China 240 hour transit Visa

Question

I’m flying from London to shanghai after 6 day i will fly to Hong Kong for 2 days then back to London Is this allowed for the 240 hour hours Visa?

Answer

The 240-hour visa-free transit policy in China allows eligible travelers to stay in certain cities for up to 10 days (240 hours) without a visa, provided they are transiting to a third country or region. Since your itinerary involves London → Shanghai → Hong Kong → London, here’s how it applies:

Key points:

The 240-hour transit is only applicable if your departure from China is to a third country or region, which Hong Kong qualifies as for this purpose.
Technically, flying from Shanghai to Hong Kong within China is considered domestic travel, not transit to a third country, so your stay in Shanghai cannot be counted under the 240-hour visa-free transit if your next flight is to Hong Kong.
Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) and has its own immigration policies. Entering Hong Kong is treated as leaving mainland China.
To use the 240-hour visa-free transit, your itinerary should ideally be: London → Shanghai → a third country (e.g., Japan, South Korea) → return to London. A stop in Hong Kong may not satisfy the “third country” requirement for the 240-hour visa in Shanghai.

Practical implications:

For your current itinerary, you would likely need a regular Chinese visa for your Shanghai stay.
Alternatively, you could adjust your itinerary so that your flight after Shanghai goes directly to a country other than Hong Kong to meet the 240-hour transit visa rules.
Visiting Hong Kong after Shanghai under the same trip will require checking Hong Kong’s entry rules for your nationality, which are separate from mainland China.

In summary, your proposed London → Shanghai → Hong Kong → London trip does not fully qualify for the 240-hour visa-free transit in Shanghai because Hong Kong is not considered a “third country” for the purposes of mainland China’s transit policy. To avoid issues, you should either obtain a regular Chinese visa for Shanghai or adjust your itinerary so the next stop after Shanghai is a country other than Hong Kong.