First safe move
Start here: Pause sightseeing and focus on the help path.
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Support
What support information should travelers save offline in China?
In short
Save emergency numbers, hotel address in Chinese, embassy or consulate contacts, local visitor-help sources, and one trusted person who can be contacted if the phone setup fails.
Behind this answer
Official source: China National Immigration Administration
Official source: CDC China traveler health page (read May 3, 2026)
Editorial check
Reviewed as a concise travel answer
Support answers were reviewed with the visitor safety and local support source checks.
- Information checked
Official emergency, consular, hotel, airport, and city visitor-support sources. Emergency procedures, support numbers, insurance handling, consular instructions, and provider rules still need current official confirmation.
Recovery template
Use the answer as a recovery path, not just a reading page
Start with the immediate move, keep a human or offline fallback, and only rely on live rules after checking the official operator, provider, or source.
Open support backupFallback path
Use hotel staff, official emergency numbers, insurer contacts, embassy or consulate support, and saved document copies before improvising alone.
Do not assume
Do not treat this answer as final live proof. Do not use as emergency instructions replacing official, hotel, insurer, police, embassy, consular, or operator guidance.
Source boundary
Official emergency, consular, hotel, airport, and city visitor-support sources.
Action path
What to do next
A practical answer should leave the traveler with a few moves they can actually make before the trip or at the point of friction.
1
Pause sightseeing and focus on the help path.
2
Use hotel, official, insurer, or consular help before making new bookings.
3
Keep document copies and emergency contacts offline.
Official source
What an official source actually states
These facts are read straight from the operator's own page, so you can check each one at the source rather than take it on our word.
The four numbers, from a government that publishes them for its own nationals
Ambulance 120, fire 119, police 110, traffic police 122, and a maritime search and rescue centre on 12395. Note that traffic police have their own line — a road incident does not go to 110 by default, which is the detail most lists leave out.
Where in the source: FCDO China getting-help page: ambulance 120, fire 119, police 110, traffic police 122, maritime search and rescue 12395.
For a lost or stolen passport the first stop is a police report, not your embassy
The FCDO directs you to the nearest police station or Public Security Bureau to obtain a report of the incident. The report is what the rest of the process runs on, so the order matters: police first, then the consulate, then the visa replacement.
Where in the source: FCDO: “If your passport is lost or stolen, go to the nearest police station or Public Security Bureau and get a report of the incident.”
Nobody promises these lines answer in English — and that changes how you use them
Neither this page nor the second official source below states that any three-digit line answers in English. The FCDO offers help finding English-speaking lawyers, translators and interpreters, which is a non-emergency service. So plan to have someone who can speak Chinese reachable, or to hand the phone to hotel staff, rather than assuming the line will adapt to you.
Where in the source: Neither source states English-language availability on the three-digit lines; FCDO offers lists of English-speaking lawyers, translators and interpreters as a separate, non-emergency service.
Source: UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), gov.uk — a foreign government's own consular guidance for its nationals in China — Foreign travel advice: China — Getting help (read July 25, 2026)
A second government publishes the identical four, which is why you can rely on them
Police 110, traffic accident reports 122, fire 119, ambulance 120. Two governments listing the same numbers independently is the reason this site states them plainly instead of hedging — and the Australian page names 122 as the traffic line in plain English.
Where in the source: Australian Embassy emergency-services page: Police 110; Traffic Accident Reports 122; Fire 119; Ambulance 120.
Source: Australian Embassy in China (china.embassy.gov.au) — a second foreign government publishing the same list — Australian Embassy Beijing — emergency services (read July 25, 2026)
For anything about your stay itself, 12367 is the immigration line
Visa, stay, registration and exit-entry questions are not police-emergency questions, and 110 is the wrong place to take them. The immigration administration runs 12367 for exactly this, and it is published on a municipal government English page rather than passed around on forums.
Where in the source: Shanghai government English portal, National Immigration Administration hotline 12367.
Source: Shanghai Municipal People's Government English portal, carrying the National Immigration Administration's 12367 service line — A guide to using immigration service hotline 12367 (source 2025-05-08; read July 25, 2026)
What this source does not settle: ⚠️ These are foreign governments' consular pages and a municipal portal — reliable for the numbers, and deliberately chosen because they publish for visitors rather than residents. **Your own country's embassy is your consular route; China's 12308 line is for Chinese nationals abroad and is not yours to call.** None of these sources promises an English-speaking operator, states a response time, or covers medical costs, insurance claims or repatriation — those sit with your insurer and your own consulate.
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