Before you go · 5 min read
Your first 30 minutes after landing
Immigration, SIM cards, cash and the taxi queue, in the order you will meet them.
30 September 2026 · Trip Casmai editorial
Landing at a large Chinese airport is straightforward if you arrange three things in order: the arrival card, a data connection, and a car. Everything else can wait until you have slept.
Fill in the arrival card on the plane if one is handed out. At immigration, keep your hotel address in English and Chinese. After baggage, buy a local SIM or activate roaming before you leave the terminal; the taxi queue is not the place to discover your phone has no data.
Entry, visa and payment details are for guidance only and subject to official regulations. Confirm anything critical with the relevant authority before travel.
