Do you need to submit an itinerary to get a Chinese visa? And do you have to stick to it?

Yes, you are usually required to submit flight and hotel reservations. They do not have to be paid reservations, so you can cancel them afterwards. (VisaRite has some handy samples of what is accepted.)

Nobody will care once you're in China as long as you stay out of sensitive regions in western China (Tibet, Tibetan bits of other provinces, Xinjiang, etc) and don't go out of your way to attract the attention of the local constabulary.

It primarily depends on where you apply for a visa and secondarily on what your nationality is.

Visa requirements for China differ from embassy to embassy. Typically, in 'the west' they are less strict. You will, most likely be asked to hand over your flight plan, with proof, for entering and leaving the country and you might be asked to show some proof of having reserved some accommodation. You will most likely not be asked to show proof of having reserved accommodation for every single night of your journey.

I'm currently in China and visited for a friend's wedding. Friends literally came from all over the world to attend the wedding in Shanghai. I live in Uganda (but have an EU passport). Visa requirements in Uganda were VERY strict, though we were treated somewhat leniently. Friends from some countries underwent a very simple visa process.

I assume you are applying for your first tourist (L) visa. I did provide my hotel for my very first visa (a double entry), however for subsequent visas (such as the one year version) I have not been asked by my agent to provide any itinerary at all.

Also note that the Chinese visa requirements can change at short notice. My experience is current, and other people in the past were likely to have been ask more detailed itinary information.

You're expected to submit your itinerary with your visa application but we certainly have never been asked for any itinerary for later visits when we have a multiple-entry visa. We've never even had more than vague plans for later visits when we do the application.

We also generally do some short (and occasionally not so short) side trips off our original plans and nobody's said anything about that. Admittedly we lave a long track record of going there and not having any trouble with the authorities.

A bigger problem I would think would be time. As first-time visitors you're probably only going to get a 30 day stay.

I will also throw out there the fact that China is one of these countries where you're expected to register with the police where you're staying. Your hotel does this for you but if you camp out that's going to leave a hole in your data. These days the data is computerized, they certainly could check it. Whether they do or not I have no idea.

Kind of, but not really.

At least not for citizens of some countries. At least not when applying at some consulates.

I'm Australian and applied for my visa in Vientiane, Laos in October 2013.

I provided only details of a flight into China, a flight out of China, and a hotel booking for my first night. I don't know if I could have submitted even less, but I didn't have to submit more.

In fact I applied for and received a double-entry visa and only submitted details for the first entry. I submitted nothing at all about the second entry.

So if proof of a flight in, a flight out, and a hotel booking for one night counts as an itinerary then yes you need such a minimal itinerary. But I wouldn't count it as an intinerary.

Also I did not fly in, I did not stay at that hotel, and I don't intend to fly out. Nobody asked about any of that when I crossed the land border from Laos to China, and nobody has mentioned anything in the three weeks I've been in China so far.

Short answer: No

You have at least 4 options:

1. For those who have an inviter in China: For UK passport holder. If you know someone in China, (anyone with a Chinese residence permit) and they are able to write you an invitation letter, together with their copy of Chinese residence permit, you do not need any flight or hotel itinerary.

2. For those who have flight and hotel confirmation: Even if you don't have any inviter, you can apply for the Chinese visa with the flight and hotel booking, after you get the visa, honestly you can just cancel the hotel booking if you want. They won't check if you will go to the place that you said on the application form.

3. For those who are going to China for a cruise trip

4. For those who are going to China via on an organized tour

I have a friend with UK passport, she booked a Beijing return flight from UK and a hotel in Beijing for just 5 days. Then she got a one entry tourist visa to China that allowed her to stay for a maximum 30 days. She later delayed her flight for a week and then she ended up staying in China for 20 days and went to Shanghai, Beijing and Xian. She said she's pretty sure that you are free to change your itinerary after you get the visa. As the visa is quite flexible, allowing you to enter China within 3 months after the issue date and allows you to stay a maximum 30 days normally.