Seeing a doctor in China — clinics, ER & pharmacies
Updated September 2026 · Verified against Beijing Govt foreign-patient medical guide & hospital guides
China's medical system is large and licensed, and foreigners can see a doctor without residency. The two things that surprise newcomers: you usually pay before each service (tourists have no Chinese medical insurance, so it is self-pay), and pharmacies will not hand over prescription medicine without a doctor's prescription. This page walks the emergency number, the public-vs-international choice, and the registration flow.
Talking to a doctor at a clinic counter
The hard facts (you cannot guess these)
Emergency or routine — pick the path
For a true emergency — chest pain, heavy bleeding, unconsciousness, major trauma — call 120 for an ambulance (say "English" if you can; some cities transfer to a bilingual operator). For everything else, choose where to go: public tertiary hospitals are clinically strong and cheap but Chinese-heavy; international departments and private international clinics speak English and often bill your travel insurance directly, at a higher price. Bring a list of symptoms, your passport, insurance card, and known allergies.
Ask it once, get one answer — not four things to read.
Public hospitals are strong but Chinese-heavy; international departments and private clinics speak English and often bill insurance directly.
A normal clinic visit, step by step
Register (挂号) with your passport at the counter or a self-service kiosk, see the doctor, pay for each service before it is done, then take the prescription to the hospital pharmacy — often filled within minutes. Public hospitals use WeChat, Alipay, hospital apps and kiosks; a foreign passport can make online registration harder, so in-person or a coordinator may be needed. Translation apps and a written symptom list bridge most of the language gap; some hospitals have an English window.
- Costs vary: a public-hospital consultation is roughly USD 10–30; a private/international clinic is roughly USD 80–200. These are guides, not quotes.
- Over-the-counter (OTC) medicine you can buy directly at a licensed pharmacy; prescription drugs need the doctor's prescription.
- Pharmacies are 药店 / 药房 — licensed chains only. Avoid unknown sellers for anything prescription-grade.
Register with your passport, see the doctor, pay per service, then fill the prescription at the hospital pharmacy.
- Did not know 120 is the ambulance — called the hotel, lost time
- Expected insurance to cover it — paid self-pay, then claimed back home
- Tried to buy antibiotics over the counter — pharmacy refused without a prescription
- Online registration rejected the foreign passport — had to queue at the counter
Cases that land in this module
Each page gives the diagnosis and the first step free. Green ones are fully solved free as samples; amber ones unlock with the kit.
The amber cases above are what the kit covers.
This page stays free, and so do the green cases above. The kit adds the full fix sequence for all 62 documented cases, plus the offline pack.
Get the offline kit — $9.99Terms apply. See our disclaimer.