Originally Posted by
bobloblawlawblog
We will be using TWOV in Shanghai for 144 hours. I read on a travel guide's website at the link below that if you are staying for longer than 24 hours that you need to register with the local police station and that if you are staying at a hotel that the hotel will do this for you. We will be staying with my wife's extended family so we won't have a hotel that will notify police for us, so we would have to go in person with the family we are staying with and register at the police station. Is this true? Can anyone clarify?
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/emb...a/free-72hour/
It is a requirement that you register. The host/owner takes their ID and documentation to prove their residence/right to accommodation. In my case the landlord took their title deeds or whatever it was in some green book.
Some will argue there's no need to register, or that the police don't care/aren't worried/consider it a hassle. The new blue TWOV form specifically retains the requirement to register.
That's a risk you'll need to assess. All it takes is a neighbour to report your arrival and someone could ask questions. It's not uncommon in apartment blocks for example (like airBnB where other tenants are sick of short term rentals).