Your numbers
Working hours here
Shenzhen is +6h from your team's timezone. Tell us the hours you cannot move and every city will show what your working day looks like on the local clock.
Cost breakdown
* Reference only — alternatives to central rent, or a per-meal price. Verified 2026-08-04.
Scores
Fast domestic internet, but Google, WhatsApp, Slack and most Western tools are blocked. A VPN is effectively required, sits in a legal grey area, and is periodically disrupted. Test your entire work stack before committing to a long stay.
Visa
Visa rules vary significantly by passport — confirm for yours.
A fresh allowance each time you enter. Border runs may reset it, but repeated same-day runs draw scrutiny.
Non-Schengen — days spent here do not burn your Schengen 90/180 allowance.
30-day visa-free entry applies to roughly 50 eligible nationalities — most of Europe, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and the UK and Canada since 17 February 2026. The United States is NOT on that list; US passport holders need a visa in advance. The separate 240-hour (10-day) transit exemption requires an onward ticket to a third country — China cannot be your final destination, so it is not a way to spend ten days working here. There is no digital nomad visa, and working remotely on a tourist entry is not permitted; enforcement against laptop work is reportedly light, but that is the legal position.
These visa-free policies are trials, currently set to expire 2026-12-31. Verified 2026-08-04. If your stay runs past that date, confirm the rules before booking anything.
Not a work visa. Enrol in a Chinese language program, typically 10–15 hrs/week. The common legitimate route for stays beyond 30 days. Remote work on this visa remains a grey area.
Most nomad visa applications require proof of health cover for the full permit duration — here that's 6 months.
Subscription model, cancel anytime. Check whether motorbike accidents are covered — they often are not without a local licence.
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Tax
Six-year rule: worldwide income liability only after 183+ days for six consecutive years. Before that, foreign-sourced income paid by foreign entities is generally exempt — unusually favourable for medium-term stays.
The honest note
China's hardware capital, next door to Hong Kong for visa runs and unrestricted internet. Best choice if your work touches manufacturing or electronics.
Informational only. Not legal or tax advice. Verify with the relevant authority before travelling.