At the airport: immigration, customs and baggage
Chinese immigration asks four questions, always the same four: why you are here (来做什么？), where you are staying (住在哪里？), how long (待多久？) and whether you have anything to declare (有东西要申报吗？). Learn to recognise those four and the rest of the hall is signage.
What actually happens
The arrivals hall is the one part of a trip to China where you cannot walk away and try again later, which is why it feels harder than it is. In practice it is a fixed script: a health/arrival card, a fingerprint scanner, four questions, then baggage. Officers work through hundreds of passengers an hour and are not looking for conversation — short, clear answers move you along faster than good grammar does.
Almost every officer at a major international airport can ask their four questions in English, so the honest reason to learn them in Chinese is recognition, not production. When the officer says 住在哪里？ and you hear a wall of sound, the delay is what causes the problem — not your accent. Learn the shape of the four questions and you will answer them before the English version arrives.
Two practical notes that are not language. Have your hotel's name and address written in Chinese characters before you land — screenshots work, and the address card tool will make one for you. And do the fingerprint kiosk before you queue if there is one: it is the same scan the officer would otherwise do at the desk.
What they'll say back to you
Understanding the reply is the half of the conversation phrasebooks skip. These are the lines you will actually hear in this situation — learn to recognise them, not to say them.
What to say
Answering the four questions
When you don't understand
Baggage and transfers
Leaving the airport
The bit that isn't language
Screenshot your hotel's name in Chinese characters before you fly, and keep it on your lock screen. It answers the immigration question, it goes straight to a taxi driver, and it works with no signal — which is exactly the state your phone will be in when you land.
Quick quiz — 5 questions
Five questions built from the phrases above: you get the English, you pick the Chinese. No sign-up, no score kept — just a check that they have stuck.
How do you say this?
Common mistakes
| ✗ What visitors do | ✓ What works | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Answering 来做什么？ with a long explanation | 旅游。 | One word is a complete, polite answer here. Officers are processing a queue; elaboration reads as hesitation. |
| Giving a street address | Giving the hotel name | The form and the officer both want a registered establishment. A street address without a hotel name invites follow-up questions you can't answer in Chinese. |
| Saying 我不知道 about your length of stay | 两个星期。 | "I don't know" is a genuine problem at a border. Give the length on your return ticket — that is the answer they are checking against. |
Airport and immigration — frequently asked questions
Do I need to speak Chinese at Chinese immigration?
No. At Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen the officers ask their standard questions in English, and the arrival card is bilingual. Knowing the four questions in Chinese is about recognising them instantly rather than producing them — which is what keeps the queue moving.
What questions does Chinese immigration ask?
Almost always the same four: why you are visiting (来做什么), where you are staying (住在哪里), how long you are staying (待多久), and whether you have anything to declare (有东西要申报吗). You will also be asked to give fingerprints and look at a camera.
How do I say I'm a tourist in Chinese?
我来旅游 (wǒ lái lǚyóu) — "I'm here to travel". For a business trip it is 我来出差 (wǒ lái chūchāi). Either one on its own is a complete answer.
What do I do if my luggage is lost in China?
Say 我的行李丢了 (wǒ de xíngli diū le) at the baggage service desk in the arrivals hall and show your baggage tag: 这是我的行李票 (zhè shì wǒ de xínglipiào). Take a photo of the reference number they give you — follow-up is usually by phone or WeChat.
Next
Before you fly
Work through the whole trip in Ready for a trip to China in 30 days, play Travel Survival Sprint to make the phrases automatic, practise saying them aloud in Airport Roleplay, or look up anything else in the Chinese → Pinyin translator.