Getting treated
In short
Dial 120 for an ambulance. If you can travel, go to a hospital emergency department: almost every hospital runs one. Call your insurer as soon as you are referred, because healthcare in China is not free and can be very expensive. In Beijing you can also call a hospital's 24-hour international line or book in English through the International Service Beijing mini-program.
Check your insuranceApplies to
Visitors who have become ill or been injured mid-trip, and travellers with a condition who want the route worked out before they need it.
Check before you rely on it
Beijing is the only city whose government publishes a step-by-step English medical route we could open. Treat the named hospital lines, the mini-program and the 114 platform as Beijing facts, not national ones.
Review date: 2026-07-25
The two things that decide how this goes are whether you can name a hospital before you need one, and whether your insurer hears from you before the bill does.
What to do
Who answers in English
These are Beijing's own listings for hospitals with international services. They are not a national directory.
For an ambulance anywhere in the mainland the number is 120. Beijing publishes it as (+8610) 120 for a call placed from a foreign number.
Clear Consultation Process (Medical Guide for Foreigners in Beijing) (Beijing Municipal People's Government, read 2026-07-25)Pick the row you are in
One route is national. Most of the rest are Beijing's, and the page says so rather than pretending otherwise.
| Situation | Route | What the source says |
|---|---|---|
| Chest pain, breathing trouble, heavy bleeding, unconsciousness | Dial 120 | 120 emergency medical centers operate across the Chinese mainland for pre-hospital emergency service. In Beijing, dial (+8610) 120. |
| Ill enough to need a doctor today, in Beijing | An international service line, or the emergency department | Three Beijing hospitals publish 24-hour emergency numbers for their international services. Almost all hospitals also run an emergency department. |
| Ill enough to need a doctor today, elsewhere in China | Hospital emergency department | This is the only step in the Beijing guide that its own text describes as nationwide. Nothing we could open publishes an equivalent English route for another city. |
| Not urgent, but you want to be seen in Beijing | International Service Beijing mini-program, or Beijing 114 | The mini-program runs inside WeChat and Alipay and has an English toggle marked En. It sits on the Beijing 114 appointment and registration platform. |
| You take a regular prescription | Bring it with you | Some medicines available at home may be unavailable in China or may not be allowed into the country. This is a packing decision, not a recovery one. |
| Working out who pays | Your insurer, early | Healthcare is not free in China and can be very expensive. Contact your insurance company promptly if you are referred to a facility for treatment. |
Do I have to pay first?
This is the half of the question the city guides do not answer, so it comes from travel advice instead.
Healthcare is not free in China and can be very expensive. Hold travel and medical insurance that covers treatment, medical evacuation and repatriation rather than just cancellation, and contact the insurer promptly once you are referred to a facility. No source we opened says a Chinese hospital bills a foreign insurer directly, and none publishes a consultation price or an admission deposit, so assume your own card goes first and the claim comes later.
Foreign travel advice: China — Health (UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, read 2026-07-25)The published facts
Each line links the source page and the day we read it. Sources read 2026-07-25.
There are 120 emergency medical centers across the Chinese mainland. In Beijing you may dial (+8610) 120 to request pre-hospital emergency medical services.
Clear Consultation Process (Medical Guide for Foreigners in Beijing) (Beijing Municipal People's Government, read 2026-07-25)
Beijing's guide states that almost all hospitals are equipped with emergency departments which can provide emergency medical treatment for patients. That is the fallback when no appointment channel is working for you.
Clear Consultation Process (Medical Guide for Foreigners in Beijing) (Beijing Municipal People's Government, read 2026-07-25)
International Medical Services at Peking Union Medical College Hospital on +86-10-69155288, United Family Healthcare Beijing on +86-10-59277120, and Raffles Hospital Beijing on +86-10-87937999, all published as 24-hour emergency numbers.
Clear Consultation Process (Medical Guide for Foreigners in Beijing) (Beijing Municipal People's Government, read 2026-07-25)
The International Service Beijing healthcare service of the Beijing 114 Appointment and Registration Service Platform takes outpatient appointments. Open the International Service Beijing mini-program on WeChat or Alipay and tap En to switch to the English version.
Clear Consultation Process (Medical Guide for Foreigners in Beijing) (Beijing Municipal People's Government, read 2026-07-25)
As of January 2025, 156 medical institutions in Beijing provide comprehensive English-language services, covering both government-run public hospitals and non-public ones. Beijing also encourages public hospitals to set up international medical departments.
Medical Guide for Foreigners in Beijing (outline) (Beijing Municipal People's Government, read 2026-07-25)
Healthcare is not free in China and can be very expensive. Travel and medical insurance should cover healthcare, medical evacuation and repatriation, not just cancellation.
Foreign travel advice: China — Health (UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, read 2026-07-25)
The UK's travel advice says to contact your insurance company promptly if you are referred to a medical facility for treatment. Doing it from the waiting room is easier than reconstructing it from a discharge desk.
Foreign travel advice: China — Health (UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, read 2026-07-25)
The legal status and regulation of medicines differ between countries. Some medicines may be unavailable in China or may not be allowed into the country, so travel with enough of your own supply and check before you fly.
Foreign travel advice: China — Health (UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, read 2026-07-25)
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office publishes a list of hospitals in China where some staff speak English. It is a foreign ministry's list, not a Chinese authority's, and that is worth knowing when you use it.
Foreign travel advice: China — Health (UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, read 2026-07-25)
In short
Short answers for the moment you realise this is not going to wait until you are home.
If it is an emergency, dial 120 for an ambulance. If you can travel, go to the emergency department of a large hospital: Beijing's government guide says almost all hospitals run one. In Beijing you can also call a hospital's international service line directly, or book outpatient care through the International Service Beijing mini-program.
In Beijing, three hospitals publish 24-hour international service numbers, and 156 Beijing institutions provided full English-language services as of January 2025. Outside Beijing, no government-published English medical route could be opened in this pass, so assume you will need your hotel to interpret or call ahead.
Plan on paying. The UK's travel advice states healthcare is not free in China and can be very expensive, and tells travellers to hold insurance covering treatment, medical evacuation and repatriation. No source we opened says a Chinese hospital will bill a foreign insurer directly.
In Beijing, through the International Service Beijing healthcare service of the Beijing 114 platform. Open the mini-program in WeChat or Alipay and tap En for the English version. No comparable English booking channel for another city could be opened.
Bring enough with you. Some medicines prescribed at home may be unavailable in China or may not be allowed into the country, so replacing them mid-trip is not something to count on.
120. Beijing's guide and the UK's travel advice both give the same number, and Beijing publishes it as (+8610) 120 when dialling from abroad or from a foreign SIM.
Not published
An ill traveller is being sold certainty everywhere else. Here is where the sources stop.
What a policy has to cover before it is any use here: treatment, evacuation and repatriation.
Open insurance guideFreezing the wallet, calling the payment lines, and why your train ticket is not lost with the handset.
Open pageThe extension route, the seven-day deadline, and what the law sets as the overstay penalty.
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.