Sources and original illustrations

Primary references and the limits of this educational collection.

Primary references

• NIA: transit policy expansion, 20 August 2026 — Dated transit eligibility update, onward-ticket and designated-area conditions; not a complete nationality checker.
• Ministry of Commerce: working and living guide — Passport railway verification, SIM activation, payment choices and accommodation; visa examples in this edition can be expired.
• NIA: non-hotel accommodation registration channels — 2026 official registration app, mini-program and website channels.
• NIA: visa service information — Hotel registration and non-hotel registration duty; confirm current procedures with authority.
• Shanghai Metro: foreign-card ticket purchases — Assisted foreign-card metro ticket purchase; distinguish from direct gate tapping.
• Shanghai Metro: Maglev card pilot — Pudong–Longyang Road connection and dated card-tapping pilot.
• CAAC: domestic-flight power bank restrictions — CCC marking and recalled model/batch restrictions introduced June 2025.
• PBOC: improving payment services — Cash as fallback, small-denomination cash and bank-card acceptance improvement.
• UNESCO: Imperial Palaces — Beijing palace hierarchy, central axis, outer and inner courts.
• UNESCO: Great Wall — Multi-period defensive system, towers, passes and varied construction.
• UNESCO: First Qin Emperor mausoleum — Army pits within a much larger funerary complex, military and craft evidence.
• UNESCO: Suzhou gardens — Nine listed gardens, mountain-water microcosms and spatial composition.
• UNESCO: West Lake — Designed causeways, islands and named cultural views.
• UNESCO: Huangshan — Granite landscape, pines and artistic significance.
• UNESCO: South China Karst — Serial karst landscape, component distinctions including Guilin.
• UNESCO: Mogao Caves — Buddhist cave art, Silk Road exchange and conservation context.
• UNESCO: Lijiang — Historic town, cultural exchange and water-supply system.
• UNESCO: Fujian Tulou — Communal earthen residences, inward organization and landscape.
• UNESCO: Qingcheng and Dujiangyan — Ancient irrigation engineering and distinct Daoist mountain component.
• UNESCO: Grand Canal — Serial waterway infrastructure and historical grain transport.

Original visual material

The diagrams in this edition are original SVG illustrations explaining the sequence or decisions in each guide. They do not show a laboratory experiment, a personal trip or a tested product result. No photographs from the linked sources are reproduced.

Check the source in context

References were consulted during preparation of this edition. A source may cover a broader or narrower question than a particular guide; the support notes above explain why it is listed. Read the original for methodology, exceptions and updates.