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Airline Regulations

Even if you have a visa to China (or maybe you do not need a visa) your airline might refuse to allow you to board. This is because airlines face penalties from governments if passengers are not eligible for entry to a country and they are also responsible for carrying them out again.

Generally, there is no problem if you have onward (or return) tickets.

If you don't have one of these, you might run into difficulties. If you are planning to work or study in China for a year you might not want to buy a return ticket, so this can be a problem.

Sometimes you can overcome the problem by buying a refundable or partially refundable ticket in advance, or booking Hotels in the next destination and perhaps forfeiting the deposit.

In situations where there might be some doubt you should check with your airline in advance and if they accept your situation try to get that in writing. Each airline decides its own approach to this issue so check more than one before you purchase.