China's 240-Hour Visa-Free Transit Expands to 65 Cities, Opening Up More Adventures for Australian Travellers

visa • 9 May 2026

### China's 240-Hour Visa-Free Transit Expands to 65 Cities, Opening Up More Adventures for Australian Travellers Australian travellers can now explore an expanded network of 65 cities across 24 provinces under China's 240-hour (10-day) visa-free transit policy, as updated in May 2026. Popular destinations like Beijing, Shanghai, Xi'an, Chengdu, Guilin, Chongqing, Guangzhou, and Hangzhou are fully accessible, alongside emerging spots in provinces such as Hunan, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Hubei, Fujian, Shandong, and Guangxi. This makes it easier to craft multi-city itineraries without a visa, provided you arrive on an international flight from one of 55 eligible countries and have an onward ticket to a third country or region. According to OdynoVo Tours' 2026 update, the policy covers most of mainland China but excludes Tibet, Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, and Jilin—perfect for planning trips to iconic sites like the Great Wall or terracotta warriors. CGTN reports that this expansion aligns with a 14.7% surge in visa-free entries to over 436,000 during the recent May Day holiday (1-5 May), with total foreign arrivals hitting 1.26 million. Immigration queues stayed under 30 minutes at major airports thanks to e-gates and digital declarations, ensuring smooth arrivals. The policy runs through 31 December 2026, so Australians transiting via partners like Qantas or Air China can maximise their stopover—book early for summer peaks and check port-specific rules for seamless adventures.

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