I have a random question, to which I'm not any one would have the answer, but perhaps the more informed members of this forum could (especially if they are Chinese-speaking, as I cannot properly find and read the rules online).

I'm from an eligible country and have a trip that starts on November 28th (landing in China on the 29th). Would it be best to apply for a visa, or was it ever made clear that one needs to *enter* by Nov. 30th (and therefore can be in China visa-free until Dec. 14th - 15th)? I realize I'm way ahead anyway, and there is a possibility that the program would be extended, but I figured that if someone had seen that info somewhere...

The only bit of info I'm able to see from Chinese consular service is as follows:
Question 5: How to understand the 15-day stay period?
Answer: Foreign citizens applying to visa-free entry, upon their arrival in China, can stay 15 consecutive natural days, until the 24th hour of the 15th natural day, before leaving China.

Logic would dictate that the eligibility period is relevant to the ARRIVAL in China, so you should be fine (albeit cutting it close).
(It wouldn't make sense if they meant you'd have to have left China by Nov 30.)

But like you wrote, they'll likely extend...

I would assume the same principles apply as do to a visa - a visa has an expiry date which is the latest date you can
ENTER the country, after entry you can stay for the entirety of your stay validity. ( My China visa says Enter before
02Sept2026, Duration of each stay 60 days after entry. No confusion there.

Perhaps the mods could make this a sticky ? It affects quite a number of nationalities at this point, there's good infos in this thread.

I vote "no" to making this thread a sticky because the forum doesn't get a great deal of traffic (this was pretty much the case back when China was more popular, as well) and I find forums with tons of stickies to be cumbersome, BUT the "read first" thread...
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chin...t-threads.html
...could definitely stand a retire and replace (just like we did with the TWOV thread). If there is interest, we can ask a moderator to give us a blank slate.

Separately, the main visa thread...
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chin...need-know.html
...has a wikipost that most of us can edit (i.e. add a link to this thread) any time.

Just a question to confirm my math.

I will be travelling on a German passport.

Landing in Shanghai from Frankfurt on 2 June and departing back to Frankfurt on 16 June should be fine as it is 15 days.

What would happen if the flight out is cancelled?

If your departure from China were to be delayed through no fault of your own then you will usually be given extra time to exit. In this situation you would be advised to go to the airport and approach staff from your airline and explain the situation, and get them to contact immigration and obtain evidence hopefully from immigration that you tried to leave on time but couldn't.

Most immigration will show flexibility in these situations but better to get it sorted at the time of the delay. If immigration is not happy they will instruct the airline to get you out of China and on your way home via another flight asap.

Yep- this will work, pretty much the exact same length as what I’ve done just a few weeks ago, also travelling on a German passport but coming from Australia. Shanghai immigration was super easy for me, took me maybe 15 minutes max from the airplane, through immigration, picking up luggage and going through customs.

Not sure about what would happen if for reasons out of your control the return flights gets delayed or cancelled, I was wondering the same. Would be curious to hear if anyone ever had this happen!

Thats my biggest fear and one of the reasons (besides money etc. of course) why I flew back to Budapest already after 10 days, the return flight on Monday would have come close to the allowed maximum stay of 15 days.

There are only two flights per week out of NGB to BUD.

In these kinds of cases make the problem that of the airline and immigration to sort out - you turn up at the airport as scheduled demonstrating your intention to leave even if you know the flight is cancelled at that stage.

Although there are only two direct flights a week between Ningbo and Budapest there are many other options to get you out of China and on the way home if that's what immigration want.

Whilst China is all about process and procedure. It won't be quick to resolve but you keeping to your side of the bargain and going to the airport is good advice whether it's China or anywhere else.

Your fear doesn't seem especially rational to me. Flights are delayed or cancelled every day, yet nobody ends up in purgatory as a result.

Well, e.g. last month when I flew back from TPE via CKG to BUD I arrived shortly before midnight.

Contrary to my experience during the arrival one week before (with the TV, interview etc.) around midnight neither the staff on shift at the Air China Check-In Counter, nor the staff at immigration have been able to communicate in proper English at all.

Yes, it was the first and only international flight of the day and for a long time after, but I do not fancy having to discuss, organize etc. the "rebooking" process, immigration issues etc. with people who are barely, if at all, able to communicate in basic/rudimentary English....and CKG-BUD actually seems to get cancelled pretty much last minute quite often.

Making an effort to leave before you turn into a pumpkin isn't unique to your situation or to China, for that matter.

Most non-Chinese citizens have some sort of "must leave" date. The choices typically are:
a) comply
b) get it extended officially in advance
c) do your part to comply (e.g. show up at the airport with a ticket on a vessel that is scheduled to depart while your status is good)

Official documents with dates and times like airplane tickets go a long way towards appeasing the bureaucracy.

​​​​​​After having travelled to more than 120 countries on all continents myself I tend to agree with you.

After what happened to me in Ilam, Islamic Republic of Iran (sorry, not able to discuss in public...just imagine your worst nightmare imaginable and multiply it by a million) back in 2019 things have changed considerably for me while travelling, especially through countries in the Middle East etc.

In Ningbo even during the day the international check-in counter opened only 2h40min before departure, immigration approx. 2h20min before the departure. Immigration was staffed by a single officer when I went through.

Now imagine that poor guy(s) having to deal with loads of tourists who do not speak English (Hungarians before 1990 have been tought Russian at school) because B-20AJ, the Ningbo based Dreamliner, went tech.

​​​​​

Sure, stuff (beyond your control) happens. If you can demonstrate that you aren't to blame, a benign resolution should be forthcoming. On the other and, I would never intentionally seek out such drama (e.g. choose unreliable flight/airline for an 11th hour exit) because it might take a while to get sorted.