Hotel restrictions for foreigners.

I would help the hotel manager from been embarrassed by pre-empting him:
“hi, I am sorry I can only pay cash …, what are your cheaper rooms looked like?”
:-)

Sure it can happen. Some hotels don't have the system to register you with the local PSB and don't want to bother if they get just a couple of foreigners per year. But I have traveled a lot in China in the past many years and personally never encountered this. I did, however, encounter places would could not care less with the registration. In a small place in Dehang or even in Lijiang.

I disagree with this attitude very strongly. You do need to worry!

If you don't mind throwing money around, you'll find a place to stay. The most expensive place in town will nearly always accept you, and if you're happy paying for a taxi to take you there, you'll get a bed for the night.

But if you're a budget traveler, trying to stay at even decentish mid-range places, finding somewhere to sleep can sometimes be a big, big, big hassle. I once ended up in a horrible (but cheap) 24-hour spa place for the night, staying in a huge dormitory, because I couldn't find a reasonably-priced hotel in town willing to accept me.

I would not rely on the PSB for help either! The PSB were once called while I was struggling to find a hotel room, and all they did was take me to a random street corner in the middle of town (well after dark) and drop me off there.

Finding a decent, reasonably-priced place to sleep can easily be one of the biggest challenges of traveling around China.

And as above, there are no rules to it. In some towns, it's easy to find a hotel. In others, it's next to impossible.

#11 and #12

Are you sure you travelled in the same country?

But I have traveled a lot in China in the past many years and personally never encountered this. >

vs.

finding somewhere to sleep can sometimes be a big, big, big hassle>

Perhaps jpdem tends to look for fancier hotels than I do. The number of hotels in China that have turned me away because I was foreign number at least 100, spread out all over the country.

That's pretty bad!

Well, nobody said travelling in China is easy...

Are you sure you travelled in the same country?

China is a huge country. Things also work a little differently there. One law can be enforced in dramatically different ways.

This particular law was changed in the run up to the olympics 8 years ago, when the central government decreed that all hotels in Beijing would start accepting foreigners, with other provinces to start doing the same soon. No timetable, no definition of soon, no list of provinces. It is up to each individual local government to make the decisions. You can go to one town and find all the hotels accept foreigners, then go to the next down down the road and find that there is only 1 place in town.

Generally, most hotels in China do accept foreigners, but the ones that do not are clustered together and are towards the lower end of the budget spectrum. You might not find 1 hotel that doesnt accept foreigners, but if you find one, there is a good chance you will find 10.

Years and years ago, there was a new policy that foreigners could stay anywhere in Beijing, but it never really got off the ground, and it is today a dead letter.

Like others, I've been refused lodging at a great number of places, including Beijing after the new policy came into effect. For a while, I carried a copy of the announcement, but finally gave up.

Ditto other places that announced this new policy, like Kunming.

For Beijing, here's the official 2003 announcement from the Beijing PSB:

http://www.bjgaj.gov.cn/web/detail_getArticleInfo_39716_col1159.html (in Chinese)

And here's Booking.com's 2016 listing for the 7 Days Inn near Beijing West, with the notation "Mainland Chinese Citizens" and the remark, "Please note that due to local licensing guidelines, 7Days Inn Beijing West Railway Station Lize Bridge is only able to accept Mainland Chinese citizens. Guests must present a valid PRC Identification Card upon check-in."

http://www.booking.com/hotel/cn/7days-inn-beijing-west-railyway-station-lize-bridge.html

889, that is one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen on the internet. We have advertising copy in their description saying:

"Fengtai is a great choice for travelers interested in convenient public transportation, tourist attractions and history.

We speak your language! "

And then, one of the "6 Reasons to Choose 7Days Inn Beijing West Railway Station Lize Bridge":

Staff speak English!

And indeed, it's advertised on an English-speaking booking site.

But they can only accept Mainlanders???

The real problem is that China is not run according to laws.

Whatever the law happens to be, at a national or local level, is irrelevant. All that matters is what hotel staff actually decide to do. Sometimes the PSB is strict, and many hotels won't let you stay. Sometimes a town is used to seeing a lot of foreigners for whatever reason, and so most hotels there will you let you stay.

But often as not, there's no rhyme or reason to it. Some hotels will let you stay, and other won't. It's impossible to predict. Sometimes a really cheap place won't let you stay, but the nicer place next to it will. Sometimes a nicer place won't let you stay, but the really cheap place next to it will. Maybe one receptionist will allow you to stay, but if you turn up the next day and meet someone else at reception, they'll refuse you. Some places will agree to let you stay, but only after you speak Chinese with them for awhile, and convince them that you're not an alien. Turn up somewhere with a Chinese girlfriend, and they're likely to let you stay, even if they'd refuse you if you were by yourself..

The whole thing is a complete and utter mess, and it can be very, very frustrating.