Passport Information
It is important to note that your passport is the only legal document you have when you are in a foreign land. Serious precautions have to be taken to ensure that your passport is safe, and in the unfortunate circumstance that you lose it, you have to report the loss and make the most urgent efforts to have it replaced (by contacting both the local police as well as the nearest Consulate of your country in China).
For entry into the People’s Republic of China, most foreigners are required to have a valid passport and a visa. Your passport should have a validity of at least six months from the date of your expected departure from China, and at least two blank pages within its covers (see the article on Visas in this section for more information). Prior to your departure to China, make at least one photocopy of your passport and keep it separate from where you place your actual passport.
It is not a law in China for foreigners to carry their passports wherever they go, and it is usually under very law specific circumstances that Chinese police officers approach a foreigner for identification. For ordinary travel within a city or town, a photocopy of it will be more than sufficient to get you through your day. When you check-in at a hotel or dorm, find out if they have a safe where you can keep your passport and your valuables. Most hotels that are open to foreigners have safekeeping services, but if it so happens that they do not provide such a facility, keep it in a secret pouch or an inside pocket around your body and bring it wherever you go. Never leave it in the hotel room when you go out.
During the course of your travel in China, there are particular situations where you need to produce your actual passport for identification. First of all, you are required to show your passport when you check-in for accommodation. There are some hotels and dorms that might waive that requirement but do not expect this leniency to be too consistent. In certain cases, if you book your accommodation over the internet or through travel agents for a discounted rate, you have to show your passport for the rate to apply. But if you fail to present that identification, you are still allowed to check-in but counter rates will be charged instead.
There are only a total of 1220 cities and counties in China that are open to foreigners. Popular tourist destinations such as Tibet, Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen and others are not included in the list of places open for free travel, and you need to apply for visas to gain access to these destinations. Hong Kong and Macau are classified as Special Administrative Regions (SAR) and if you wish to go there from mainland China, you have to obtain a visa at the border, or you can employ the services of travel agents who are authorized to do that. When applying for visas to these restricted zones, you will be asked to fill a visa application form and to present your passport.
Many travelers to China prefer to open a Chinese bank account for foreigners to keep the bulk of the money they bring. When you are applying for a bank account, you are required to have your passport with you. Unlike other countries where money exchange outlets can deal you cash for cash with no qualms, the Chinese government has instituted a law such that all foreign currency exchanges can only be processed with a show of identification. Money exchange services can only be found in banks, hotels, and airports, and you need to bring your passport to these places to change your foreign money into renminbi or when you need to cash travelers' checks.
Other than all the situations mentioned above, you can actually go through the course of your travel in China without having to make use of your passport. It is still the safest to thing to do to keep your passport in a safe in the hotel or where you are living; but if you do not have that choice or simply just prefer carrying it with you for the sake of convenience, be on the look out for suspicious characters when you travel. To certain criminals, a passport is even more valuable than money, because it can be sold for an unbelievable sum of money or it can be used as an identity for more ambitious criminal deeds.
If you truly lose your passport, report to the police station at once and notify your embassy to reissue you a new passport in China. If you have photocopy of your passport, your record can be traced more efficiently, but usually having it replaced can be a very complicated process which requires a good deal of time. Therefore, you have to take extreme precautions to ensure that your passport is safe.