From December 17, 2024 on, the previous 72/144-hour visa-free transit has been extended to 240-hour. What’s more, the eligible passport holders of 54 countries, including USA, Canada and UK are allowed to travel freely among the 24 transit areas, not within a single transit region any more. This make visa-free travel to China possible among these passport holders.

On December 4, 2024, Chinese New Year was included on the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO, at the 19th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. So far, a total of 44 items of China have been included as UNESCO intangible cultural heritages, which ranks the first in the world. Chinese New Year is an extremely big celebration on the globe, formed in the long history of China, with a series of social practices to greet the New Year and pray for blessings. It is a time of family reunion and harmony.

Passport holders of 9 more countries, including Japan, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Estonia, and Latvia will also be allowed to travel to China without a visa from November 30, 2024 till end of 2025. By then, citizens of all together 38 countries will be eligible for the policy. What’s more, on the same day, the visa-free duration of stay will be prolonged to 30 days and those coming for exchange visits will also be eligible for the policy. Presently, the allowed longest duration of stay without a visa is 15 days and the entry purposes must be doing business, traveling, visiting relatives and friends, or transit flights.

Although it’s the off-season for tourism in China recently, the number of tourists to Zhangjiajie has increased instead of decreasing, with an average of 20,000 tourists per day. On November 11, 2024, the official announced that Zhangjiajie Airport has become the first non-capital city airport in central and western China serving over 500,000 inbound and outbound passengers. This should thank the enchanting natural scenery of Zhangjiajie, rich ethnic minority culture, diverse activities and more and more professional tourism services.

230 pieces/ sets of excavations from the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang - the first emperor in China history, are displayed right on the site, to mark the 50th anniversary discovery of the Terracotta Army, which was believed to protect him in his afterlife. In addition to the best discoveries like colorful terracotta warriors and vivid aquatic birds, 1/3 are showed to the public for the first time, including a golden camel, a silver camel and a golden dancing figurine.

On July 27, 2024, Beijing Central Axis was inscribed as a world heritage during the 46th session of UNESCO World Heritage Committee. The Central Axis was established in 13th century and formed in 16th century, lined with many world-famous historical relics like Bell and Drum Tower, Forbidden City, Tian’anmen Square, Qianmen, and Temple of Heaven.

China 15-day visa-free policy eligible for ordinary passport holders of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Malaysia, Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Austria, Belgium, and Luxembourg will be valid for 1+ more year till end of 2025. According to the previous announcement of China National Immigration Administration, it would turn ineffective on December 1, 2024.

Since last summer holiday, it has been very difficult to reserve an entry ticket for the Forbidden City and it has been even more challenging coming to 2024. Missing the Forbidden City, some visitors left Beijing with great regret while others just cancelled their trip to Beijing or even China. It’s time to recover the maximum passenger flow of 80,000 each day, which has been reduced to 30,000 during the covid-19 pandemic. More solutions, like extend the open time can be taken to meet the travel needs of the many.

The visa-free stay in China for Singaporeans will be extended from 15 days to 30 days since February 9, 2024. Thai passport holders will also be granted 30-day visa-free stay since March 1, 2024. These measures aim to attract more overseas visitors to China. TravelChinaGuide is offering 10% discount on 2024 and 2025 tours to help their distinguished guests to save big.

Recent research on a turtle shell-like bronze item dug out from Sanxingdui Site proved the adoption of welding technique back to 2,600-4,800 years ago, pushing the world’s welding history forward 2,000 years. However, it is still unknown how ancient Sanxingdui people weld the different bronze parts together, which is an uneasy thing even today.