Paying for Hotels in China as a Foreign Visitor: Cards, Deposits and Fallbacks
Paying for a hotel in China as a foreign visitor usually means juggling international cards, deposits, mobile wallets and the occasional cash fallback. Most international and mid-range hotels take foreign cards at the desk, but the rules shift by tier and by city, and knowing the options before you arrive turns a potentially stressful check-in into a non-event. This guide covers what actually gets accepted, what doesn’t, and the backup that saves you when a terminal refuses your card.
