China Step by StepPractical intelligence

Passport verification in China

In mainland China the passport is the credential almost every service falls back on, and a short list of ordinary things will simply not proceed without it: the entry formalities, hotel check-in and the police registration behind it, buying a local SIM card, real-name verification on a mobile wallet, rail tickets and every checkpoint at the station, some attraction bookings, and changing money at a bank. The law also puts the document on you rather than in the room safe: Article 38 of the Exit and Entry Administration Law requires foreigners aged 16 or over to carry the passport or their stay/residence permit and to produce it for public security inspection. This page is the map of where the document is the blocker — what each service wants, how long it takes where a time is actually published, and what to fall back on when it stops you.

Should I do it before China?

Partly — some of it belongs before you fly

Several of these checks can only happen in China: a Chinese SIM card cannot be registered before arrival at all, hotel registration is attached to the address you actually sleep at, and a bank will want to see the entry stamp or visa that does not exist yet. But two of them have lead times that make them pre-departure work. Rail identity verification on 12306 is described by the Beijing Foreign Affairs Office as normally completing three to five working days after you submit your details, so an account started on landing day is not an account that buys tickets that week. And WeChat Pay restricts payments until real-name authentication is finished, which means uploading a passport copy and a clear photo of your face — easier on home wi-fi than at a taxi door. One pre-booking check is deliberately not answered here: what condition the passport itself has to be in, because that answer comes from the country you are flying from as well as from China. Romanian readers will find it on the Romania checklist, linked at the foot of this page.

How

  1. Do before arrivalEntry: the National Immigration Administration’s online arrival card asks you to photograph the data page of your travel document as the very first step, before any personal or itinerary field. The notice states that omissions or false declarations may result in entry or transit being refused.3
  2. Do before arrivalPayments: WeChat Pay can be set up on a passport, and passport-based verification triggers a request to upload a copy of it; a mainland (+86) number is not required as long as your international number receives SMS codes. Real-name authentication asks for the document, mobile number, address, occupation, a photo of the document and a clear photo of your face.7
  3. Do before arrivalDo that before you fly, because WeChat states that payments are restricted and cannot be made until real-name authentication is completed, and the account is unfrozen only once valid identity information is supplied.8
  4. Do before arrivalAlipay: Ant International’s announcement says visitors can bind Mastercard, Visa, JCB, Discover and Diners Club cards without a mainland bank account or phone number, but it does not say what identity document is required. No first-party Alipay page describing passport verification for international users could be retrieved on the verification date, so this site does not publish a step list for it — use the in-app help instead.9
  5. Do before arrivalRail tickets: the 12306 English site runs on real-name ticketing and accepts only valid foreign passports; holders of other documents are sent to the Chinese platform. Sales and endorsement run 05:00 to 01:00 the next day, and to 23:30 on Tuesdays, which is what a European booking evening runs into.10
  6. Do before arrivalStart the 12306 identity verification one to two weeks out. The three-to-five-working-day figure is the Beijing Foreign Affairs Office’s, published in its 12306 registration guidance — the same page that says a foreign passenger registers with the passport document type and may give an email address instead of a phone number, because the numbers 12306 accepts are mainland, Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan ones.12
  7. Do before arrivalAn account still marked pending has to be cleared in person: the 12306 notice sends a passenger whose status is “awaiting verification” to a station ticket window with the original passport, and only a passed status buys tickets.11
  8. Can do in ChinaCarry the passport on you in China. Article 38 requires foreigners aged 16 or over to have the document on their person and to submit it for inspection by public security organs.1
  9. Can do in ChinaHotel check-in: the hotel performs the police registration for you and issues a Registration Form of Temporary Residence carrying the address and the hotel’s stamp. That form is the proof of registration, and the procedure repeats on every trip to China.4
  10. Can do in ChinaNon-hotel accommodation: there is no front desk doing it, so the guest or the host registers with local public security within 24 hours of arriving at the accommodation.5
  11. Can do in ChinaSIM card: MIIT Order No. 25 lists a foreign passport among the valid documents for registering a telephone service, and requires operators to refuse to sign up anyone who will not present a valid document. There is no way to complete this before arrival, so it is not a pre-trip task.6
  12. Can do in ChinaAt the station the passport is checked three times, not once: to buy the ticket, to enter the station perimeter, and to board. Every traveller needs their own document in hand.16
  13. Can do in ChinaE-tickets need no paper collection, but you must keep the e-ticket details and present at check-in the same identity document you bought the ticket with. An itinerary sheet or reimbursement receipt is not a ticket.13
  14. Can do in ChinaDo not count on a station ticket machine. The official notice lists the Foreign Permanent Resident ID Card as the only foreign document usable at station self-service machines, so a passport holder buying or changing a ticket at the station is in the staffed-window queue.14
  15. Can do in ChinaAttractions: rules differ by site. The Palace Museum requires a real-name reservation, bookable from seven days ahead, and international visitors may use a passport both to book and to enter, through the manual ticket-checking channel at the Meridian Gate.18
  16. Can do in ChinaChanging money: Romania’s MFA states that at a banking institution presentation of the passport bearing the visa or the Chinese entry stamp, as applicable, is compulsory.20
  17. Can do in ChinaKeep +86-12367 to hand. Both the National Immigration Administration and Romania’s MFA name it as the line for questions about entry formalities and the arrival card; its hours and languages are not published.21

What can go wrong

You leave the passport in the hotel safe and carry a photocopy or a phone photo instead.

What to do instead The two official sources disagree: Romania’s MFA tells its citizens to keep the passport or a copy on them, while Chinese law requires the document itself and does not say a copy satisfies the obligation. Carry the original, and keep an offline photo of the data page as well for forms and desks.2

You plan to register on 12306 after landing and buy high-speed rail tickets the same week.

What to do instead The Beijing Foreign Affairs Office puts the check at three to five working days after you submit your details. Register and verify one to two weeks before departure; if the account is still pending, the fallback is the station ticket window with the original passport.12

You queue at the automatic gate at the station because you have an e-ticket on your passport.

What to do instead Two official documents disagree here: the 2020 e-ticket notice says only automatically readable documents go through the automatic gates and other documents — passports included — use the staffed channel, while the 2025 inter-ministerial guidance says the original purchase document goes through an automatic gate or a staff-assisted channel. Head for the staffed lane and allow extra time.17

You assume any attraction can be booked online with a passport and a foreign phone number.

What to do instead There is no single rule. Beijing’s official 12345 hotline answered that the Palace Museum can be booked on the English version of its official website with a passport, while Summer Palace online booking requires a mainland Chinese mobile number, so a foreign visitor buys on site at the entrance service window with staff assistance.19

Your wallet is installed and the card is added, and the first payment attempt is at a taxi door.

What to do instead WeChat blocks payments until real-name authentication is complete, and the block usually surfaces at the first payment attempt rather than at install time. Clear it at home and keep a physical Visa or Mastercard and some cash as a second path.8

The passport is lost mid-trip, with rail tickets already booked.

What to do instead Replacement documentation comes from the issuing authority, which for a foreign traveller means the embassy or consulate. If the loss happens after boarding or after exiting, buy a replacement ticket, pay the service fee, obtain a travel record and claim the refund within 30 days. Report the loss to the local exit-entry administration office for a certificate first.15

Last verified and sources

Each record below is shown as provenance: who published it, what kind of document it is, how far it reaches and when we last checked it. The source’s own wording is not reproduced here — most of these documents are published in Chinese, and a translation of ours would be a paraphrase standing where a citation should be. Follow the link to read any of them in the original.

Related