Getting out of the airport

If you are traveling on 24 hour visa free transit through a Chinese airport in transit, you may be allowed or in the same time be denied a temporary entry permit to be allowed to exit the airport and to make a short exploration. You have to know that the issuing of a temporary entry permit is in no way a passenger's right, but it depends entirely upon sovereign decision by immigration authorities.

Certain airports, like Beijing, have soft stance on this issue and they are usually willing to issue the permit. Anyway, there are airports that definitely don't allow the passengers in international to international transit to exit the airport like Guangzhou. Of course, there are always exception from this practice. If you are traveling on separate tickets, it is natural that you will be granted a permit because without it you cannot collect your luggage and make a recheck for your onward flight. Also, if somebody has more than one stop, you will also be granted a permit because your middle flight will be a domestic one.

As you can see, there are several different circumstances that determine whether you will be granted a temporary entry permit or not. If you know that your layover will be a longer one and that airport is issuing the permits to the passengers in transit, you are advised to book an accommodation, especially if your layover is during the night hours. Having a confirmation of accommodation booking has always been great support for a temporary entry permit application.