travel
Trip.com · 携程
Flights, trains, hotels and tours in your language, paid with a foreign card. The easiest way into travelling around China.
- Language
- English and Russian
- Phone number
- a foreign one works
- Payment
- foreign card
What Trip.com is for
Trip.com is the international version of China’s Ctrip (携程). It works in English and Russian, takes foreign cards and sells the same 12306 train tickets — with a small service fee, but without 12306’s passport verification.
Key for foreigners is the filter for hotels that accept foreign guests: not every hotel in China is licensed to host them.
How to install
Download Trip.com
Install the app only from the official store or the developer’s website.
Don’t confuse it with the Chinese 携程旅行 — that one is for locals and doesn’t take foreign cards.
Install the international version
You need the Trip.com app. The Chinese 携程旅行 is built for locals: Chinese only, local payment methods.
Sign up by email
Sign in with email, phone or Google/Apple. Add your passport to Travellers right away — tickets need it.
How to use it
Trains
The Trains section: route, date, class, passenger by passport. The ticket is issued to your passport — you enter the station with it.
Hotels
Turn on the Accepts foreign guests filter and check the Chinese address on the hotel card — show it to the taxi driver.
Flights
Domestic flights are often cheaper in the app than on the airline’s site; check the baggage allowance — budget carriers allow less.
If it won’t work
A train ticket stuck as pending — Trip.com queues the order on 12306; if no seats free up, you’re refunded. Card declined — check 3-D Secure and your limits on foreign payments. Support is 24/7 in the in-app chat.
In-depth guide on the topic
Housing
How to book a hotel that accepts foreigners
What to check before booking, the passport at the desk and registration on a single slip.
Open the guideDidn’t find the guide you needed?
Describe it in your own words — a concierge will reply and take you through it step by step.