Visas

Most travellers will need a visa. In most cases, this should be obtained from a Chinese embassy or consulate before departure. Hong Kong and Macau issue their own visas; see those guides for more information.

As of 2005, nationals of Singapore, Brunei and Japan do not need a visa to visit China for a stay of up to 15 days, regardless reason of visit.

To visit mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau residents of Chinese origin need to apply at the China Travel Service to obtain a Home Travel Permit, a wallet sized ID card allowing multiple entries for 10 years.

Getting a tourist visa is easy for most passports as you don't need an invitation, which you do for business or working visas. It is expensive compared to other countries' visa fees (currently US$130 for U.S. passport holders and US$35 for some other passports). The usual tourist single-entry visa is valid for thirty days, though up to ninety days is possible too at least for citizens of some countries, in Hong Kong and Macau you can often get a 3 month visa. A tourist visa must be used within six months after it was issued, until recently it is within three months.

Some travelers will need a dual entry or multiple-entry visa. For example, if you enter to China on a single entry visa, then go to Hong Kong or Macau, you cannot re-enter mainland China without a new visa. With a multiple entry visa, you can.

Holders of most passports can easily get Chinese visas in Hong Kong or Macau, either by going to the government office themselves or paying a bit more to have a travel agent do it for them. China Travel Services handles visa processing. Currently they offer same-day service at extra cost: in by 12PM, out by 5:30PM. Next day and 3 day services are also available. Many hotels and some other travel agencies provide this service as well. Visas may also be obtained from the China Travel Service desk at Hong Kong Airport [1]

Obtaining a visa on arrival is possible, but usually only for the Shenzhen or Zhuhai Special Economic Zones. For example when crossing from Hong Kong to Shenzhen at Lo Wu KCR station a five day Shenzhen only visa can be obtained during extended office hours on the spot for HK$150 (Oct 2007 price) for passport holders of many nationalities, for example Irish.

However there may be restrictions on visas for political reasons and these vary over time. For example:

• As of mid 2004, Nigerians could not get visas in Hong Kong, presumably because the Chinese Government was upset that Nigeria extended diplomatic recognition to Taiwan.

• Americans could no longer get Shenzhen-only visas at the border, presumably because the Chinese Government was irritated by US fingerprinting of Chinese travelers. February 2008: This is still true.

• As of November or December, Americans can now get one-year visas whether the visas are done in the US or Hong Kong/Macau. There are some stories about people who have gotten only one or two entry visas for China when receiving them in the US. The way to absolutely ensure you will receive a one-year visa is to make sure your trip to China is seven days as indicated on the visa paperwork. A consular official in Macau told me when I applied for mine that anything less than seven days defaults to a one or two entry visa. You can put any date range, they do not check. There is an option to check off a one-year visa. CHECK IT! It's the same price as a one-entry or two-entry, even if you do not plan another trip.

• February 2008: British nationals *can* get Shenzhen-only visas at the Luohu border office, tel +86 755 8232 7700 (this section previously said that they could not) after exiting through Hong Kong immigration, however, British passport holders pay HK$450 for such a visa. According to the ferry transfer desk in Hong Kong airport, the visa office in Shekou is able to issue such visas before 5pm. In August 2007 an enquiry to the Chinese Embassy, London denied the existence of this type of visa, despite the fact it does exist! This also applies to the Zhuhai SEZ as well. When heading towards Gongbei after the Macau checkpoint, the visa office is along the right wall.

• As of mid-2006, South Africans were having trouble with visas.

• Indian nationals are limited to 10 or 15 day tourist visas, and have to show US$100 per day of visa validity in the form of traveler's checks (US$1000 and US$1500, respectively), likely owing to the contested border and migration fears.

It used to be common for people entering China to work to arrive on a tourist (L) visa and then have the employer obtain a working {Z} visa for them. Now the employer typically obtains a Residence Permit for them instead. This is effectively a multiple-entry visa; you can leave China and return using it. Some local visa offices will refuse to issue a residence permit if you entered China on a tourist (L) visa. In those cases, you have to enter on a Z visa and getting that requires an invitation letter from the employer, and perhaps a trip to Hong Kong or Korea. In other cases converting an L visa to residence permit is OK; it depends which office you are dealing with and perhaps on your employer's connections.

While several major airlines fly to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, budget seats can prove hard to come by. For good offers, book as early as you can.

Particularly busy periods are usually when Chinese students are flying home for summer, flying back to universities around the world after summer or around Chinese New Year (early February). Tickets at these times are often hard to get and/or more expensive.

If you live somewhere like Toronto or San Francisco with a large overseas Chinese community, check for cheap flights with someone in that community. Sometimes flights advertised only in the Chinese newspapers cost significantly less.

Tiger Airways, Bangkok Airways. Air Asia and Cebu Pacific offer low-priced flights from Southeast Asia (Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Manila) to various destinations in southern China, including Xiamen, Jinghong, Guangzhou, Haikou and Macau.

Oasis Airways offers cheap no-frills flights between Hong Kong and London. The lowest fares are HK$1000 (US$125) one way, typical more like HK$2500, and HK$6600 (US$825) for business class. Flights to Vancouver started mid-2007. Other European cities plus Oakland and Chicago in the US are reportedly planned for later.

Many fliers prefer Asian airlines, which generally have more cabin staff and better service. Hong Kong based Cathay Pacific is an obvious possibility for flights to China. Others include Singapore Airlines, Japan Airlines, and Indonesia's Garuda. Taiwan-based China Airlines does not fly to mainland China, but their Amsterdam-Bangkok-Taipei-Hong Kong route is sometimes cheaper than more direct flights and stopovers are possible.

Korean Air often have good prices on flights from various places in Asia, such as Bangkok via Seoul to North America. One person on a mailing list reported that taking a train to Southern China, cheap Macau-Bangkok flight, then Korean Air Bangkok-Seoul-LA was US$200 cheaper than flying direct Shanghai-LA. Korean Air also fly to a dozen or so Chinese cities, including Shanghai, but we do not know if the big discounts are available there.

China's own airlines are growing rapidly (500 planes in 2000, 863 as of May 2006; they say 1580 by 2010 and 3200 by 2024) and working hard at becoming highly competitive in both service and pricing. They include China Southern, China Eastern, and Air China.

North American airlines: Northwest serves Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou through its hub at Narita. United has the most nonstops to North America, serving Hong Kong, Beijing, and Shanghai from Chicago, San Francisco and Washington. Continental Airlines flies to Hong Kong and Beijing from Newark, and American flies to Shanghai from Chicago. Delta Airlines will offer non-stop service from Atlanta to Shanghai starting in late-March 2008. Air Canada serves Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong from Toronto and Vancouver.

Flying from Australia, Qantas offer direct flights from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth to Hong Kong. [Qantas] also flies to Beijing and Shanghai from Sydney and only offers a code-share service to Shanghai from Melbourne.

Flying from New Zealand, Air New Zealand is the only direct option to Mainland China. They offer direct flights to Shanghai in the Mainland and Hong Kong.

European airlines: Air France flies from Paris to Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai. British Airways goes to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing. KLM fly direct Amsterdam-Chengdu, as well as to other Chinese cities. Finnair have a direct Helsinki-Guangzhou flight.

If you are coming into Hong Kong or Macau and then flying on to somewhere in mainland China, consider crossing the border to Shenzhen or Zhuhai and picking up a flight there. These are usually significantly cheaper.

China can be reached by train from many of its neighbouring countries and even all the way from Europe.

Russia & Europe - two lines of the Trans-Siberian Railway (Trans-Mongolian and Trans-Manchurian) run between Moscow and Beijing, stopping in various other Russian cities, and for the Trans-Mongolian, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Kazakhstan & Central Asia - from Almaty, Kazakhstan, one can travel by rail to Urumqi in the northwestern province of Xinjiang. There are long waits at the border crossing for customs, as well as for changing the wheelbase for the next country's track.
Hong Kong - regular services link mainland China with Hong Kong.
Vietnam - from Nanning in Guangxi province into Vietnam via the Friendship Pass; also between Kunming in Yunnan province, and Hanoi via Hekou and Lao Cai.
North Korea - four weekly connections between the North Korean capital Pyongyang and Beijing.

Consult the Chinese embassy in your country for visa application or your issues you may feel interested:

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