When it has already gone wrong
In short
Rehydrate. Fluids in small sips, then oral rehydration solution from a pharmacy. Rest, eat when you can, skip fruit juice and fizzy drinks. Most cases settle within a week. Get medical advice for bloody diarrhoea, vomiting you cannot stop, diarrhoea past seven days, or dehydration that salts have not fixed. The ambulance number is 120, and treatment is not free.
Finding a doctor in ChinaApplies to
Any visitor with diarrhoea, vomiting or stomach pain after a meal in China, and anyone deciding whether to ride it out or find a hospital.
Check before you rely on it
Nothing here is medical advice. The clinical thresholds are quoted from the NHS and the US CDC because they are published and dated; your own doctor and your insurer's assistance line come first.
Information checked:
Two things decide how this goes: whether you keep fluids in, and whether you recognise the point at which self-treatment stops being the right call.
Triage
Find your symptom in the left column. Each threshold is a published one, not a judgement call this page made.
| What you have | What the published advice is | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Diarrhoea and vomiting, no blood, still drinking | Treat it where you are. Rest, fluids in small sips, oral rehydration solution, paracetamol for discomfort. The NHS expects symptoms to settle within a week. | United Kingdom National Health Service, read 2026-07-25 |
| Dark, strong-smelling urine or passing less than usual | That is the NHS's sign of dehydration and its trigger for speaking to a pharmacist about oral rehydration powder. | United Kingdom National Health Service, read 2026-07-25 |
| You need to travel and cannot stop going | The CDC names loperamide as an over-the-counter option that reduces frequency and urgency, framed as a way to get through a journey rather than a cure. | United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, read 2026-07-25 |
| Blood in the diarrhoea, or bleeding from the bottom | Urgent medical advice. The NHS lists it as a reason to seek help the same day. | United Kingdom National Health Service, read 2026-07-25 |
| Cannot keep any fluid down | Urgent medical advice, on the same NHS list, alongside dehydration that persists after rehydration sachets. | United Kingdom National Health Service, read 2026-07-25 |
| Diarrhoea past seven days, or vomiting past two days | Urgent medical advice. Those are the NHS's stated durations. | United Kingdom National Health Service, read 2026-07-25 |
| Collapse, or vomiting blood or something like ground coffee | Emergency. The NHS treats it as immediate-action territory; in China the ambulance number is 120. | UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, read 2026-07-25 |
From the first hour
The pharmacy
Non-prescription medicine, over the counter. Anything classified as prescription-only, not without a prescription.
China runs a legal classification splitting prescription from non-prescription medicine, and non-prescription boxes must carry the prescribed mark on the label and package insert. A licensed retail pharmacy must employ a qualified pharmacist, must state the dose and precautions correctly when it sells, may not substitute what a prescription names, and must refuse a prescription carrying contraindications or an excessive dose.
Articles 49, 51, 52, 54 and 58, source: Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, text published by the Beijing Municipal People's Government — Drug Administration Law of the People's Republic of China (read 2026-07-25)
Afterwards
The law provides for it, and sets a floor. Keep the receipt, the packaging and any medical record.
A consumer harmed by food that fails food safety standards may claim compensation from the seller or the producer, and whoever receives the claim must pay first rather than passing the customer along. On top of damages the law allows punitive compensation of ten times the price paid or three times the loss, and where that comes to less than 1,000 yuan, it is 1,000 yuan.
Article 148, source: Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, text published by the Beijing Municipal People's Government — Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (read 2026-07-25)
Complaint channel, source: State Administration for Market Regulation — 12315, on your side (page dated 2019-03-15; read 2026-07-25)
The published facts
Three health authorities, two Chinese statutes and the market regulator. Sources read 2026-07-25.
The CDC's destination page for China states that tap water is not drinkable in China even in major cities, and that bottled water is easily available. The UK foreign ministry says the same in its own words: tap water is generally not safe to drink, only drink bottled water.
Travelers' Health: China (United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, read 2026-07-25)
The CDC's rules for avoiding travellers' diarrhoea are specific: eat only food that is cooked and served hot; avoid food that has been sitting on a buffet; eat raw fruit and vegetables only if washed in clean water or peeled; drink only beverages from factory-sealed containers; and avoid ice, because it may have been made from unclean water.
Travelers' Diarrhea (United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, page dated 2022-05-03, read 2026-07-25)
The CDC calls it the most common travel-related illness and names Asia, excluding Japan and South Korea, among the highest-risk destinations. In otherwise healthy adults it is rarely serious or life-threatening, but it can wreck a trip.
Travelers' Diarrhea (United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, page dated 2022-05-03, read 2026-07-25)
The CDC's treatment sequence is fluids, then oral rehydration solution in serious cases — which it says can be bought in pharmacies — then over-the-counter drugs such as loperamide to reduce frequency and urgency, and only then antibiotics, for severe cases and exactly as a doctor instructs.
Travelers' Diarrhea (United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, page dated 2022-05-03, read 2026-07-25)
The NHS says symptoms usually start within a few hours or a few days of the meal and usually get better within a week. Its instructions are to rest, take small sips of fluid, eat when able and avoid fatty or spicy food, take paracetamol for discomfort, and specifically not to drink fruit juice or fizzy drinks, which can make diarrhoea worse.
Food poisoning (United Kingdom National Health Service, page dated 2024-12-19, read 2026-07-25)
The NHS lists urgent-advice triggers: bloody diarrhoea or bleeding from the bottom; being unable to keep fluid down; diarrhoea for more than seven days or vomiting for more than two days; and dehydration that persists after oral rehydration sachets. It adds that children under 12 should not be given medicine to stop diarrhoea and that children under 16 should not be given aspirin.
Food poisoning (United Kingdom National Health Service, page dated 2024-12-19, read 2026-07-25)
The World Health Organization estimates that 866 million people — almost one in nine worldwide — fall ill after eating contaminated food each year, and that 1.52 million die. It notes that unsafe food can cause more than 200 different diseases, and that many foodborne illnesses come from bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical contamination rather than from anything you can see or taste.
Food safety — fact sheet (World Health Organization, read 2026-07-25)
The Drug Administration Law states that the country operates a classified management system for prescription and non-prescription drugs, with the detailed rules made by the drug regulator together with the health authority. That is why a pharmacy counter will refuse some requests outright.
Article 54 · Drug Administration Law of the People's Republic of China (Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, text published by the Beijing Municipal People's Government, read 2026-07-25)
Labels and package inserts for narcotic drugs, psychotropic drugs, medicinal toxic drugs, radioactive drugs, external-use drugs and non-prescription drugs must carry the prescribed mark. The same article requires the label or insert to state the generic name, composition, strength, marketing authorisation holder, approval number, batch, production date, expiry date, indications, method of use, dose, contraindications, adverse reactions and precautions.
Article 49 · Drug Administration Law of the People's Republic of China (Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, text published by the Beijing Municipal People's Government, read 2026-07-25)
Retail pharmacy requires a drug business licence approved by the county-level drug regulator, and the business must employ a qualified pharmacist or other pharmaceutical technician. When it sells, it must state the method of use, the dose and the precautions correctly; when it dispenses a prescription it must check it, may not substitute or alter what is prescribed, and must refuse prescriptions with contraindications or excessive doses.
Articles 51, 52 and 58 · Drug Administration Law of the People's Republic of China (Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, text published by the Beijing Municipal People's Government, read 2026-07-25)
Ambulance 120, fire 119, police 110, traffic police 122, maritime search and rescue 12395. The health page adds that healthcare in China is not free and can be very expensive, that travellers should hold insurance covering treatment and medical evacuation, and that the British post keeps a list of doctors and medical facilities where some staff speak English.
Foreign travel advice: China — Getting help (UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, read 2026-07-25)
The market regulator merged five separate complaint hotlines — 12315, 12365, 12331, 12358 and 12330 — into a single number, 12315, with a single platform at www.12315.cn, plus a WeChat account and mini-programs, an Alipay mini-program, a Baidu mini-program and a 12315 app.
12315, on your side (State Administration for Market Regulation, page dated 2019-03-15, read 2026-07-25)
Food safety regulators at county level and above must publish a departmental email address or phone number and accept enquiries, complaints and reports. Matters within their remit must be accepted and answered, verified and handled within the statutory period; matters outside it must be transferred to the competent department with written notice to the person who reported. Reports that are verified earn the reporter a reward.
Article 115 · Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, text published by the Beijing Municipal People's Government, read 2026-07-25)
A consumer harmed by food that fails food safety standards may claim compensation from the seller or from the producer, and whichever receives the claim must pay first rather than passing the customer along. On top of damages, the consumer may demand punitive compensation of ten times the price paid or three times the loss; where that sum is under 1,000 yuan, it is 1,000 yuan. Label defects that do not affect food safety and do not mislead are excluded.
Article 148 · Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, text published by the Beijing Municipal People's Government, read 2026-07-25)
Producing or selling food that is spoiled, rancid, mouldy, verminous, filthy, adulterated or abnormal to the senses is prohibited. Catering providers must check the food and raw materials before processing and may not process or use anything in that state, must maintain and clean their equipment, and must not use tableware that has not been washed and disinfected.
Articles 34, 55 and 56 · Food Safety Law of the People's Republic of China (Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, text published by the Beijing Municipal People's Government, read 2026-07-25)
In short
The first hour, the threshold for a doctor, the pharmacy counter, and what happens afterwards.
Fluids, before anything else. The CDC's first treatment step is to drink lots of fluids to stay hydrated and, in serious cases, to use oral rehydration solution, which it says can be bought in pharmacies. Take small sips if you feel sick, rest, avoid fatty and spicy food, and skip fruit juice and fizzy drinks because the NHS says they can make diarrhoea worse.
The NHS thresholds are clear: bloody diarrhoea or bleeding from the bottom, being unable to keep fluid down, diarrhoea lasting more than seven days or vomiting more than two, and dehydration that has not corrected after rehydration sachets. Any of those means getting medical advice rather than waiting it out. For an emergency the ambulance number in China is 120.
No. The CDC's destination page states that tap water is not drinkable in China even in major cities, and that bottled water is easily available. The UK foreign ministry gives the same advice: tap water is generally not safe to drink, only drink bottled water. The CDC also tells travellers to avoid ice, because it may have been made from unclean water.
Non-prescription medicine, over the counter, and nothing classified as prescription-only without a prescription. China runs a legal classification splitting prescription from non-prescription drugs, and non-prescription boxes must carry the prescribed mark on the label and insert. A licensed pharmacy must employ a qualified pharmacist, must explain the dose and precautions, and must refuse a prescription with contraindications or an excessive dose.
Not on your own judgement. The CDC's position is that a doctor may give antibiotics for travellers' diarrhoea but that they should be considered only for severe cases and taken exactly as instructed, and that if severe diarrhoea starts soon after you get home you should see a doctor and ask for stool tests so the right antibiotic can be chosen. Nothing on this page is medical advice.
You do. The UK foreign ministry states that healthcare in China is not free and can be very expensive, and tells travellers to hold insurance covering healthcare, medical evacuation and repatriation, and to contact the insurer quickly once referred for treatment. Its post keeps a list of doctors and medical facilities in China where some staff speak English.
Call 12315. The market regulator merged five complaint hotlines into that single number and runs a platform at www.12315.cn, plus an app and mini-programs. Separately, the Food Safety Law requires food safety regulators at county level and above to publish a phone number or email, to accept and handle reports within the statutory period, and to reward reporters whose reports check out.
The law provides for it. A consumer harmed by food that fails food safety standards may claim from the seller or the producer, and whoever receives the claim must pay first rather than passing you along. On top of damages, the law allows punitive compensation of ten times the price paid or three times the loss, with a floor of 1,000 yuan. Keep the receipt, the packaging and any medical record.
The CDC's list is short and specific: eat only food cooked and served hot; avoid anything that has been sitting on a buffet; eat raw fruit and vegetables only if you washed them in clean water or peeled them; drink only from factory-sealed containers; avoid ice; and wash your hands with soap and water, especially after the toilet and before eating, or use an alcohol-based sanitiser.
Not published
Medical pages are where a guess does the most harm. These stay open.
The symptoms that mean anaphylaxis, the order of actions, and why 120 comes after the auto-injector.
Open the allergy pageWhere you go, which hospitals answer in English, and who pays for it.
Open pageThe quantities, the certificate of diagnosis and the customs channel, before you need any of it.
Open pageNext move
Read enough to make the decision smaller, then open the checklist, search a specific question, choose a setup tool, or share the page with the person planning with you.
Use the checklist when the question has shifted from research to preparation.
Search by the actual problem: Alipay, eSIM, transit visa, first transfer, vegetarian food, or a city name.
Open recommendations when the task is clear enough for a short list to be useful.