Health & Medical Care

Most travelers never need more than a pharmacy in China — something for a cold, an upset stomach, or sore feet. But if you do get sick or hurt here, the system works differently from what you're used to: public hospitals run on a pay-as-you-go model where you pay before each step, ambulances may ask for cash up front, and most foreign insurance isn't accepted directly. None of this is hard once you know how it works. This guide covers the emergency numbers, how to actually navigate a hospital visit, where to find English-speaking doctors, how pharmacies work, and the health basics worth sorting out before you arrive.

Emergency Numbers in China

China does not use a single nationwide emergency number like 911 or 112. Numbers are split by service type, and all of them can be dialed for free from any mobile phone — including locked phones or phones without a SIM card.

120 is the one to remember for any medical emergency. It's a free, 24-hour national ambulance line, confirmed by the National Health Commission. One thing to be honest about: the call is usually answered in Chinese, and English-speaking operators are not guaranteed. If you don't speak Mandarin, have a Chinese-speaking person nearby help, or use a translation app, or ask your hotel front desk to call on your behalf.

What to say when you call 120

Keep it short and clear. The operator needs three things:

1. Say that someone needs an ambulance.
2. Briefly describe the main symptoms (e.g. chest pain, unconscious, heavy bleeding).
3. State your exact location as clearly as you can — building name, street, nearby landmark.

Don't hang up first, and don't tie up the line longer than needed. If you're not at a recognizable address, a nearby shop name or metro station exit helps a lot.

Ambulance costs

Fees vary by city and aren't standardized nationwide. As a reference point, Beijing's unified rate (the same for 120 and 999) is 50 RMB for the first 3 km, then 7 RMB per additional kilometer, plus a per-trip critical-care charge and any on-scene treatment, medication, or blood costs billed separately. Other cities set their own rates, so treat this as an example rather than a fixed national price.

How Chinese Hospitals Are Organized

Two things will help you make sense of the system before you ever walk in.

First, China grades hospitals on a three-tier, three-grade scale. Grade 3A (三级甲等, sānjí jiǎděng, often written "Tier 3A") is the top level — these are the large general hospitals with the best equipment, specialists, and the shortest report turnaround. For anything serious, a 3A hospital is where you want to be. Grade 3A standards require lab test results within 24 hours and published, posted pricing.

Second, there's a real split between regular public outpatient departments (cheap, crowded, mostly Chinese-only) and international departments or private international hospitals (English-speaking, appointment-based, much more expensive). Which one you choose depends on how urgent things are, your budget, and your insurance.

Seeing a Doctor at a Public Hospital: Step by Step

This is the part that catches most visitors off guard, so here's the full flow. Chinese public hospitals use a registration system (挂号, guàhào) and charge for each step as you go — there's no single bill at the end and nothing gets mailed to you afterward.

1. Register (挂号, guàhào). Go to the registration desk with your passport. First-time patients get a medical record card (病历卡, bìnglìkǎ). You'll pay a small registration fee and choose a department. If you've written the department name on a slip of paper in Chinese, this goes faster.
2. Check in and wait. After registering, you usually need to sign in at a self-service machine or triage desk to join the queue. Skip this and you may lose your place. Watch the screen and listen for your number or name — the display often won't show your name in the Latin alphabet, so a nurse may call you instead.
3. See the doctor. When your number is called, go into the consultation room. Appointments are short and to the point.
4. Pay before tests. If the doctor orders blood work, an X-ray, or a scan, you must go pay at the cashier (or via Alipay/WeChat) before the test is done. Then return for the test.
5. Pay, then collect medicine. With a prescription, pay first, then pick up your medication at the hospital pharmacy (药房, yàofáng).
6. Admission or surgery. If you need to be admitted or have a procedure, you'll typically prepay a deposit.

The official National Health Commission guide to hospital visits lays out this same process. What you need to bring: your passport, and for a first visit, expect to create a registration record.

Booking online before you go

Many hospitals let foreigners book appointments through a WeChat mini-program, but you need to verify your identity with your passport first — and because foreign documents need manual review, first-time users should register 1–3 days ahead using your real name as it appears on your passport. Contacting the hospital's customer service can speed up approval.

In Shanghai, overseas visitors can book appointments at public medical institutions through the Health Cloud (健康云) app or its "Health Cloud Pro" WeChat mini-program after registering with passport verification. The Shanghai government's official guide walks through the steps.

English-Speaking Hospitals and International Departments

If you'd rather not navigate a crowded outpatient hall in Mandarin, you have two good options.

International departments (国际部) at major public hospitals. Many large 3A hospitals run a separate international department with English-speaking staff and bilingual doctors, shorter waits, and appointment-based visits. You pay more than the standard outpatient fee, but you skip the language barrier and the crowds.

Private international hospitals and clinics. The best-known is Beijing United Family Hospital (北京和睦家医院), which opened in 1997 as China's first foreign-invested hospital and the first in the country to earn international JCI accreditation. The United Family Healthcare (UFH) network has since grown to hospitals and clinics across Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Qingdao, and more, with doctors from many countries and English-speaking nursing teams. These feel closest to a Western private hospital — and they're priced accordingly.

Rough cost reference for foreign patients (third-party 2026 estimates — confirm current pricing before you go):

For finding the right facility in your city, see our guide to finding English-speaking hospitals. Your embassy can also help: the U.S. Embassy maintains a hospital list and provides medical assistance to citizens, and most embassies do something similar.

Medical evacuation and assistance services

For serious situations — especially if you might need evacuation — international assistance providers are worth knowing. International SOS operates a 24-hour assistance center in Beijing (+86-10-6462 9100). There's also the government-affiliated International Emergency Rescue Center, with a network of hundreds of hospitals nationwide and a 24-hour line (800-810-9995 or 010-88393900), though it requires membership registration to use. Many of these services are tied to insurance plans, so check what your policy already includes.

Travel Insurance: Don't Skip It

Here's the honest reality: standard U.S. health insurance is generally not accepted in China, and public hospitals usually require payment before treatment. Most travel medical insurance works on a reimbursement basis — you pay at the hospital, collect the official invoices (fāpiào) and medical reports, and claim afterward. Only higher-end international health plans (such as Cigna, Bupa, or Allianz) can do direct billing at many private international hospitals, and even then you should call your insurer before treatment to confirm the hospital is in-network.

Given that an ambulance might ask for cash up front and a serious hospital stay can run into the thousands, travel medical insurance with adequate coverage — ideally including emergency evacuation — is one of the smartest things to buy before a China trip. Providers like SafetyWing are built for travelers and cover this kind of scenario; compare a few and read what's actually covered for hospitalization and evacuation. For more detail on choosing a policy, see our guide to travel insurance for China.

Pharmacies and Medicine

For everyday problems, a pharmacy (药店, yàodiàn, or 大药房, dà yàofáng for the larger chains) is your first stop, and they're everywhere. Look for the universal green cross sign. Big chains include 老百姓大药房, 大参林, 海王星辰, and 一心堂; some large stores are open 24 hours.

You can buy over-the-counter (OTC) medicine — allergy tablets, cold remedies, painkillers, stomach medicine — without a prescription, as the Shanghai government's official pharmacy guide confirms. Choose a licensed pharmacy with a certified pharmacist on duty, and keep your receipt. Prescription drugs (especially antibiotics) are increasingly regulated, so don't count on buying them over the counter.

Online purchases are limited to OTC medicine and must go through platforms that hold the proper internet drug licenses. When your order arrives, check the drug name, manufacture date, and expiry.

Bringing your own medication into China

Pack enough of any regular prescription medication for your trip, in its original labeled packaging, and bring a copy of the prescription or a doctor's letter. As a general rule, short-term visitors should keep quantities within a reasonable personal-use amount — commonly described as around a 7-day supply; larger quantities may need to be declared as cargo.

Medications containing narcotic or psychotropic ingredients are stricter. According to Shanghai Customs guidance, you must carry a medical diagnosis certificate or prescription from a qualified medical institution plus valid ID (your passport). Narcotic and Class I psychotropic drugs can be brought in within a single prescription's maximum dose on a reasonable personal-use basis; Class II psychotropic limits are somewhat more relaxed. If you take controlled medication, check the rules for your specific drug well before you travel — some common Western medications are restricted in China.

Staying Healthy on Your Trip

Most trips to China go off without any health trouble at all. A few basics go a long way.

• Don't drink the tap water. The U.S. CDC advises that tap water in mainland China is not safe to drink, even in big cities. Bottled water is cheap and sold everywhere, most hotels provide boiled or bottled water, and it's worth using bottled or treated water even for brushing your teeth.
• Eat smart. Street food is one of the joys of China, but stick to busy stalls with high turnover and hot, freshly cooked food to avoid traveler's diarrhea. See our food safety guide for more.
• Check vaccines before you go. The CDC recommends being up to date on routine vaccines and COVID-19, and depending on your itinerary, considering hepatitis A, typhoid, Japanese encephalitis, and rabies. The full, current list is on the CDC's China travel health page.
• Watch the altitude. Parts of Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang, and western Sichuan sit above 10,000 feet (3,000 m). Acclimatize slowly, stay hydrated, and talk to a doctor about altitude medication if you're heading high.
• Mosquitoes. In warmer regions and seasons, use repellent — it cuts the small risk of mosquito-borne illness.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can foreign tourists use Chinese hospitals?

Yes. Foreigners are treated at public and private hospitals across China — you just need your passport. Demand from international patients is rising fast, and several cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen) have launched international medical pilot programs to make the experience smoother for overseas visitors.

Will doctors speak English?

At a regular public outpatient department, often not much. At an international department or private international hospital, yes — English-speaking doctors and bilingual staff are the norm. If language matters to you, choose one of those.

How do I pay at the hospital?

Alipay and WeChat Pay are accepted almost everywhere, and there are cashier windows. Whether international credit cards are accepted directly varies, so don't rely on a foreign card alone — set up a mobile payment app and carry some backup cash.

What if it's a real emergency and I'm alone?

Call 120. If you can't communicate, get hotel staff, a passerby, or a translation app to help relay your symptoms and location. For non-life-threatening issues at night, large 3A hospitals run 24-hour emergency departments (急诊, jízhěn).

The Bottom Line

Healthcare in China is accessible to tourists and, for minor issues, often cheaper and faster than you'd expect. The two things to internalize: 120 is the medical emergency number, and public hospitals make you pay before each step, so always have a payment app and some cash ready. For anything beyond a pharmacy run, decide early whether you want a cheap public outpatient visit or an English-speaking international department. Above all, buy proper travel medical insurance before you come — it's the one decision that turns a worst-case scenario from financially serious into merely inconvenient. Pack your regular medication with documentation, drink bottled water, and you'll almost certainly never need most of this guide.

Related Reading

• Emergency Contacts — the full list of numbers to save before you travel
• Finding English-Speaking Hospitals
• Travel Insurance for China
• Safety Tips for Travelers
• Embassy Contacts

Last updated: June 2026