Entry

On arrival in China from abroad, foreigners have to go through the following procedures, just as in other countries.

Health Check

On arrival, the first check you have to pass is the Quarantine Check. At the checkpoint, you will be required to show your visa and passport and fill in a Health Declaration Form. Anyone with listed diseases such as yellow fever, cholera, VD, leprosy, infectious pulmonary tuberculosis or AIDS will be prohibited. Those coming from areas with epidemics yellow fever must show their valid certificates of inoculation against this disease. Those with symptoms of fever, diarrhea, vomiting or rashes must declare this information accurately.

Frontier Inspection

During this procedure, you are required to fill in Entry Registration Cards, and present your passport, visa and quarantine certificates for inspection.

The frontier inspection station has the right to forbid the personnel with any of the following circumstances to enter China:

Those who hold no exit-entry certificates
Holders of invalid, false, altered exit-entry certificates
Holders of other persons' certificates
Those who refuse to receive the health check and the frontier inspection
Those who fail to pass through the port specified
Those who are forbidden to enter by the Ministry of Public Security of the State Council and the Ministry of State Security
Those who are not permitted according to the Chinese laws and administrative regulations

Luggage Check

For the sake of maintaining social safety, the frontier inspection station has the right to check all the luggage brought into China.

Old and waste materials, food, micro-organisms, biological products, portions of human body, blood or its products, or animals that may spread infectious diseases among humans are forbidden to enter. Any printed material, film, tapes that are 'detrimental to China's politics, economy, culture and ethics' are also forbidden to bring into China.

Note: Each travel is recommended to take no more than one Bible into China.

Also during this process, customs declaration will be made. And only when you pass all the procedures that you really and legally enter China.

Exit

Departure is relatively much simpler.

On departure, travelers must fill in Exit Registration Cards and have their passports and visas checked. All articles you have declared on the Customs Luggage Declaration Form upon arrival should be brought out of China. If any item is missing, a certificate by the relevant department is required or else a certain amount of import duty would be charged on it. All the articles detained by the customs upon your arrival, except those are already rotted or out of date, could be gotten back.

Also there are two channels for your choice. Anyone matches condition listed as followings should take the red channel:

Anyone taking with antiques, valuable articles and samples
Anyone taking with the articles that were required to take out of China when entering
When the amount of sliver, gold and currency you take exceeds that you has declared when entering
When the articles you taking go beyond the limitation (in amount or sum) of the customs
Restrictions on some exporting articles:

Antiques
Antiques earlier than 1795, ancient paintings and calligraphy as well as some modern ones are forbidden to export.
Receipt of the antique is required on departure. All the antiques you brought in China should bear a red seal, otherwise they would be confiscated by the customs without compensation.

Gold and Silver
Purchase receipt should be presented to the customs when you prepare to export some gold or silver ornaments you bought in China.

Traditional Chinese Medicinal Materials
To those who go abroad, the total value of Chinese medicinal materials should be less than RMB 300 yuan; to those heading for Hong Kong and Macau, the upper limit is RMB 150 yuan.
Medicinal materials made from rare animal, such as muskiness, antler, leopard and tiger bone, rhinoceros horn and elephant skin, are restricted or forbidden to export.

Note: The value of these materials is based on the purchase receipt you got from the store.

Currency

Travelers who want to convert Renminbi (RMB) back to foreign currency at the airport before leaving China will be required to show the exchange slip provided when they exchanged foreign currency into RMB on arrival or at banks.

The total amount of currency each people could take out is less than RMB 6000 yuan.

Followings are some items which are forbidden to export:

All the articles which are forbidden to import
Valuable cultural relics and rare books relating to Chinese history, culture, and art
Endangered animals, plants and their seeds
Printed materials, films, tapes, photos and others that are related to state secrets