Staying healthy in China is mostly unglamorous preparation: buy a standalone policy that covers medical evacuation, save one international clinic address per city, carry a small pharmacy, and treat altitude with real respect. The cities are easy — English-speaking clinics, well-stocked pharmacies, efficient ERs. The plateau is the part that catches people out, because altitude sickness does not care how fit you are.
Buy Insurance Before You Leave Home
This is the one non-negotiable. Get a policy that explicitly covers medical evacuation, not just clinic bills; helicopter retrieval from a remote plateau is the expensive scenario, and it is the one your credit card’s free insurance usually excludes. Evacuation from a high-altitude region to a hospital in Chengdu or Beijing can run into five figures in US dollars, which is why the evacuation limit matters more than the daily medical limit.
Check that the policy covers what you are actually doing — skiing, trekking above a certain altitude, scooters — because a policy that quietly omits “hazardous activities” leaves you exposed on a motorbike in the countryside. Altitude is often capped: many standard policies stop covering above 3,000 or 4,000 meters unless you buy a trekking rider.
I buy a standalone annual policy and photograph the certificate and the emergency number. You will not want to hunt PDFs while queasy at altitude with one bar of signal. Fold it into the same pre-trip checklist as your apps and your visa, so it is done in one sitting.
What should a China travel policy actually cover?
Four lines, in order of importance: emergency medical evacuation (at least 100,000 USD, more if you are going above 3,500 meters), inpatient hospital treatment, outpatient clinic visits, and trip interruption. Repatriation of remains is grim to think about and cheap to add. Read the altitude and activity exclusions before you pay, not after you sprain an ankle at 4,000 meters.
Where to Get Care in the Cities
Major cities have international-standard clinics built for expats and travelers, and for a foreigner with limited Chinese they are far better than a random hospital emergency room. In Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Shenzhen, look for an “international medical center” or a named expat clinic — staff speak English, they bill foreign insurance directly, and they will not blink at a sprained ankle or a bout of food poisoning.
Expect to pay up front and claim later, unless the clinic direct-bills your insurer. A consultation runs 500 to 1,500 CNY depending on city and clinic, and a dressing change adds a few hundred. Not cheap, but predictable, and it is the price of being understood.
For anything serious, go there first rather than a crowded public hospital where the language gap adds stress to a bad day. Keep one clinic’s address and phone saved per city — I keep a notes folder called “doctors” with the three I might need. Public hospitals in big cities are world-class in an emergency; their ERs are efficient and cheap, just bring patience and a translation app.
Do I need an appointment at an international clinic?
Usually yes for routine visits, same day or next day, by phone or through the clinic’s English booking line. Walk-ins are accepted for urgent problems but you may wait. If it is a real emergency — chest pain, a bad fall, breathing trouble — skip the clinic and go to the nearest public hospital ER, or call 120 for an ambulance.
How do I call an ambulance in China?
Dial 120 for medical emergencies, 110 for police, 119 for fire. Ambulance dispatch is Chinese-language, so if you cannot explain the location, hand the phone to a hotel staff member or a passerby — people help. For anything non-urgent, a taxi or DiDi to the clinic is faster than waiting for dispatch.
Pharmacy Basics You Can Buy Over the Counter
Chinese pharmacies (药店) are everywhere and well stocked. The trick is knowing what to ask for, because brand names differ and the pharmacist will hand you what the label says, not what you meant.
| Problem | What to ask for | Say this |
|---|---|---|
| Diarrhea | Anti-diarrheal tablets, oral rehydration salts | 拉肚子 (lā dù zi) |
| Stomach ache or indigestion | Antacid, digestive tablets | 肚子疼 (dù zi téng) |
| Headache or fever | Ibuprofen or paracetamol | 头疼 (tóu téng) / 发烧 (fā shāo) |
| Cold or sore throat | Lozenges, cold medicine | 感冒 (gǎn mào) / 嗓子疼 (sǎng zi téng) |
| Motion sickness | Motion-sickness pills or patches | 晕车 (yùn chē) |
| Cuts and scrapes | Antibiotic cream, adhesive dressings | 创可贴 (chuāng kě tiē) |
| Sunburn | After-sun gel, aloe | 晒伤 (shài shāng) |
Two cautions. Some Western brand names differ here and a few cold medicines contain ingredients restricted at home, so read the packet or show it to a clinic if unsure. And for regular prescriptions, carry a copy of your prescription plus the medicine in its original box — customs and clinicians both want to see the packaging, not a loose pill organizer.
Food, Water and Simple Stomach Sense
The most common issue is a gut adjusting to new bacteria and more oil than it is used to. Ease in — do not eat eight street snacks on the first night, however good they smell. Bottled water is cheap and everywhere; I skip tap water for drinking and brush with it cautiously.
Cooked food from busy stalls is safer than a sad-looking buffet, because turnover is high and the wok is hot. Peel it, boil it, or forget it still mostly holds. A day of plain congee fixes most mild stomach turns faster than any pill, and every hotel kitchen will make it if you ask for 白粥 (bái zhōu).
Routine Vaccinations Worth a Thought
Nothing exotic is required for most of China, but make sure your routine shots — tetanus, hepatitis A, typhoid — are current before you go, since you will eat from places a careful home kitchen would not approve of. Hepatitis A matters if you will be eating street food for two weeks. Talk to a travel clinic at least a month out; some vaccines need a series. This is the boring part of the pre-trip checklist, but a sore arm at home beats a fever in a town with no English-speaking doctor.
Altitude: The One Real Risk
This is where “ordinary” stops. The Qinghai–Gansu loop and anywhere on the Tibetan plateau sits well above 3,000 meters, and altitude sickness does not care how fit you are — I have seen marathon runners fold at 4,000 meters while a chain-smoking grandfather from Sichuan walked past them.
The rules that work: ascend gradually, build in a night at a middle altitude before going higher, drink more water than feels necessary, and skip first-day exertion. At Mount Gongga and similar peaks, base camps start high — plan acclimatization days, not just summit pushes.
What are the symptoms of altitude sickness?
Mild acute mountain sickness feels like a hangover: headache, nausea, poor appetite, broken sleep, and breathlessness on stairs. It usually settles in a day if you stop climbing. The dangerous versions are different, and both are emergencies.
| Condition | Warning signs | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Mild AMS | Headache, nausea, fatigue, no appetite | Stop ascending, rest, hydrate, descend if worse |
| HACE (brain) | Confusion, unsteadiness, vomiting that will not stop, drowsiness | Descend immediately, dexamethasone if available |
| HAPE (lungs) | Breathless at rest, cough, gurgling breathing, blue lips | Descend immediately, oxygen, hospital |
A headache that worsens with rest, breathlessness at rest, loss of coordination, or confusion all mean descend — not rest. Descent is the only reliable cure, and a few hundred meters of altitude is often enough to turn someone around.
How should I acclimatize on a plateau trip?
Three rules. Spend a night between 2,000 and 2,500 meters before going higher. Treat the first day above 3,500 meters as a rest day — no hiking, no running. And keep the sleeping altitude rising no more than 300 to 500 meters a day, with a rest day every third day. A pulse oximeter costs little and tells you more than guesswork when someone feels off. Plateau properties that keep oxygen on site are worth the premium — compare plateau lodges with oxygen supply before you commit.
A Doctor’s Blunt Advice
A physician in Lhasa once told me the tourists who get into trouble are the ones who fly straight to 3,600 meters and immediately go for a run or a hike. Do not be that person. Prescription altitude medicine exists — acetazolamide for prevention, dexamethasone for real emergencies — and is worth discussing with your doctor before a plateau trip. Buy it at home, where you can ask questions and learn the dose, not from a pharmacy counter in a town where nobody speaks English.
Eat for the Altitude
Up high, carbs and warmth help, and the local food is built for it. Tibetan cuisine — butter tea, noodle soups, momos, tsampa — is exactly the heavy, hot fuel a cold plateau demands, and a welcome change from the Han Chinese staples you will have eaten for weeks. Eat often, drink constantly, and go easy on alcohol, which hides altitude effects and dehydrates you faster.
None of this is scary. China is an easy place to stay healthy if you respect the altitude, sort insurance at home, and know which clinic to walk into. The bugs pass; the views do not. If you are planning the plateau leg now, our guides to altitude sickness and to sleeping at altitude go deeper on the practical detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need travel insurance for China?
Not legally, but practically yes. Medical evacuation from a remote plateau can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and standard card insurance rarely covers it. Buy a standalone policy with a high evacuation limit and read the altitude exclusion.
Can I drink tap water in China?
Not directly. Bottled water is cheap and universal, and hotels supply kettles and bottled water in the room. Use bottled for drinking and brushing if you are sensitive, and skip ice in drinks from street stalls.
Is altitude sickness likely in Tibet or Qinghai?
Most travelers get mild symptoms at 3,500 meters and above, usually a headache and poor sleep on the first night. Serious HACE or HAPE is uncommon but real, and it is almost always linked to ascending too fast.
Do I need a yellow fever certificate for China?
Only if you are arriving from a country with a yellow fever transmission risk. Otherwise no certificate is required, though routine vaccinations should be current. Check the rule for your specific route before flying.
What is the emergency number in China?
120 for an ambulance, 110 for police, 119 for fire. Dispatch is in Chinese, so have a hotel staff member or a local speak if you cannot explain your location clearly.