Transfer to Taipei at Shanghai Pudong (Do you have to go through immigration?)

I am looking at a Taiwan-Europe return flight that involves a transfer in Shanghai Pudong. I wonder if anyone has done this recently, and if it involved going through immigration?

This year I didn’t have to, just a 5 minutes trip to an extra counter to confirm the transfer.

Three years ago I had to collect the trolley, go through immigration then check in again for the shanghai - Eu plane.

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In China you always have to go through immigration, but there should be visa-free lane at Pudong, valid for some days if you are from certain countries

The 72-hour visa-free transit policy in China allows air passengers from 53 countries to transit and stay for up to 72 hours (3 days) in 18 China cities without a visa.

In order to qualify for the 72 or 144-hour TWOV, the traveler’s inbound and outbound flights must directly arrive at and depart from one of the acceptable ports of entry from or to a third country (including one of the two SARs). Both flights must have no stopovers of any kind within Mainland China prior to arrival or after departure at the port of entry, and the outbound flight’s first stop or destination must be in a different country than the inbound flight’s .

TWOV = Travel Without Visa?

Maybe Transit Without Visa?

Thanks for the reply. Glad to hear that. I think I will call the airline to confirm that is how it works for the flight I am booking.

Thanks, the question is actually not about visas though. I specifically need to be able to transfer without going through the border.

Yes, it’s probably better to double check with them. Before our trip my wife contacted…whatever the airline was, can’t remember, and they confirmed this with her, but I don’t know if things stayed the same.

For us it was fairly quick, I think the time we spent walking to the counter was the longest part, it was fairly far from the gate where our plane landed.

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Really depends on the airport. PEK, for instance, allows transfers without having to re-clear immigration, but Pudong makes you jump through all the hoops. Avoid it if possible.

PEK however has other pitfalls: the chance for massively delayed flights, especially later in the day, as the military has dibs over airspace, pushing out and delaying commercial flights. Flyer beware!

Guy

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At least Pudong has the whorehouse in the airport…

Ya, but bring your own condoms. Too many fakes in China.