City's hotels start to allow paperless check-in

Shanghai has started to allow people to do check-in at hotels' front desk without showing their physical ID cards, police said on Wednesday.

Instead, people can show their Shanghai Health QR Code, known as suishenma, or their digital ID cards.

At present, Chinese with a hukou, or registered residency, in Shanghai as well as Zhejiang and Anhui provinces are entitled to the new service, but soon it will benefit people from all over the country, according to Shanghai police.

It will potentially also benefit people from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan and also foreigners in China, because they have been able to apply for suishenma since March last year.

DIY check-in

Moreover, over 600 hotels in Shanghai have installed machines to allow people to check in for themselves with physical ID cards to reduce physical contact between hotel customers and staff, police said.

It takes under 30 seconds to check in at the machine which also allows people to choose their favorite rooms available. After inserting their ID cards into the machine, facial recognition on the machine is required to confirm the identity of the customers. The room key is also issued by the machine.

The machine now accepts only Chinese ID cards. Foreigners and people from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, including those with permanent residence cards on the mainland, still need to check in at the front desk.

So far this year, over 4 million people have checked themselves in and out of hotels in Shanghai on such machines, police said.

---

3 Photos  |  View Slide Show ›

• 

  Some hotels in Shanghai have enabled people to check in and out with their Chinese ID cards on a machine.

  Ti Gong
• 

  Some hotels in Shanghai have enabled people to check in and out with their Chinese ID cards on a machine.

  Ti Gong
• 

  Some hotels in Shanghai have enabled people to check in and out with their Chinese ID cards on a machine.

  Ti Gong