The Chengdu International Travel Healthcare Center, Explained

Chengdu's foreigner visa medical exam is not done at a hospital. It happens at the Sichuan International Travel Healthcare Center (四川国际旅行卫生保健中心) — a Chengdu Customs institution, also listed as the Chengdu Customs Port Clinic — at No. 1 Tongzilin North Road, Wuhou District. Plan on the national ¥300–600 band for the full examination, go on a weekday morning before 10:00 fasting, and expect the stamped certificate in roughly 3–5 working days. Desk line: 028-85197251.

What the Chengdu centre is — and what it is not

Every Chinese city with a meaningful foreign population has an International Travel Healthcare Center: a customs-affiliated clinic handling entry–exit health matters rather than a hospital department. Its core job is the Foreigner Physical Examination Record (体检表) required before the Exit and Entry Bureau will issue a work or study residence permit, plus travel vaccinations and international health certificates. The requirement itself, the form, and the national test panel are covered in our China visa medical exam guide — this page covers the Chengdu specifics.

As in Suzhou, the naming is provincial, not municipal — which is why searching "Chengdu International Travel Healthcare Center" turns up an institution with Sichuan in its name. The centre is the Sichuan International Travel Healthcare Center, run under Chengdu Customs, and it is the only official body in Sichuan that issues the International Travel Health Examination Certificate and the international vaccination certificate (the yellow book). Signage, listings and paperwork may also call it the Chengdu Customs Port Clinic (成都海关口岸门诊部). One institution, one address.

Tongzilin is the old consular and expat quarter of south Chengdu, so the location is convenient from most international employers' offices and from the US Consulate district. The morning-only window is the real constraint: the exam must be done fasting, and stations stop taking new arrivals once the blood draw closes at 10:00 — earlier than in most other cities, so treat it as an 08:00 appointment, not a morning errand.

The fee: why there is no Chengdu number on this page

Unlike Beijing (¥430, often free for Z-visa holders) or Shenzhen (~¥480), the Sichuan centre does not publish a foreigner-exam fee schedule online, and third-party booking listings quote package prices that bundle optional items. Rather than invent a figure, plan on the national ¥300–600 band that the standard residence-permit medical runs at ITHCs across major cities, and carry ¥700. Payment at ITHC desks is normally WeChat Pay, Alipay or cash. If a quote lands far above that band, ask what has been added — the US immigrant-visa panel exam is a different, much more expensive product (¥1,700–2,100 where published) that shares some of these buildings and regularly contaminates price expectations.

If you completed a physical exam at home before flying, bring the whole file: ITHCs can verify and certify a properly stamped Foreigner Physical Examination Record with original lab reports instead of re-examining you, at a fraction of the full fee — roughly ¥60–500 at the centres that publish the figure. The health check certificate guide covers what a complete file looks like.

Booking: employer, university, phone — or just go early

There is no English web portal. The routes that work, in order of how most people actually do it:

• Employer HR — Chengdu employers hiring foreigners process work-permit medicals continuously; many book the slot and some reimburse the fee. Ask before paying.
• University international office — Sichuan University, UESTC, Southwest Jiaotong and the other big intakes run group bookings each September and February; join yours rather than booking alone.
• Phone — the published line is 028-85197251 (Chinese; have a colleague call).
• Walk-in — arrive at 08:00 on a weekday, fasting, documents ready. Early in the week beats Friday; September and February mornings are the crowded ones.

Exam day: what to bring, and what happens

• Passport — the original, plus a photocopy of the information page.
• Photos — two passport-sized colour photos on a white background.
• Payment — WeChat Pay, Alipay or cash; budget ¥300–600, carry ¥700.
• Fasting — nothing to eat before the blood draw and abdominal ultrasound. Water is fine.
• Category extras — admission letter and JW201/JW202 form (students); work-permit notification letter (workers).

The panel is the national standard used at every ITHC: basic measurements, internal medicine and surface exams, chest X-ray, ECG, abdominal ultrasound, and blood tests covering at least HIV, syphilis and hepatitis markers. You move station to station and most people are through in 1–2 hours. Nothing here is a diagnosis — it is a fitness-for-residence screen read by an immigration officer, not by your doctor.

Make the fasting morning count

The ITHC exam tells you almost nothing about your health — no lipids, no diabetes screen, no cancer markers, no cardiac assessment beyond a resting ECG. Since you are already fasting in the city that hosts West China Hospital — by most rankings the strongest hospital in western China — many new arrivals pair the compliance exam with a real comprehensive checkup at West China Hospital the same week, where Grade IIIA screening packages start around ¥700–1,000. Whatever you book, ask for results in English so the findings are usable when you get home.

Note that an employer-arranged pre-employment 入职体检 is a third, separate exam — different form, different fee, usually done at a hospital rather than the ITHC. Confirm with HR which ones you actually need before spending two mornings fasting.

Frequently asked questions