The playbook

Ninety days, no scrambling

The visa math nobody tells you: the US 10-year tourist visa usually gives 60 days per entry. We structure the quarter around two clocks: the original stay-until date, and the day-55 extension decision. If the +30-day extension is approved, you stay the full quarter. If not, you use the exit route already prepared before you arrived.

Open the interactive pre-flight checklist →

1. T−60 to T−14

   Before you fly

   • 10-year multi-entry L visa application (60 days per entry — the 90-day trip is built from this)
   • Link your US card to Alipay and WeChat Pay; test both with a small transaction. New WeChat accounts need an existing user to vouch by QR scan — we do it with you on a video call
   • Install and test your eSIM roaming plan or VPN — Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Meet all sit behind the firewall, and your job hunt lives in them. After landing is too late
   • Install the translation stack that works behind the firewall: Apple Translate or Microsoft Translator for conversations, Baidu Translate for menus — plus Google's offline Chinese pack as a fallback (its online service is blocked). Open the trust guide once on Wi-Fi too: it saves for offline use, so every script works even with no signal
   • Set up maps that work: Apple Maps switches to English Amap data inside China automatically; on Android, install Amap (fully English interface since 2025). Google Maps is broken in the mainland even with a VPN — stale data, GPS offset by hundreds of meters
   • Keep your US phone number alive on the cheapest plan and turn on Wi-Fi Calling — your bank's 2FA codes go to that number, and losing it strands you. Test it on Wi-Fi-only before you fly
   • On Android, install every app before you board — Google Play is blocked in the mainland (iPhones are unaffected)
   • Health insurance valid in mainland China
   • Apartment shortlisted in an oversupplied district of your base city
2. Day 0–3

   Landing

   • Arrive; entry stamp starts your 60-day clock
   • Sign the lease: 押一付三 — one month deposit + three months rent, which maps exactly onto a 90-day stay
   • Register at the local police station within 24 hours of moving in (mandatory for private rentals; hotels do it for you)
   • Transit card, local SIM, grocery and delivery apps — and your translation stack tested on a real menu over your first meal
3. Day 4–44

   Settle in

   • This is the part you came for. Monthly living costs in Kunming: roughly $220–750, depending on your lifestyle
   • Kunming housekeeping: the city sits at 1,900m, so UV is fierce year-round — sunscreen is gear, not vanity. Tap water isn't for drinking; bottled-water delivery (~¥10–20 per barrel) is the local solution, set up in week one
   • No central heating exists south of the Huai River line. Kunming winters are sunny days and 5°C-indoors nights — for November–February cohorts, a space heater and a thick duvet (~¥200 total) are day-one purchases
   • Deflation quietly works in your favor — your dollar buys a bit more each month
   • Establish your anchor routine (study, gym, deep-work). Stripping away a 50-hour work week leaves a massive void; structure prevents the anxiety spiral
   • Find your people in week one — Kunming has a decades-old expat scene and a huge student population. Loneliness, not money, is the usual failure mode of a solo quarter; the trust guide's 'first Saturday' step is the on-ramp
4. Day 45–50

   The extension window

   • File the +30-day extension at the city's PSB Exit-Entry Administration
   • Must be submitted at least 7 days before the original stay expires; we file earlier than the minimum
   • Bring passport, registration slip, itinerary, and any local materials the office requires
   • Extension support is for clean tourist stays only — not remote work, overstays, or improvised residence
5. Day 55–60

   Decision gate

   • If approved, you keep the Kunming plan and stay to day 90
   • If denied, delayed, or made inappropriate by your situation, we activate the prepared exit
   • Default from Kunming: Laos by rail. Comfort fallback: Thailand. Longer low-cost fallback: Vietnam with eVisa in hand
   • The rule is simple: leave China before the original clock expires
6. Day 88–90

   Exit

   • Fly out before the extended clock expires
   • Deposit back, utilities settled, registration closed out
   • Next cycle can start whenever you like — the visa is multi-entry for 10 years
7. After day 90

   What comes next

   • Your 10-year multi-entry visa doesn't expire. The quarter is just one chapter.
   • Return home with a real sabbatical behind you — or keep exploring
   • K Visa (STEM talent) or Z Visa (teaching/sponsorship) if you want to work in China legally
   • Chiang Mai's DTV visa or Malaysia's DE Rantau for legal remote work in Asia
   • Another Base Camp cycle in a new city or season — Kunming in spring, Penang in winter

Plan B (or plan A)

Prepared exit routes

These are not tricks for living in China forever on a tourist visa. They are clean exit routes and optional side trips that keep the plan calm if the extension is denied, delayed, or simply not the right move. One honest constraint: frequent back-to-back entries eventually draw questions at the border.

Cycle math

Why 90 days — and why twice a year is the ceiling

These numbers aren't arbitrary. Three separate rules converge on the same design, and the cap is a feature.