Booking Hotels in China: Check-In and Registration Rules for Foreigners

As a foreign visitor you can book and stay in any licensed hotel or guesthouse in China — national rules since 2024 tell local authorities and booking platforms not to use "qualification" requirements to stop hotels from taking foreign guests. At check-in you show your physical passport, and the hotel registers you with the police for you. The only time you deal with registration yourself is when you sleep somewhere that is not a hotel — a friend's flat, a rented apartment, a homestay that doesn't register you. Then you or your host must register within 24 hours of arriving, either online or at the local police station.

Can foreigners stay in any hotel in China?

Yes, as long as the place is a licensed hotel, hostel or guesthouse. On 1 July 2024, seven national bodies — including the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Public Security and the National Immigration Administration — issued a joint notice on making lodging easier for overseas visitors. It says three things that matter to you:

• No "foreigner licence" barrier. Local departments and online platforms should not use qualification requirements as a threshold that stops hotels from hosting foreign guests, and neither platforms nor hotels should publish notices saying they don't accept foreigners.
• Problems are supposed to be fixed. Provincial departments were told to find and correct rules that improperly limit where foreign guests can stay.
• Registration should be simpler. Hotels are to collect fewer details when registering foreign guests and get more ways to send the record to the police, with enforcement that starts with education rather than punishment.

Some local rules now say the same thing in their own words. Shanghai's hotel registration regulation, for example, says hotels must protect every guest's equal right to a room.

You may have read older advice that only special "foreigner-approved" hotels can take you. Ignore it; that is not how the rules work now.

If a hotel still turns you away

It can still happen, most often at a small budget hotel or a family-run guesthouse whose staff have never registered a foreign passport and are worried about getting it wrong. It is usually not about you. Here is what works:

1. Ask them to check, calmly. Mention the 2024 national notice on lodging for overseas visitors. Sometimes a manager knows how to register a foreign guest and the night clerk doesn't.
2. Call 12367. This is the National Immigration Administration's service line. It is linked with the 12345 city hotlines and is meant to answer questions and take complaints in Chinese and English around the clock. From a foreign phone, dial +86-12367; the line also offers Cantonese, Russian, Japanese and Korean. You can hand the phone to the receptionist.
3. Rebook if it's late. At 11 pm with a suitcase, winning the argument matters less than sleeping. Book a chain hotel or international brand nearby, then ask the platform you booked through for a refund on the first booking.

What to bring to check-in, and what the hotel does for you

Bring your physical passport to every check-in. Hotels must see an ID document from each guest and record it, and for foreign visitors that means a passport or another valid ID such as a Foreign Permanent Resident ID Card. The receptionist will look at the photo page and usually your visa or entry stamp, then scan or copy them.

A photo of your passport on your phone, or a photocopy, is not the same thing. Shanghai's rules show how strict this is: a passport that is expired, lost, stolen, too damaged to read, or simply not with you counts as having no valid ID, and the hotel cannot check you in until the local police station or the exit-entry office has checked who you are and issued a verification slip (无有效身份证件境外人员住宿核查单, "lodging verification slip for overseas persons without valid ID"). Wherever you stay, bring the passport itself. If your passport is lost or stolen during the trip, our lost passport guide covers the police report and replacement.

Registration happens behind the desk

Once your passport is checked, the hotel does the police registration for you. The law puts this on the hotel: when a foreigner stays in a hotel, the hotel registers them and sends the information to the local police. National hotel rules give the hotel 24 hours to send in a foreign guest's registration, and in Shanghai hotels must upload each guest's record within 2 hours of registering them. You don't fill in a police form, you don't visit a police station, and there is nothing to do online. In Chinese this registration is called 住宿登记 (zhùsù dēngjì, "accommodation registration") — useful to know if staff use the word.

A few things that follow from this:

• Every guest shows a passport. If two of you share a room, the hotel registers both. A friend who comes up to your room and stays the night without registering is breaking the rules: guests may not let others stay in their room or pass on their bed.
• Moving hotels means a new registration. Each hotel registers you again when you arrive. You don't need to cancel anything when you leave.
• Keep proof if you might need it later. The registration record matters if you lose your passport. In Beijing, for example, getting a visa reissued after a lost passport needs a valid accommodation registration. Your booking confirmation and the hotel's address help the hotel find your record quickly if you ever have to ask for it.

Check-in and check-out times are set by each hotel. In most places, check-in opens in the afternoon and check-out is around midday, but the exact times are on your booking confirmation — read them there, and ask at the desk if you need a late check-out.

If you have just landed, our guide to arriving in China covers the arrival card and immigration, and the 240-hour visa-free transit guide explains the entry record visa-free travellers carry instead of a visa.

Staying somewhere that isn't a hotel: registering yourself

This is the step first-time visitors miss most often, and it is the one with a penalty attached. The rule comes from China's Exit and Entry Administration Law: if you stay anywhere other than a hotel, you or the person you stay with must register with the local police within 24 hours of arriving. "Anywhere other than a hotel" covers:

• a friend's or relative's home;
• a rented apartment, including short-term rentals found through Chinese apps or personal contacts;
• a homestay or guesthouse that is not connected to the hotel registration system and doesn't register you at check-in.

If you aren't sure which kind of place you've booked, ask the host directly whether they will register you with the police. A licensed guesthouse will treat it as a normal check-in. If the answer is vague, assume registration is your job.

Two ways to register: online or at the police station

Since 21 September 2026, registration for stays outside hotels can be done online everywhere in China. It had been tested since March 2026 in seven provinces and regions, including Zhejiang, Sichuan and Chongqing, before the national rollout. The channels are all run by the National Immigration Administration (NIA):

• the NIA government service website;
• the "移民局12367" (NIA 12367) app;
• the NIA 12367 mini-program inside WeChat;
• the NIA mini-program inside Alipay.

The in-person route stays open: you can still go to the police station (派出所, pàichūsuǒ) for the area where you're staying, and an online registration has the same legal effect as one done at the station. The NIA's English-language explainer on online accommodation registration walks through the same rules.

The first online registration needs your host

Online sounds like a two-minute job on your phone. For a tourist it usually isn't. The NIA's own guidance says that the first registration at a new address should be done with the host's help, because the host knows the address details the system asks for. You can do it on your own only if you've already registered at that same address through the platform before, or if you're living in a home you own. The host can be a Chinese citizen or another foreigner.

The steps, once you and your host sit down together:

1. Sign up on one of the NIA channels and complete identity verification.
2. Open "Foreigner Services" (外国人服务), then "Accommodation Registration" (住宿登记).
3. Fill in the form as prompted.
4. Afterwards, you can see the result under "Registration Record Query" (登记记录查询).

If something goes wrong, there is a step-by-step guide on the registration page itself; you can call the 12367 hotline; or you can go to the local exit-entry service window or police station and do it there in person.

So the realistic plan is this: before you book a private room or apartment, ask the host whether they will register you, or sit with you to do it online, within 24 hours of your arrival. A host who rents to foreigners regularly will say yes without fuss. A host who goes quiet at the question is a reason to book a hotel instead.

Going to the police station instead

If online doesn't work, go to the police station near where you're staying. The national guidance for foreign visitors says to bring your valid passport plus the rental contract or the property ownership certificate for the home. In practice that means asking your host for the contract or certificate before you go, or simply asking them to come with you. Have the full address of the flat written in Chinese on your phone.

Shanghai and Beijing

The national NIA channels above are the main route everywhere. Shanghai and Beijing also have their own local channels:

• Shanghai: register within 24 hours at a police station or the police window of a neighbourhood community affairs centre, or online through the city's "一网通办" (Government Online-Offline Shanghai) service or the exit-entry e-government platform. At a window you show your passport; if a host or someone else registers on your behalf, they also show their own ID. A complete window application gets you a stamped registration form on the spot, and an approved online one lets you download and print an electronic form.
• Beijing: as of mid-2025, Beijing's guidance was to register within 24 hours of arriving in the city at the local police station, or online through the "北京公安出入境" (Beijing Police Exit-Entry) WeChat official account, under its guide section's online accommodation registration option. If you miss the deadline you can be penalised, and a late registration can be made in any district of the city. The Beijing exit-entry hotline, +86 10 12367, has an English option (Beijing's local line; the national 12367 also works).

Who doesn't need to register again

Once you've registered properly after entering China, you don't have to register again if you leave and come back to a home you own in China, or if you hold a residence permit and return to your usual address in China within that permit's validity. Neither case applies to most tourists: if you travel and come back to a friend's flat, plan to register again.

What happens if you don't register

A foreigner who stays outside a hotel and doesn't register can get a warning and a fine of up to 2,000 yuan. The rules apply to hotels too: a hotel that doesn't report a foreign guest can be warned and, in serious cases, fined 1,000 to 5,000 yuan. Registering within the first day costs you nothing and avoids the whole question.

Where to book, and how to pay

Most visitors book through an app before the trip. Which one you use matters less than two things: that the property will register a foreign passport, and that you can pay with the cards you have.

Booking platforms

Trip.com is the platform China's own Ministry of Commerce names in its guide for foreign visitors: you can book hotels on its website, its app or its "TripHotels" mini-program inside Alipay, and pay directly with an international bank card. It lists a very wide range of Chinese hotels, from chains to small guesthouses, and its English interface is the easiest way to see the domestic market. You can search and book on Trip.com.

Booking.com and Agoda also work for hotels in China, and many travellers prefer an app they already have an account with. Their coverage is strongest for international brands and larger hotels in big cities. If you go this way, check the cancellation terms on the specific room, and for smaller properties send the "can you register a foreign passport" message before paying. You can compare rooms on Booking.com or Agoda.

Alipay also lets you book. Its international version, which you can link to a foreign bank card, includes hotel and flight booking along with payments and transport. If you've already set up Alipay for daily payments (our Alipay setup guide walks through it), booking there keeps everything in one app.

Chinese-only apps such as Meituan (美团) and Fliggy (飞猪) are built for Chinese residents. They are hard work for a first visit: the interfaces are in Chinese and sign-up usually expects a Chinese phone number. They aren't worth the effort for a first trip.

The hotel's own website, app or phone line is a sensible choice for international chains, especially if you collect loyalty points. The national guidance also notes that you can book a hotel by phone.

Airbnb is not an option for mainland China. Airbnb announced on 23 May 2022 that it would pause homes and experiences inside China from that summer and focus its China business on outbound travel. Listings you may find on other sites for private flats come with the self-registration step above.

For choosing between hotel types, hostels and guesthouses, see our guide to accommodation types in China. For cheaper stays see budget hotels and hostels, and for the top end see luxury hotels in China.

Paying at the hotel

Hotels in China can take renminbi cash, bank cards, Alipay and WeChat Pay. If you want to pay with a foreign card, ask in advance whether that hotel accepts Visa or Mastercard; some hotels also take Apple Pay or PayPal, and that is worth asking about first too. Foreign cards tend to be taken most widely at high-end hotels, large merchants and airports. A small guesthouse may only take Alipay, WeChat Pay or cash.

The same 2024 notice supports faster upgrades of card terminals in lodging for foreign cards and overseas e-wallets, and encourages hotels to commit publicly to accepting cash and keeping change on hand. Renminbi notes are a sensible backup at a small hotel in case a card doesn't work.

Prepaying on a booking platform avoids most of this. If you've paid the full room rate on Trip.com, Booking.com or Agoda, the front desk usually only needs to deal with the deposit and any extras.

For setting up mobile payments, read understanding Chinese payment systems.

Deposits

Many hotels ask for a deposit at check-in to cover damage, minibar items or extra charges. Deposit amounts, method and refund time are set by each hotel — it may be a hold on your card or a charge that is refunded later — so read the policy on your booking page or ask at the desk. As one example of what a policy looks like, the Waldorf Astoria Shanghai on the Bund asks for a 1,500-yuan damage deposit, takes it only by credit card, and refunds it in full to the same card within 7 days of check-out once the room has been checked.

Practical points that save trouble:

• A credit card is the easiest way to leave a deposit at hotels that take foreign cards, because the hotel can often place a hold rather than taking the money.
• A deposit on a debit card usually takes real money out of your account until it is refunded, so use a credit card if you have one.
• If you pay a deposit in cash or by Alipay or WeChat Pay, keep the receipt and ask at check-in how it will be returned.
• Check the room when you check out with the staff member who inspects it, so any deduction is discussed then, not after you've left.

Changing money at the hotel

Some hotel front desks exchange foreign cash for renminbi, along with banks, licensed exchange counters and self-service machines. Hotel and airport counters usually give noticeably worse rates than banks and ATMs, so use them for small emergency amounts only. The 2024 notice also encourages hotels with many foreign guests to add currency exchange.

Prices, invoices and complaints

Hotels in China set their own room rates and can raise them at holidays, but there are rules on how. Market regulators remind hotels each holiday that they must:

• show the price clearly and not charge any fee that wasn't listed;
• not invent "original" prices or fake discounts;
• not use algorithms to push prices up or show different customers different prices based on their data;
• not shorten the billing period in disguise — for example by quietly moving check-out earlier;
• and, for orders made on online platforms, not cancel a confirmed order or raise the price after it's confirmed.

The national pricing rules say the same about extra fees: a business may not charge above the marked price or charge any fee it didn't mark. For example, one local regulator's holiday notice lists penalties of up to 5,000 yuan for breaking price-display rules, up to 500,000 yuan for price fraud and up to 3 million yuan for price gouging.

In practice: book holiday periods early, because rates rise legally as demand goes up. What a hotel can't do is take your booking at one price and then demand more when you arrive.

If a hotel cancels or raises the price

1. Screenshot the confirmed booking, including the price and the room type, as soon as you book.
2. Contact the platform first. If you booked through an app, its customer service is the fastest route to a refund or a replacement room. The 2024 notice tells platforms to check the information their hotels publish, and they have an interest in fixing it.
3. Complain to the regulator if needed. China's consumer complaint hotline is 12315, run by the market regulator, with an online platform at www.12315.cn. Shenzhen's regulator, for example, tells consumers to call 12315 or 12345 about hotels or homestays that break pricing rules. The 12315 phone line may only be in Chinese, so the online platform or a Chinese-speaking helper is usually easier.

For other ways visitors get overcharged, see our guide to tourist scams in China.

Invoices (fapiao)

A fapiao (发票, fāpiào) is the official tax invoice in China. If you need one for work expenses, ask for it; Chinese consumer law says that when a customer asks for an invoice, the business must issue one. Electronic invoices have the same legal standing as paper ones, and since 1 December 2024 the fully digital e-invoice has been in use nationwide; it can be sent by email or a QR code, or downloaded and printed. Ask at check-in rather than check-out, and give the exact name to print on it — your company's name, or your own if you're claiming personally. Many foreign companies also accept the hotel's itemised bill, so check what your employer needs before asking.

Small things once you're in the room

• Toiletries: don't count on a free toothbrush or razor. China's new environmental code, in force since 15 August 2026, says tourism and lodging businesses should not hand out disposable items unless asked. Shanghai's list names toothbrushes, combs, bath scrubbers, razors, nail files and shoe-shine cloths. Ask at the desk, or bring your own — our packing guide has the list.
• Heating: cities south of the Qinling–Huaihe line, including Shanghai, Chengdu and Hangzhou, generally have no central heating in winter. In winter, check that the room's air conditioner has a heating mode.
• Plugs: bring a universal adapter; the packing guide covers which plug types to expect.
• Privacy: Hunan, for example, bans video cameras in guest rooms, bathrooms and showers under its provincial hotel rules, which also say staff must check who you are before opening your room door at your request. For more on staying safe, especially for women travelling alone, see female solo travel in China.

Last updated: October 2026