Common Eye Surgeries in China: Which Fit a Trip & Where (2026)

The eye surgeries that fit a single trip to China are the short outpatient ones — SMILE or LASIK, ICL lens implants, cataract surgery, pterygium removal and eyelid (ptosis) surgery — usually planned as one to three weeks including the check-ups. Squint surgery can work if your review is arranged at home. Glaucoma drainage surgery, retinal surgery with a gas bubble and corneal transplants rarely fit: they need weekly or monthly visits for weeks to years, and with gas in the eye you must not fly until it has gone — up to about 10 weeks with long-acting gas^[1][5]. And LASIK in China can be safe under the same conditions as anywhere: a registered hospital, a licensed surgeon trained in the procedure, an honest pre-op exam and a follow-up plan — conditions China's 2024 national technical norms spell out^[12][13].

Surgery by surgery: does it fit a trip?

Times in China are planning estimates for a visiting patient; your surgeon's schedule always wins.

Surgery	Typical time in China	Flying	Trip fit	Arrange at home
SMILE / LASIK (全飞秒 / 半飞秒)	5–10 days: exam, surgery, day-1 and ~1-week checks	Cabin pressure does not affect a LASIK eye[2]	Good	Checks at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months, then about every 6 months[13]
PRK / TransPRK (表层切削)	7–10 days: bandage lens; vision improves over 3–5 days, best vision can take a month or longer[3]	Ask your surgeon	Fair — longer stay	Checks every other day until the surface heals, then 1 week to 12 months[17]; sunglasses outdoors[3]
ICL (有晶体眼人工晶体植入)	About a week: 2–4 hours' pressure monitoring after surgery, checks at day 1 and week 1[14]	Ask your surgeon	Good	Checks at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months, then about every 6 months, including eye pressure[14]
Cataract (IOL) (白内障)	1–3 weeks; the second eye is usually a separate operation days to weeks later	Generally safe, unless air or gas was placed in the eye[1]	Good	About 4 weeks of drops[11]; final glasses; laser for later lens-capsule clouding if needed
Pterygium (翼状胬肉)	Outpatient; plan about a week for an early check	Safe after most outer-eye surgery[1]	Good	Steroid drops; 97% of recurrences appear within the first year[10]
Eyelid / ptosis (上睑下垂)	7–10 days: day case, check about a week later[9]	Safe after eyelid surgery[1]	Good	Bruising settles in about 2 weeks; the lid may sit too high or low and occasionally needs another operation[9]
Squint / strabismus (斜视)	At least a week; most people return to work after about a week[8]	Ask your surgeon	Fair	Orthoptic review; further surgery is quite common[8]
Glaucoma surgery (trabeculectomy, tube)	Visits in weeks 1, 2, 3 and 4, sometimes months 2 and 3[7]	Many patients can fly the next day[1]	Poor	Stitch adjustments, drops for 2–3 months; avoid booking travel for about 2 months[7]
Retina / vitrectomy (玻璃体切割)	Weeks; head positioning if gas is used[4]	No flying until the gas bubble has gone[1][4] — up to 4 weeks (short-acting gas) or 10 weeks (long-acting)[5]	Poor	Silicone oil needs a second operation to remove[4]
Corneal transplant (角膜移植)	First-week check, then visits every few months for 1–2 years[6]	Risky while an air or gas bubble remains[1]	Poor	Long-term drops; rejection can happen at any time[6]

Laser glaucoma procedures and retinal laser are quicker, and flying is typically fine after them^[1] — but glaucoma and retinal disease need lifelong monitoring, which belongs with an ophthalmologist near home.

Why follow-up, not the operation, sets your schedule

Most of these operations take minutes to an hour — cataract surgery usually 20–45 minutes^[11] — but the reviews anchor the trip. China's 2024 norms for SMILE and ICL set checks at day 1, week 1, month 1, months 3 and 6, year 1 and about every six months after that^[13][14]; after surface laser (PRK) patients are seen every other day until the corneal surface has healed^[17]. You can do the first one or two checks in China; the rest happen at home.

Two schedule traps for travellers:

• Contact lenses. The SMILE norm generally advises stopping soft lenses for at least 1 week, toric soft and rigid gas-permeable lenses for at least 3 weeks, and orthokeratology lenses for at least 3 months before the pre-op measurements^[13]. Wearing lenses on the flight over can make your exam invalid.
• The second eye. Cataract surgery on both eyes is usually two operations days to weeks apart, which is what stretches the trip — see cataract surgery in China.

Example (laser vision correction, one trip): day 1 pre-op exam → day 2 or 3 surgery → next-day check → week-1 check → fly home. The detailed version is in refractive surgery in China.

Is it safe to get LASIK in China?

Safety is not a property of a country; it depends on the facility, the surgeon, the candidacy decision and the aftercare. What China's rules say:

• Hospitals carry the responsibility. Under the National Health Commission's 2018 rules on medical technology, each institution must match its services to its capability and run systems for surgical grading, surgeon authorization and quality control^[15].
• Procedure-specific norms (December 2024). The NHC issued national technical norms for SMILE, ICL and orthokeratology lens fitting^[12]. Surgeons must be licensed and registered at the institution; the norms recommend attending-ophthalmologist level or above and require procedure-specific training^[13][14].
• Explicit candidacy rules. For SMILE: age 18 or over, a stable prescription (no more than 0.50 D change a year for two consecutive years), myopia from −0.50 to −10.00 D and astigmatism within 5.00 D; contraindications include keratoconus or suspected keratoconus, severe dry eye, and uncontrolled glaucoma or systemic disease^[13]. For ICL: at least 2,000 endothelial cells/mm² and, generally, an anterior chamber depth of at least 2.80 mm^[14].
• Volume. A 2022 professional group standard, drafted by eye hospitals including Beijing Tongren, Tianjin Eye Hospital and Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, puts China's laser corneal refractive surgery at more than 1.5 million operations a year^[17]. Volume means experienced teams exist; it does not prove any particular clinic is good.

The risks are the same everywhere: glare and halos, corneal haze or scarring, infection, under- or over-correction, and, very rarely, worse vision than before^[3]. A clinic that promises a method and a surgery date before measuring your corneas is a red flag.

How to check a licence. The NHC runs online registers of medical institutions and practising physicians (zgcx.nhc.gov.cn/unit and zgcx.nhc.gov.cn/doctor)^[16]. They are in Chinese: ask the hospital for the surgeon's Chinese name and province of registration, or have a Chinese-reading friend search for you.

What it costs: the figures we track

• SMILE: as of October 2026, one Wuhan private eye hospital advertises ¥12,800–28,800 for both eyes depending on the laser generation, with the pre-op exam and follow-ups included^[18].
• ICL: industry reporting puts EVO ICL at roughly ¥28,000 for standard and ¥34,000 for toric lenses, both eyes^[19].
• For comparison: the 2026 US average for LASIK is about $2,246 per eye^[20].
• Cataract: there is no single national price. In China's 2023 national procurement, intraocular lens prices fell about 60% on average — one imported extended-depth-of-focus lens from ¥11,000 to about ¥3,500, a new-generation imported monofocal from ¥10,000 to about ¥1,100^[21]. Surgery, exam and drug fees are billed on top. In the US, cataract surgery starts at about $3,000–6,000 per eye^[22].
• Other eye surgeries: we have no sourced price. Ask for an itemized written quote.

These are private-hospital or public-procurement figures; international departments and VIP (特需) clinics set their own, higher fees. Visitors pay out of pocket — see costs and price comparison.

Where: eye hospitals in our directory

A hospital having an eye department is not the same as its international desk serving you in English. This is what each one publishes.

Hospital	City	International channel we could verify	Languages stated
Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center	Guangzhou	International Eye Care, all subspecialties; +86 189 2210 6862 / +86 189 2210 2338 (Mon–Fri 8:00–12:00, 14:30–17:30), premiercare@gzzoc.com[23]	Bilingual Chinese/English page; no list of languages
Shanghai Eye Hospital	Shanghai	International Medical Center, Building 20, 1440 Hongqiao Road; +86 186 0217 0757, email booking[24]	English, Japanese[24]
EuroEyes Eye Clinic (private)	Shanghai	Refractive, cataract and presbyopia surgery; 400-720-7999 (mainland number), service@euroeyes.com[25]	English[25]
Shanghai Aier Eye Hospital (private)	Shanghai	International Medical Service; direct billing[26]	Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, Spanish[26]
Sichuan Eye Hospital (Aier) (private)	Chengdu	+86 28 8602 6800 / +86 188 8452 0146, ims.scyk@aierchina.com; English reports[42][43]	Chinese, English, Japanese, Spanish[42]
Shenzhen Aier Eye Hospital (private)	Shenzhen	International department with dedicated reception and insurance direct billing[40]; +86 755 2380 9666[41]	Not stated
Changsha Aier Eye Hospital (private)	Changsha	VIP & International Medical Center with one-on-one patient assistants[40]	Not stated
C-MER (Shenzhen) Dennis Lam Eye Hospital (private)	Shenzhen	No international desk published; +86 755 8321 1885, open on public holidays[39]	Not stated
Tianjin Eye Hospital	Tianjin	No international desk found; laser surgery line +86 22 2318 7232, cataract line +86 22 2730 0537[36]	Not stated
Xiamen Eye Center	Xiamen	No international desk published; enquiries +86 592 211 2111[38]	Not stated

Notes on the table:

• Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center's International Eye Care serves Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents, foreign nationals and commercially insured patients, booked one-to-one by hotline or email^[23].
• More in Shanghai: the English-language international service of Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital also lists ophthalmology (+86 21 5331 4069)^[27]. The Eye & ENT Hospital of Fudan University (复旦大学附属眼耳鼻喉科医院, also called 上海市五官科医院) is not in our directory: Fudan describes it as a tertiary grade-A eye and ENT specialty hospital founded in 1952, at 83 Fenyang Road and 19 Baoqing Road (Xuhui) and 2600 Jiangyue Road (Minhang), switchboard +86 21 6437 7134^[28]. We have not verified an international channel on its official site.
• Tianjin Eye Hospital is a Class A tertiary eye hospital founded in 1924^[37]; Xiamen Eye Center is a Grade 3A eye hospital and a national cataract surgery training base^[38]. Neither publishes an international desk, so plan on a Chinese-speaking helper.
• C-MER Shenzhen belongs to the Hong Kong-listed C-MER group and is a designated institution for the Hong Kong and Macao drug-and-device access scheme (港澳药械通)^[39].

Beijing: what we could verify about Tongren

Beijing Tongren Hospital's official site says it was founded in 1886 and that ophthalmology and otorhinolaryngology are national key disciplines^[29]. Its published outpatient schedule lists separate clinics for retina (fundus), glaucoma, cataract, cornea, eye trauma, ocular oncology, strabismus and paediatric eyes, oculoplastics and a refractive surgery centre^[32]. Campuses are at Chongwenmen (West: 1 Dongjiaominxiang; East: 8 Chongwenmennei Street) and Yizhuang; the patient hotline is +86 10 5826 6699, and booking runs through the hospital's WeChat mini-program^[30]. Registration is real-name, a passport is an accepted ID, and eye patients register at a dedicated hall by the West campus south gate^[31].

We found no international-department page or foreign-language booking channel on trhos.com (checked October 2026). Separately, Beijing's municipal government lists Tongren among institutions offering "full-process" foreign-language services, in English^[33] — call and ask what that means for the clinic you need. The city also runs an English booking route, the "International Service Beijing" mini-program on WeChat or Alipay^[34]. See Tongren in our directory and Beijing hospitals for foreigners. A private alternative, Beijing United Family Hospital, lists an eye clinic at its main campus^[35].

Safety checklist before you book

1. Licensed facility, named surgeon. Ask who will operate, their title and registration, and check the NHC registers^[16]. The norms recommend attending level or above with procedure-specific training^[13][14].
2. An honest pre-op exam — and accept a "no". You are usually not a laser candidate if you are under 18 or have an unstable prescription, keratoconus or suspicious corneas, severe dry eye, or uncontrolled glaucoma, diabetes or autoimmune disease; for ICL, too few endothelial cells or a shallow anterior chamber rule you out^[13][14]. Have corneal thickness and topography measured at home first.
3. Aftercare drops. After SMILE or ICL expect antibiotic drops for a week and steroid or anti-inflammatory drops for 1–2 weeks, with eye-pressure checks while on steroids^[13][14]; after cataract surgery, about 4 weeks of drops^[11]; after trabeculectomy, 2–3 months^[7]. Carry enough for the journey, with generic names — see medicines and prescriptions.
4. Follow-up at home. Book a local ophthalmologist before you fly, and take home an English or bilingual surgical report (method, laser or lens model, power, lens serial sticker) — see medical records and follow-up.
5. Gas means no flying. With gas in the eye, do not fly, and tell any anaesthetist: nitrous oxide can cause problems in an eye that contains gas^[5].
6. Water. No swimming for a month after SMILE or ICL^[13][14] and for four weeks after squint surgery^[8].

Who should not travel for eye surgery

• Anyone with sudden vision loss, a shadow or curtain across vision, or a painful red eye: that is urgent care where you are — see emergency in China.
• Anyone who needs glaucoma drainage surgery, retinal surgery with gas or a corneal transplant and cannot stay for weeks or months.
• Anyone who cannot stay for the first checks, or cannot arrange competent follow-up at home.
• People with only one seeing eye or complex eye disease, who should decide with their own ophthalmologist first.

Next steps

• Browse hospitals with ophthalmology, or filter for refractive surgery and cataract surgery.
• Read the detailed pages: refractive surgery, cataract surgery, glasses and eye tests and ophthalmology in China.
• Write to a hospital in English and Chinese with the inquiry letter tool: ask about contact-lens rules, who operates and the follow-up plan.
• Fit the exam, surgery, checks and gentle sightseeing into one itinerary with the AI planner.