Landing-day tools
| Topic | What to confirm | Who owns it |
|---|---|---|
| Voice and data | eSIM or airport SIM you can pay for | You |
| Wayfinding | Chinese address on paper and a pin | You, from the facility email |
| Payments | Hotel method and hospital method, asked separately | Those cashiers |
| Clinical language | A person, not an app | Facility or a named interpreter |
You need a way to call, a map pin in Chinese, and a payment backup. A translation app is not a medical interpreter.
What should the phone be able to do on landing day?
Buy an eSIM or know which airport counter sells a local SIM before you land tired. Test that your bank card can pay the carrier. Download offline maps for the arrival city and drop a pin on the campus using the Chinese address from the appointment email. A pin on the wrong tower in the same district is a common delay.
Payment apps used in China have international modes that work for some visitors and not others. Set up what you can before departure, and still carry the card the hotel said they can charge. The hospital cashier is a separate question, covered on the payments page. Do not assume a working tea-shop QR code means the hospital will take the same app.
Ask the international office which hospital app or mini-program the visit uses, and whether it needs a mainland phone number. Install only what they name. This guide does not explain how to evade network blocks. If a site you use at home does not load, use the hospital’s own channel and the phone numbers on paper.
Airport and hospital transfers is the car task once the flight and the campus are known. Give the driver the Chinese address on paper even if you also send a pin. The language page explains why an app should not be your plan for the consultation.
What to write down
- Call and data that work on landing
- Offline map and a Chinese pin for the right campus
- A card the hotel can charge
- The hospital channel they named, if any
- Paper address and phone numbers
- Interpreter plan that is not an app
Related coordination
These links leave the travel-guide article for the medical desk or for a sibling guide. They do not replace the primary sources below.
Sources and last review
Last reviewed 28 October 2026. Immigration rules, customs notices, hospital instructions, and insurance letters change. Read the primary source for your passport and your facility. Counsel, the facility, and any supplier have not signed this page.
Ways to sequence the preparation
These are preparation steps, not a clinical timetable and not a fixed tour departure.
Set up the phone
Time fit: Before departure
eSIM, offline map, and any app the hospital already named.
- Arrival and digital essentials
- Set up the phone
Why choose it: eSIM, offline map, and any app the hospital already named.
Print the address
Time fit: Packing
Chinese campus address and the desk phone, on paper.
- Arrival and digital essentials
- Print the address
Why choose it: Chinese campus address and the desk phone, on paper.
Meet the car
Time fit: Landing
Give the driver the paper. Do not start a clinic visit on this day if the transfer is long.
- Arrival and digital essentials
- Meet the car
Why choose it: Give the driver the paper. Do not start a clinic visit on this day if the transfer is long.
Ask the owner of the fact
Use the primary source and the facility before you treat this article as permission to travel or to receive care.
Related planning
Questions people ask
- Some hospital systems ask for one. Ask the international office before you rely on a home SIM alone.
- No. Use it for signs. Use a person for the consultation, consent, and discharge.
- No. Use the hospital’s channel and ordinary phone calls for the visit.
- Bring the Chinese address on paper as well. Pins drop on the wrong gate.
Talk to the medical desk
The medical desk coordinates logistics after a facility has its own plan. It does not diagnose, quote a treatment, or decide entry.
