gogo-china

Emergency cheat sheet

If something goes wrong

📸 Screenshot this page or print it — you might not have data when you need it.

Emergency numbers

  • 110Police 报警
  • 120Ambulance 急救
  • 119Fire 火警
  • 122Traffic accident 交通事故
  • 12367Immigration hotline (visas, lost passport — English available) 移民管理服务热线
  • 12345City services hotline (some cities offer English) 政务服务热线

Calls to 110/120/119 are free from any phone. Operators may not speak English — hand your phone to someone nearby and show the phrases below.

Find your embassy

Most countries have an embassy in Beijing and consulates in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Shenyang. Before you fly, save your embassy’s 24-hour emergency number from your government’s travel-advice site — and register your trip if they offer it.

Seeing a doctor

  1. Minor issues: pharmacies (药店, look for a green cross) are everywhere and many staff can help with common medicines.
  2. Public hospitals: go to the outpatient hall, register at the counter (挂号 guàhào) with your passport, pay, then see the doctor. Tests and medicines are paid separately as you go. Big-city hospitals have an international / VIP department (国际部) with English-speaking staff.
  3. International clinics: Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou have private international hospitals — pricier, English-speaking, often bill travel insurance directly.
  4. Emergencies: call 120, or take a DiDi to the nearest hospital’s emergency department (急诊 jízhěn).

Keep your travel insurance policy number and emergency line in your phone’s notes and on paper.

Lost your passport

  1. Report it at the nearest police station (派出所) or the city’s Exit-Entry Administration and get a loss report.
  2. Take the report to your embassy or consulate for an emergency travel document.
  3. Go back to the Exit-Entry Administration with the new document to get an exit permit/visa — allow several working days.
  4. Tell your hotel: they need to re-register you. Call 12367 for help in English.

A photo of your passport and entry stamp speeds all of this up — take one now.

Phone dead or no internet

  • Power: shared power banks (共享充电宝) are in almost every café, restaurant and mall — scan with Alipay or WeChat to rent one.
  • Getting home: show a taxi driver your hotel’s name and address in Chinese (screenshot it now, or keep the hotel card).
  • Wi-Fi: public Wi-Fi often needs a Chinese phone number for the SMS code. Hotels and some international chains don’t.
  • Payments: keep ¥300–500 cash for exactly this moment.

Show these to someone

  • 请帮帮我

    Please help me.

  • 请叫救护车

    Please call an ambulance.

  • 最近的医院在哪里？

    Where is the nearest hospital?

  • 我需要看医生

    I need to see a doctor.

  • 我对这个过敏

    I’m allergic to this. (point at it)

  • 我的护照丢了

    I’ve lost my passport.

  • 请帮我报警

    Please call the police for me.

  • 我迷路了

    I’m lost.

  • 请带我去这个地址

    Please take me to this address.

  • 我的手机没电了，可以帮我充电吗？

    My phone is dead — can you help me charge it?

  • 我不会说中文

    I don’t speak Chinese.

  • 厕所在哪里？

    Where is the toilet?