Q: 1. What is the emergency number in China?

China has no single all-in-one emergency number. You call the specific service: Police: 110. Medical ambulance: 120. Fire: 119. Traffic accidents: 122. There is no equivalent of 911, 999, or 112. Save all four numbers in your phone before you travel. If you can only remember one: 120 for medical, 110 for everything else.

Q: 2. Will emergency operators speak English?

Not reliably, especially outside major cities. Beijing and Shanghai have English-language tourist assistance lines (see the table below). For the main emergency numbers, English support is inconsistent. The practical solutions: have your hotel call on your behalf, use Alipay's SOS function which can connect to emergency services, or have your location and situation written in Chinese ready to read out.

Question 1

1. What is the emergency number in China?

Accepted Answer

China has no single all-in-one emergency number. You call the specific service: Police: 110. Medical ambulance: 120. Fire: 119. Traffic accidents: 122. There is no equivalent of 911, 999, or 112. Save all four numbers in your phone before you travel. If you can only remember one: 120 for medical, 110 for everything else.

Question 2

2. Will emergency operators speak English?

Accepted Answer

Not reliably, especially outside major cities. Beijing and Shanghai have English-language tourist assistance lines (see the table below). For the main emergency numbers, English support is inconsistent. The practical solutions: have your hotel call on your behalf, use Alipay's SOS function which can connect to emergency services, or have your location and situation written in Chinese ready to read out.

Question 3

3. What should I do if my passport is lost or stolen?

Accepted Answer

Report to local police (110) first to get a loss report, then contact your embassy. The police report (遗失证明 or 失窃证明) is required by your embassy to issue an emergency travel document. Most embassies issue an Emergency Travel Document within one to three working days. Keep a photo of your passport's data page saved in your email or cloud storage. It significantly speeds up the replacement process.

Question 4

4. How do I contact my embassy in China?

Accepted Answer

All major Western embassies have 24/7 emergency consular lines for genuine emergencies. Save your embassy's emergency number before you travel. Consular assistance covers lost passports, arrest, hospitalisation, and death of a companion. It does not cover paying your bills or getting you out of legal trouble. The table below has the main embassy emergency contacts.

Question 5

5. What is the tourist police and where can I find them?

Accepted Answer

Tourist police (旅游警察, lǚyóu jǐngchá) operate at major tourist sites and handle tourist-specific disputes and assistance. Look for officers with 旅游警察 written on their uniform near major attractions. For scam incidents at tourist sites, going to the tourist police directly is faster than calling 110. They are used to dealing with foreign visitors and often have some English.

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