Mia
Building Into China Guide — free tools and guides for visiting China
Planning a trip to China from abroad is strangely hard. Official announcements are scattered across embassy websites, blog posts from 2019 describe a country that no longer works the same way, and the apps you'll actually depend on — Alipay, WeChat Pay, DiDi, the railway booking system — are barely documented in English. Into China Guide fixes that with free, no-sign-up tools: Visa-Free Checker — pick your passport, get your current entry options (visa-free, 240-hour transit, or visa required), with the rules explained in plain English. Covers 80+ nationalities. 240-Hour Transit Planner — checks whether your route qualifies for China's transit-without-visa policy. Trip Planner — builds a realistic day-by-day itinerary across 23 cities, including intercity travel time. Budget Calculator, Crowd Calendar, and a personalized Pre-Trip Checklist. Around the tools sits a library of field-checked guides: setting up Alipay and WeChat Pay before you land, buying train tickets on 12306, airport arrival walkthroughs for five cities, common scams, and a food section that goes dish by dish — from hotpot to biangbiang noodles. What makes it different: every visa and policy page links to the official Chinese government source it's built from and carries a visible "Verified" date. When the rules change — and they've changed fast since 2023 — the site is updated from the primary sources in Chinese, not from other blogs. It's run by one person living in Beijing, who stands in the train-station queues and pays for the ¥8 breakfast crepes that end up in the guides.
Building Into China Guide.
Mia
Planning a trip to China from abroad is strangely hard. Official announcements are scattered across embassy websites, blog posts from 2019 describe a country that no longer works the same way, and the apps you'll actually depend on — Alipay, WeChat Pay, DiDi, the railway booking system — are barely documented in English. Into China Guide fixes that with free, no-sign-up tools: Visa-Free Checker — pick your passport, get your current entry options (visa-free, 240-hour transit, or visa required), with the rules explained in plain English. Covers 80+ nationalities. 240-Hour Transit Planner — checks whether your route qualifies for China's transit-without-visa policy. Trip Planner — builds a realistic day-by-day itinerary across 23 cities, including intercity travel time. Budget Calculator, Crowd Calendar, and a personalized Pre-Trip Checklist. Around the tools sits a library of field-checked guides: setting up Alipay and WeChat Pay before you land, buying train tickets on 12306, airport arrival walkthroughs for five cities, common scams, and a food section that goes dish by dish — from hotpot to biangbiang noodles. What makes it different: every visa and policy page links to the official Chinese government source it's built from and carries a visible "Verified" date. When the rules change — and they've changed fast since 2023 — the site is updated from the primary sources in Chinese, not from other blogs. It's run by one person living in Beijing, who stands in the train-station queues and pays for the ¥8 breakfast crepes that end up in the guides.