I'd settle the entry route before buying a restrictive flight or building a detailed sightseeing schedule. Start with the passport you will travel on, why you are going and the places immediately before and after mainland China. Those details are more useful than a headline saying that China has made entry easier.

This guide helps you organize that decision for a US passport. Put a normal tourism visa application and a qualifying transit arrangement in separate boxes. Then work through the one that fits the actual journey, using the responsible Chinese embassy, consulate and immigration authority for the applicable conditions.

Write the route in plain sight

Make a short note containing:

  • The passport nationality and document you intend to use.
  • The main purpose of the visit.
  • The place you depart from immediately before entering mainland China.
  • The mainland arrival point, intended stops and departure point.
  • The place you travel to immediately afterwards.
  • The planned arrival and departure dates.

Use the real flight sequence, including connections. “A trip from America” is not a complete route description if you first spend time elsewhere. Similarly, a ticket's marketing description is less useful than the actual arrival and departure points.

Include everyone in your party. Another traveler's passport or immigration status may lead to a different application process, even when you are taking the same flights. Do not assume the arrangement that fits one adult also settles the position of a child or companion.

For an ordinary sightseeing trip, start with the tourism application

The Chinese consulate's application guidance identifies the L visa as the category for tourism. Find the embassy or consulate responsible for where you are applying, then open its current application instructions. A guide for a different jurisdiction may use a different submission process or ask you to attend a different office.

Check the application route, document list, passport conditions and submission instructions as a set. Read the parts that apply to your circumstances, including previous Chinese nationality, an earlier Chinese visa, a changed name or an application for a child. Those details are not answered by a generic tourist checklist.

I would make a simple application folder before completing the form: travel document, current guidance, the information needed for your trip and any supporting documents relevant to your circumstances. Copy names and document numbers directly from the passport. Use the current official form.

For a concrete example, San Francisco's published procedure uses online application and preliminary review, then passport submission when the account status becomes “Passport to be Submitted”. Its collection stage follows a separate status notification. That is a jurisdiction-specific example, so use the office responsible for your own application.

If you are considering a transit stop

The NIA lists the United States among eligible nationalities. Onward travel to a third country or region and the permitted ports and areas are conditions of this transit policy.

The NIA's 240-hour transit policy requires onward tickets with confirmed seats and departure dates, an ordinary passport, and use of designated ports and permitted stay areas. Nationality alone does not establish that a particular itinerary qualifies.

Lay your route beside the official conditions. Identify the immediate place before mainland China and the immediate onward place, then check the arrival port, departure arrangements and intended mainland stops. If a route depends on treating a connection in a particular way, resolve that point with the appropriate authority before relying on it.

For a US → mainland China → US holiday, I would begin with the tourism application route. For a journey continuing elsewhere, the next step is the detailed transit check; it is not an automatic approval because the map has three places on it.

Avoid designing your onward departure at the very edge of an allowed period. A delayed service or changed plan is much harder to manage when your route has no room for adjustment. Work from the actual permission and official counting method that apply to your entry, not a calculation copied from a travel post.

Check an existing visa carefully

If you already hold a Chinese visa, read the document. Check the name and passport details, validity, entries and duration of each stay. These are separate items, and a long overall validity does not by itself describe how long one visit can last.

If the visa is in an old passport, ask the responsible authority what documents and conditions apply to using it with the new one. A change of name, nationality or other personal details deserves an official answer before travel.

Match the permitted purpose to the activity. Tourism, work, study, reporting and a supplier visit should not be blurred into “just traveling”. Tell the authority what you intend to do.

Keep the application and the entry journey connected

After any visa is issued, check its printed details before putting the passport away. If something is incorrect, ask the issuing office how to resolve it. Keep a copy of the relevant document and supporting travel information available securely.

If flights or mainland stops change after you have checked an exemption or transit arrangement, check the new route again. The earlier answer may have depended on the original onward destination, port or timing. A change that seems minor for sightseeing can matter for the entry arrangement.

Airline document checks and arrival inspection are parts of the journey as well. Keep the passport, permission and onward travel information easy to retrieve. If an airline asks you to explain the basis for entry, a saved official page and a clear route note are more useful than a screenshot of someone else's success story.

Ask a question that can be answered

When a point remains uncertain, send a concise factual inquiry through the authority's published channel. You can adapt this structure:

I hold an ordinary US passport. My intended purpose is [purpose]. I will arrive from [place] at [mainland port] on [date], visit [places], and depart from [port] to [onward place] on [date]. Which entry arrangement should I check, and which official conditions apply to this route?

Include any detail that changes your circumstances. Do not send a long sightseeing diary when the unresolved issue is the onward flight or document type.

I'd leave hotel fine-tuning until this decision is settled. Once you know the entry arrangement, build a route that stays comfortably within it, then use the first China route guide for the travel choices themselves.