When you arrive at an international airport in China, there’s no doubt that you’ll be going through 海关(customs) and you’ll have to 填表(fill out a table) which will determine your status in China.  Also, if you’re carrying a lot of items, then you’ll have to 申报(declare items) based on their 价值(value).  You’ll undoubtedly have to go through 边检(border control), whereupon somebody will 审核(review) your 证件(documents) and make sure that they 生效(are effective).  If everything checks out, then the person will 盖章(stamp [the documents]).  You’ll notice that some lines move faster than the one for 外国人（foreigners)， specifically those for 国民 (citizens) and 外交 (diplomatic) channels.  If you are a foreigner, make it your business to 登记 at a police station within 24 hours of arrival.  It will make a lot of things easier.

海关 hai3guan1 – customs
填表 tian2biao3 – fill in a table
申报 shen1bao4 – declare
价值 jia4zhi2 – value
边检 bian1jian3 – border control
审核 shen3he2 – review
证件 zheng4jian4 – documents
生效 sheng1xiao4 – be effective (used for documents)
盖章 gai4zhang1 – to stamp (used for documents)
外国人 wai4guo2ren2 – foreigner(s)
国民 guo2min2 – citizen
外交 wai4jiao1 – diplomacy/diplomatic
登记 deng1ji4 – register