Police registration in China: what to say at the station

Every foreigner must register their address with the local police within 24 hours of moving in (hotels do it for you). It's a 10-minute errand — here's the script.

What you'll say

Tap play to hear it. Everything on this page runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded.

Heads-up: the voice you hear here is your browser’s built-in Mandarin — the app sounds considerably better. On iPhone it uses Apple’s enhanced and premium system voices, plays at real conversational speed, and has a slow mode for practising.

This device has no Chinese voice installed, so audio can’t play here. The app doesn’t have that problem — it uses the Mandarin voices built into iOS.

我来办理住宿登记。

Wǒ lái bànlǐ zhùsù dēngjì.

I'm here for residence registration.

住宿登记 (zhùsù dēngjì) = accommodation registration. Say it at the 派出所 (police station) front desk.

这是我的护照和租房合同。

Zhè shì wǒ de hùzhào hé zūfáng hétong.

Here's my passport and rental contract.

Bring: passport, rental contract, sometimes the landlord's ID copy. Photos of documents often accepted.

我上个星期搬的家。

Wǒ shàng ge xīngqī bān de jiā.

I moved in last week.

Late? Usually a warning for first offense. Don't make it a habit — it matters at visa renewal.

1 more phrase in this situation — plus the real-speed audio for all 4, the listening drill, and the camera. Six situations are free in the app; this one is part of Pro.

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What they'll say back

This is the part nobody teaches. Real Mandarin comes back fast and blunt, so hear it at natural speed first.

Press play before you read. In the app, anything you miss comes back slower and then again later, until you catch it at full speed.

They say

房东的电话号码是多少？

Fángdōng de diànhuà hàomǎ shì duōshao?

What's your landlord's phone number?

You can answer

在这里，我发给你看。

Zài zhèlǐ, wǒ fā gěi nǐ kàn.

Here it is — let me show you.

They say

好了，这是你的登记单，换地址要重新登记。

Hǎo le, zhè shì nǐ de dēngjìdān, huàn dìzhǐ yào chóngxīn dēngjì.

Done — here's your registration slip. If you change address, register again.

You can answer

明白了，谢谢您。

Míngbai le, xièxie nín.

Understood — thank you.

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