Visa Application to China

May 13-16: A massive earthquake rocks western and central China. When I wake on Tuesday, I respond to e-mails from family and friends. Hong Kong was not physically affected. The local news streams continuous footage of the devastation. The city's thoughts and prayers focus on the disaster survivors.

The hassle of preparing my visa application to the Mainland absorbs the week. By Thursday, I'm ready to submit.

All the guidebooks say, Hong Kong is the easiest/best place to obtain a tourist visa to China. In the past, this may have been true, but leading up to the Olympics, I’m not sure.

Earlier, when Joyce tried calling the Chinese consular office in Hong Kong, she explained that her American friend was seeking a passport into China. They told her, in Cantonese, “Go back to America and get his visa there,” and hung up the phone.

The “L” visa, which usually costs around $25-30US in Hong Kong, now costs $150US. It used to be available from all the travel agencies around the city (local or international), but it’s now only available to foreigners in Hong Kong through China Travel Service (H.K.) Limited.

I tried calling one branch, and they hung up the phone. After this attempt Joyce has been helping me contact the agency regarding my visa questions. Even she has trouble at times, though.

When we got past the ever-busy dial tone, different employees of China Travel Service offered different visa requirements over the phone. After multiple phone calls, we learn that multiple entry permits are no longer available (in theory, maybe). So, I only have 30 days to see as much of China as possible, then I must leave the country.

China in 30 days, only 30 days, having already visited Hong Kong and Macau, with plans to visit Beijing in August, here is my itinerary for June:

Enter Shenzen by train, fly to Xi’an, fly to Chongqing, boat to Yichang, bus to Wuhan, fly to Nanjing, train to Suzhou, bus to Tongli, bus to Shanghai, train to Hangzhou, bus to Huangshan area, train to Shantou, bus to Guangzhou, train back to Hong Kong.

In order to obtain my visa, I first need to secure purchase or reservation receipts for the following:

RECENT PHOTOGRAPH: Easy. I took it at the photo studio in the shopping mall next to Joyce’s home.

LODGING DOCUMENTS: I have hostel/hotel rooms booked all along the way, for each night in China. Private residences are not eligible, according to those travel agents we spoke with, as they don’t offer any proof of lodging. My Fodor’s guide to Hong Kong mentioned this, and said that the bookings are not binding for your itinerary.

ENTRY TO CHINA DOCUMENT: I don’t need a ticket into the country to show the travel agency, because I’m already in Hong Kong, and I can use the ferry or the KCR to enter Shenzen inexpensively.

DEPARTURE FROM CHINA DOCUMENT: I’ll buy a ticket from Guangzhou back into Hong Kong when I go to the travel agency (but that’s not enough). Also, I need an air ticket out of China’s Special Administrative Regions (ex: Hong Kong – which, evidently, no longer counts as leaving the country for visa purposes). So, I bought a cheap ticket from the Web site “airasia.com,” which operates cheap flights from Macau to Bangkok, and I bought a Turbojet ticket from Hong Kong to Macau.

...So, I guess I’ll be in Thailand for July. Sounds Good. I have family living in a beach town outside Bangkok, and a friend from the University of Missouri lives in the city. Hopefully, everything will work out, and I’ll then be able to spend August in Beijing.

After assembling my documents, I take a bus to northern Hong Kong Island, and I catch the Star Ferry to Tsim Sha Tsui.

The offices of China Travel Service (H.K.) Limited in TST and in Mong Kok are supposedly the fastest to return visa applications (Joyce learned this from one of her numerous calls to the travel agency).

I have everything ready, so the process is fast. I’ll find out the application results on Tuesday.

The woman helping me submits my application for a multiple entry valid for three months (because it’s the same price as the single entry, she says). However, on the phone, we had learned that only 30 day visas were now available. I leave the office hopeful, but a bit confused.

...Crossing my fingers for Tuesday.