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How the Chinese healthcare system actually works, in plain English.
If you live in China or you are visiting and you need to see a doctor, the difficult part is rarely the medicine. It is the registration counter, the payment app, the queue number, and the language barrier. This site explains those parts.
How to see a doctor in China
The full picture: which department to choose, what to bring, how payment works, and where the process usually breaks down.
Hospital registration, step by step
What "registration" (挂号) actually means, the channels you can book through, and what happens on the day.
What it costs — with sourced price ranges
Consultation, imaging, bed and nursing prices for public hospitals, 特需 and international departments, and private hospitals — every figure traced to a named hospital's published price list or a government document.
Visa and entry options
Three doors into China — 30-day visa-free, 240-hour transit, and the S2 medical visa — with the official country lists.
Medical phrasebook
Around 120 phrases in English, Chinese and pinyin. Show your screen to hospital staff, or print it and take it with you.
The four things that trip people up
In Chinese public hospitals you register for a department and a time slot, not for a named doctor. Registration is a paid step, and it happens before you see anyone.
Many hospitals run on Chinese mobile payment. International cards are accepted in some places and not others. Plan for this before you are standing at a counter.
Signage, forms, kiosks, apps and most staff. Hospital mini-programs usually need a Chinese mobile number. English-speaking staff exist but are not guaranteed.
Tests are usually paid for first, done second, and collected later. Some results take days, and reviewing them often means registering again.
How this site is written
Every factual claim on these pages carries a link to the official source, listed at the bottom of the page, with the date it was last reviewed. Where a rule is time-limited or still in draft, the page says so. Every price range is drawn from a government price document or a hospital's own published price list — there are no unsourced numbers here, no hospital rankings, and no medical advice.
Still to come: a city guide, a guide to traditional Chinese medicine visits, and a guide to getting lab results and medical records.
If you find something wrong or out of date, email [email protected].