Travelling to China

I'll be traveling to Manila next year and I would like to pick up a flight which could give me at least half a day in a Chinese city like Shanghai or Beijing during transit (to make a short sightseeing of course).

Am I supposed to apply for any kind of visa beforehand if I want to visit some of the Chinese cities on my way to Manila (and possible way back) or this there anything else I should be prepared for during my visit? I'll be coming from the European Union.

Thanks for any tips - I'll be there for only short time so I'd like to avoid any troubles.

Best Answer

One very important thing to mention. I ran into problems during check-in because it's true that you have 72-hour visa-free permit to stay, however it applies only if you are passing through one city. I had a transfer in both Beijing and Shanghai during one day and I was told on customs that I cannot do that without visa because visa-free passage applies to only one city per visit.

So I was told I can go to Shanghai (which was my first transfer) but I cannot continue to Beijing and I need to buy a ticket to some other country or they won't let me go from Munich (because like I said, visa-free travel applies to only one city). So I actually bought ticket to Taiwan so I can at least get to China and when I arrived to Shanghai I was told it's ok to travel like this and they let me pass to Beijing with my original ticket (wtf Air China). So I am not sure what actually happened but it wasn't nice experience at all.