Last verified: August 24, 2026
Most medical trips are built around appointments.
Fly in. Get tested. Have treatment. Fly home.
Hainan offers something different: time.
Under Hainan’s visa-free policy, ordinary passport holders from 61 countries can enter the island without applying for a visa in advance and stay for up to 30 days.
And this is not only a holiday policy.
Medical treatment is explicitly included among the permitted reasons for visa-free entry.
That creates an interesting possibility in Sanya.
Thirty days does not mean spending thirty days in a hospital. It means you do not have to squeeze health into a rushed medical trip.
You could spend part of your stay following a structured Traditional Chinese Medicine programme — then still have time for the sea, good food, walking, sleep, sightseeing and simply living at a different pace.
For some travelers, that may be the most valuable part of the 30 days.
Is Hainan Visa-Free in 2026?
Yes.
On August 20, 2026, Vietnam and Kyrgyzstan were added to Hainan’s regional visa-free policy, expanding the list from 59 to 61 countries.
Eligible travelers holding ordinary passports can enter through Hainan’s open ports and stay within Hainan Province for up to 30 days.
The permitted short-term purposes include:
- tourism
- business
- visits and family visits
- medical treatment
- exhibitions
- sporting events
Work and study are not covered by this policy.
Hainan’s open international ports include Sanya Phoenix International Airport, Haikou Meilan International Airport and Qionghai Boao International Airport, as well as designated seaports.
Which 61 countries are eligible?
| Region | Countries |
| Europe | Russia, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Norway, Ukraine, Italy, Austria, Finland, Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ireland, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Albania, Monaco, Belarus |
| Americas | United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile |
| Oceania | Australia, New Zealand |
| Asia | South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Kazakhstan, United Arab Emirates, Brunei, Qatar, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan |
Visa policies can change, so always check the latest official immigration information before traveling.
Can You Use Hainan Visa-Free Entry for Medical Treatment?
Yes.
This is one of the more interesting details of the Hainan policy — and one that is easy to miss when the policy is presented simply as a tourism measure.
China’s National Immigration Administration specifically includes medical treatment among the permitted short-term reasons for visa-free entry to Hainan.
That does not mean every medical situation or every type of stay automatically qualifies. Nor does the visa-free policy replace any medical documents or arrangements that a hospital may require.
But for an eligible international traveler coming to Sanya for a short medical or health programme, the policy removes one significant piece of friction: applying for a visa before the trip.
And because the permitted stay is up to 30 days, it also changes what the trip can look like.
The Real Advantage of 30 Days Is Not More Treatment
A scan can be completed in a day.
A procedure may take a few days.
But sleep, meals, movement and daily routines do not happen inside a consultation room.
They happen during the other 23 hours of the day.
This is why a longer health stay can feel very different from conventional medical tourism.
It is important not to exaggerate what 30 days can do. Thirty days cannot guarantee a new habit, fix a chronic health problem or permanently change the way someone lives.
But it can give you something a three-day medical itinerary cannot:
time to practise a different routine before going home.
At first, someone else may hold much of the structure.
When to measure your glucose or other health indicators. When to eat. When to see the physician. When to receive treatment. When to move. When the day should start slowing down.
After a while, there is room to live around that structure.
You go to a restaurant and decide what to order.
You have an afternoon with no appointment.
You walk because the beach is there, not because exercise has been written on a schedule.
You sleep, wake up and do it again.
That is a very different idea from simply receiving more treatment.
The value of 30 days is not intensity. It is room.
Why Traditional Chinese Medicine Fits a Longer Stay
Traditional Chinese Medicine can fit naturally into this kind of schedule because many TCM treatments do not need to dominate the entire day.
A consultation may be followed by acupuncture, tuina, moxibustion or another therapy depending on the individual’s assessment.
Then the treatment ends.
The day continues.
At the Sanya programmes coordinated by VitaSpan Care, the structured seven-day stay follows a daily rhythm rather than a single major medical event.
Morning readings come before breakfast.
A physician reviews the previous day’s information and adjusts the day’s plan.
Treatment follows.
Meals are arranged around the individual’s programme.
There is outdoor time.
The evening slows down again before sleep.
The next morning, the process repeats.
This is one reason TCM can feel particularly suited to a place like Sanya: treatment becomes one part of the day rather than the reason the entire day exists.
Traditional Chinese Medicine programmes in Sanya
You Don’t Have to Spend 30 Days in Treatment
This distinction matters.
Hainan gives eligible travelers up to 30 visa-free days.
That does not mean you need a 30-day medical programme.
VitaSpan Care’s current structured TCM programmes in Sanya are seven days and six nights.
During that week, the programme can include assessment, daily readings, physician consultations, individualized treatment, meals, outdoor activities and an end-of-stay review with a plan to take home.
Afterwards, you can leave.
Or, if your schedule allows, you can stay in Sanya.
Move to a hotel or resort.
Try the food outside the programme.
Swim.
Walk.
Work remotely if your circumstances and immigration status allow it.
Spend an afternoon doing absolutely nothing.
The structured week can become the anchor of a longer Sanya stay, rather than the entire reason for the trip.
That is where the 30-day visa-free window becomes genuinely interesting.
You have time for healthcare without turning the whole month into healthcare.
Treatment, Then the Sea
Sanya makes that idea easier to imagine.
The city sits at the southern tip of Hainan, with tropical weather, beaches, forested hills and a pace that feels very different from China’s largest cities.
The TCM hospital campus used by VitaSpan Care sits below Linchun Ridge, while the coast is only a short drive away.
A day does not have to look complicated.
Morning readings.
A conversation with your physician.
Treatment.
Lunch.
And then perhaps nothing medical at all.
Go to the beach.
Walk through the forest.
Try somewhere new for dinner.
Come back.
Slow the evening down.
Sleep.
Then begin again tomorrow.
Treatment, then the sea.
That phrase captures something important about a wellness stay in Sanya.
Health does not have to be separated from life.
A routine may be easier to explore when there is still somewhere pleasant to go after the appointment ends.
This Is a Hospital-Based TCM Programme, Not a Resort Spa
For international travelers, there is another important distinction.
The programmes are delivered on the campus of Sanya International Friendship TCM Sanatorium, within the clinical ecosystem of Sanya TCM Hospital.
Sanya TCM Hospital is a public Traditional Chinese Medicine hospital. Its international clinic has received foreign patients since 2002, and the hospital has national-level key TCM specialties including preventive medicine, spleen and stomach disorders, and orthopaedics.
Russian and English interpretation is available for the international programmes.
The residential health centre on the hospital campus provides accommodation, dining, treatment areas and other facilities, allowing the clinical and everyday parts of the stay to happen in the same place.
That matters if you are traveling specifically to experience Chinese medicine.
There is a difference between staying at a wellness resort that offers a massage or acupuncture session and staying somewhere where physicians, diagnostics and TCM specialties are part of the same medical system.
So What Could You Do With 30 Visa-Free Days in Hainan?
You certainly do not need to use all thirty.
You could simply come to Sanya for a week, complete a programme and fly home.
But the visa-free window gives you another choice.
Spend the first part of the trip with more structure.
Then loosen it.
Let the appointments become fewer and ordinary life become larger.
Eat outside.
Explore the island.
Keep walking.
Try to preserve the sleep schedule.
Notice which parts of the routine are easy to keep when nobody is organising the day for you.
That may be more useful than extending treatment simply because more days are available.
Hainan’s visa-free policy makes getting here easier.
Sanya makes staying a little longer appealing.
And Traditional Chinese Medicine can sit somewhere between the two — not as thirty days of treatment, but as a structured beginning to a different kind of stay.
Come for the programme.
Stay for the life around it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hainan visa-free for foreigners in 2026?
Hainan’s dedicated 30-day visa-free policy currently covers ordinary passport holders from 61 countries. Other nationwide Chinese visa-free policies may also apply depending on nationality.
How long can I stay in Hainan without a visa?
Under the Hainan 61-country regional visa-free policy, eligible travelers can stay for up to 30 days within Hainan Province.
Can I enter Hainan visa-free for medical treatment?
Yes. Medical treatment is explicitly included among the permitted short-term purposes under the current Hainan regional visa-free policy.
Can I travel from Hainan to Shanghai or Beijing using this 30-day policy?
The Hainan regional policy itself limits the permitted area of stay to Hainan Province. Some nationalities may separately qualify for other Chinese visa-free policies, so check the rules applicable to your passport before arranging onward travel.
Do I have to stay in treatment for 30 days?
No. Thirty days is the maximum permitted stay under this visa-free policy, not a recommended treatment duration. A medical or TCM programme can occupy only part of your trip.
Can foreigners receive Traditional Chinese Medicine treatment in Sanya?
Yes. Sanya TCM Hospital has an international clinic and receives foreign patients. VitaSpan Care’s current Sanya programmes include Russian and English interpretation.
Sources
National Immigration Administration of China — Regional Visa-Free Entry Policies, updated August 20, 2026
Official NIA policy page
National Immigration Administration of China — Announcement No. 4 of 2026: Kyrgyzstan and Vietnam added to Hainan’s 30-day visa-free policy
Official NIA announcement
Hainan Provincial Government — Explore Hainan: 30-day visa-free entry for eligible foreign travelers
Official Hainan visa-free guide