How to See a Doctor in China as a Foreigner: Booking Guide

How to see a doctor in China as a foreigner: the short version

Hospitals in China book outpatient visits by department, so the process starts with knowing which specialty you need. Then use an official channel, register with your passport, send your records in advance and be ready to move through registration, payment and tests step by step on the day.

Availability varies by hospital, department and doctor, and changes from week to week. No third party — including medicalBridge — can guarantee an appointment. We can help you prepare and send an enquiry through official channels (our services), but only the hospital confirms bookings. The steps:

• Choose the specialty and hospital.
• Book through the hospital’s website, app, WeChat mini-program or international department.
• Register under your passport name and number.
• Send a translated summary, reports and imaging before you travel.
• On the day: register, see the doctor, pay before tests, collect results.
• Leave with copies of your records, prescriptions and a follow-up plan.

Decide the specialty and hospital first

Many booking systems ask you to pick a department, and sometimes a doctor, before they show available times. Use our departments guide to match your condition to a specialty, and our hospital rankings to see which hospitals have strong specialty reputations. Those rankings come from the Fudan University Hospital Management Institute and measure reputation, not treatment outcomes.

If you are unsure which clinic fits, ask the hospital’s international department which specialty should review your case before you book. Our guide to international departments explains what these units do.

Booking a China hospital international department appointment

Use only booking routes that the hospital or city government publishes, and be cautious of anyone selling guaranteed appointments outside them. Beijing’s multilingual Medical Guide for Foreigners ↗, in English, French, Spanish and Japanese, lists hospitals with foreign-language services and their booking contacts. As of October 2026, the main official channels are:

• Hospital website and app: Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) offers online booking on its English website ↗ and a bilingual app with an English interface for its International Medical Services (IMS). A Chinese-speaking friend can also add you as a patient in the app and book for you.
• WeChat and Alipay mini-programs: many hospitals take bookings through their WeChat accounts. Beijing’s International Service Beijing (Jingtong) mini-program ↗ has an “En” switch, and Beijing reported in November 2025 ↗ that 28 institutions offered full English booking through it after login and identity authentication.
• City apps in Shanghai: the city’s official guide describes booking in the Suishenban app ↗: open Healthcare, add yourself as a patient choosing “Foreigner”, select hospital, department and doctor, and confirm with an SMS code.
• Phone and email: PUMCH’s entry in Beijing’s official medical guide ↗ lists +86-10-69156699 (press 2 for English), and PUMCH’s English site ↗ gives ims@pumch.cn as its IMS contact. Its appointment service runs Monday to Friday, 8am–5pm Beijing time.

Registering with your passport

Foreign patients register under their passport. Shanghai’s guide to seeing a doctor ↗ tells patients to bring a passport to register, and first-time patients receive a hospital card (binglika) for later visits; Beijing’s Jingtong platform requires identity authentication before booking. Enter your name exactly as it appears in your passport so bookings, records and receipts match.

Some apps confirm bookings by SMS, so ask whether a foreign mobile number works or whether to book by phone or email instead. Bring your passport to every visit, plus your insurance card if you expect direct billing.

What to send before you travel

Sending records first lets the hospital say whether a visit makes sense and which doctor should see you, although the doctor may still need to examine you and repeat some tests. If you need a visa for treatment, the hospital may have to issue documents first; see our China medical visa guide. Prepare:

• A one- to two-page medical summary or referral letter: diagnosis, history, current medicines and allergies.
• Recent reports: blood tests, pathology, operation notes and discharge summaries.
• Imaging on disc or by download link in the original DICOM format, plus the written radiology reports.
• Translations of the key documents into Chinese or English — ask which the hospital accepts.
• A short list of the questions you want answered.

On the day: registration, triage, payment and results

Arrive early with your passport. International departments can work differently — PUMCH’s foreign patient guide ↗ says nurses there arrange general outpatient visits according to which doctors are available that day — but Shanghai’s official guide describes the usual outpatient sequence:

• Register (guahao) and pay the registration fee, then wait for your number to be called.
• See the doctor, who may order tests or imaging.
• Pay for each test before it is done, then take the receipt to the examination area.
• If results are ready the same day, return to the same doctor without queuing again; if not, you will need to register again.
• Pay for prescriptions, then collect medicines at the hospital pharmacy.
• If you need admission, the doctor applies for a bed; at PUMCH the ward contacts you the day before one is available, and Shanghai’s guide notes that estimated costs are paid before hospitalisation or surgery.

Language and interpreters

International departments are where you are most likely to find English and other languages: PUMCH’s IMS lists English, Japanese, French, Korean, Russian and German, and Beijing has trained international-department staff in medical English. Outside these units, Shanghai’s guide warns that you may need some basic Chinese, and test areas, pharmacies and paperwork may be in Chinese only.

Ask the hospital whether it provides an interpreter, for which parts of the visit and at what cost. For surgery or consent discussions, arrange a qualified interpreter or a trusted bilingual companion rather than relying on a translation app.

After the visit: records, prescriptions and follow-up

Before you leave China, collect copies of everything: the US CDC’s medical tourism guidance ↗ advises getting all your records from the facility before returning home. Ask for test and imaging reports, images on disc, operation notes and a discharge summary, ideally in English, plus an itemised bill for your insurer.

For prescriptions, ask for the generic drug names, doses and duration in writing, and check your home country’s rules before carrying medicines back. Agree a follow-up plan: who reviews you at home, which results they need and how to contact the hospital with questions. Our cost guide and payment guide cover paying for care, and our medical tourism in China guide covers the whole trip.