China Transit Guide

Shanghai 240-Hour Transit Itinerary: Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou

Published 2026-10-06 · Updated 2026-10-06

Shanghai 240-Hour Transit Itinerary

Shanghai is one of the easiest places in China to use 240-hour visa-free transit. It has two airports and a cruise port in the scheme, the city's transport takes foreign bank cards, and the permitted area reaches well beyond the city: Jiangsu and Zhejiang are also whole-province permitted areas, so Suzhou and Hangzhou are within reach.

Check official sources before travel. Checked on 6 October 2026. Confirm eligibility with the National Immigration Administration (hotline +86-12367) and your airline.

The rules for a Shanghai stopover

  • Entry ports: Pudong and Hongqiao airports, and Shanghai Port (Passenger) (NIA). Shanghai's government confirmed in September 2026 that the Wusongkou International Cruise Terminal counts as Shanghai Port for the policy (Shanghai FAQ).
  • Permitted area: Shanghai, plus cross-province travel within the permitted areas of all 24 provinces, which include the whole of Jiangsu and Zhejiang (Shanghai government; NIA).
  • Clock: up to 240 hours from 00:00 on the day after arrival (NIA, Nov 2025).
  • Onward ticket: to a third country or region with a confirmed date and seat.

One date to be careful with: an older Shanghai page from 2024 still says the clock starts at midnight on the day of entry. The NIA's November 2025 announcement says the day after entry, and that's the newer rule. Check your own dates with the 240-hour checker.

Getting into town

The Maglev runs from Pudong Airport to Longyang Road station in eight minutes, and since June 2025 you can tap Visa, Mastercard, American Express or JCB cards at the gates. You need "small amounts password-free payment" enabled on the card. If a card carries both UnionPay and a foreign brand, the gate uses UnionPay. Problems: call Shanghai Metro on 021-6437-0000 (Shanghai government).

The whole metro network accepts the same tap-to-ride system from 28 June 2025: UnionPay chip cards plus Visa, Mastercard, American Express and JCB contactless cards. Cards with Type-B chips or without the ODA function won't work, and again password-free small payments must be on (Shanghai government). For DiDi and other options, see our guide to getting around China by metro and ride-hailing.

Day 1: the Bund and the old city

  • Afternoon: walk the riverside promenade on the Bund.
  • Evening: stay for the lights. The Bund is illuminated from 7 pm to 10 pm between May and October, and from 5 pm to 9 pm between November and April, with longer hours on holidays (Shanghai government).

Day 2: museums and neighbourhoods

Shanghai's government reminds visitors that most venues are closed on Mondays and some require reservations through their WeChat account, mini program or website (Shanghai government). Put your museum day on Tuesday to Sunday and check the booking page the night before.

Day 3: Suzhou

The Classical Gardens of Suzhou are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1997. UNESCO's listing covers nine gardens in the historic city, dating from the 11th to the 19th century and designed to recreate natural landscapes in miniature (UNESCO). Two or three gardens make a full day, with time to sit rather than tick them off. Suzhou is in Jiangsu, inside the permitted area, and reachable as a day trip by high-speed train. Our guide to booking China's high-speed trains as a foreigner covers registering on 12306 with a passport.

Days 4–5: Hangzhou

Hangzhou's West Lake Cultural Landscape was inscribed by UNESCO in 2011. The listing takes in the lake and the hills on three sides, with temples, pagodas, gardens, causeways and artificial islands (UNESCO). It's in Zhejiang, also a whole-province permitted area (NIA). Staying a night lets you walk the causeways in the early morning and spend a second day in the hills.

Longer stays

With all ten days, you could add more of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, or Anhui, which is also a whole-province permitted area (NIA). Keep two things in mind:

  • Exit port. The safe plan is to leave from a 240-hour port in Shanghai, the province you entered. We found no official text on exiting from another province's port, so the checker answers check for that.
  • Accommodation registration. Hotels register you automatically. If you stay with friends or in a private rental, you or your host must register within 24 hours. See our guide to accommodation registration.

Paying in Shanghai

Alipay and WeChat Pay both accept foreign cards. One widely saved Alipay guide on Xiaohongshu notes, from its comments, that some users' Visa cards were rejected with a "can't use this payment method" message, including in large Shanghai malls, and that customer service couldn't explain why. The author's advice was simply to try a different card (ExploreChinaNow探索中国). Bring two cards from different networks. Our guide to paying in China covers setup.

Checklist

  • Check entry port, onward ticket and dates in the checker
  • Turn on password-free small payments on your contactless card
  • Bring a second card on a different network
  • Plan museums for Tuesday to Sunday and book ahead where required
  • Book Suzhou and Hangzhou trains on 12306 or at a station
  • Plan to exit from a Shanghai port

Traveller reports we referenced

We used this Xiaohongshu post for real-world payment experience and wrote our own summary. Nothing was translated or copied.

Sources

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