Remember when 72-hour visa-free travel was a big deal in China? Oh how young and naive we were way back then, in 2013. Little did we know that better visa-free travel options were yet to come.

In a groundbreaking decision today that will certainly blow 72-hour visa-free travel out of the water, the State Public Security Ministry announced that Shanghai and neighboring Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces will begin offering six-day, 144-hour visa-free transit to foreigners from 51 countries beginning later this week.

Starting January 30, travelers entering the country from Shanghai’s two airports, Hangzhou's Xiaoshan International Airport and Nanjing's Lukou International Airport will be able to stay in those cities and provinces for up to six days without a visa, provided that they're in transit to other countries. They'll also be able to exit the country from any of those four airports.

The service will be offered to passport holders from the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, the United States, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Brunei, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia and Albania.