you to where you started does not count, even when the total stay fits inside the ten-day window and you pass through approved ports in different provinces. This catches a lot of round-trip travelers who connect through the same country in both directions. If your inbound flight reaches China from a given country and your outbound flight heads straight back to that same country, immigration treats the journey as a round trip rather than a transit, and the exemption is refused at check-in or the border. A layover counts as that country even if you never leave the airport, so an airside stop does not get around the rule. The destination that matters is the next country your departing flight is headed to, not your eventual home. Restructure the route so you leave China toward a third country, and the same itinerary qualifies.