China Travel Guide 4 (Check 1st page for references)

[mama squeak!]

Chinese Embassy Website

Chinese Visa Requirements

Downloadable Visa Application Forms



Link to previous thread.

 

[eischied_21]

Any sisses going to Shenzhen for vacation or working in Shenzhen, China?

[darna88]

sis pag nagapply ba for chinese visa ilan percentage ang pumapasa? within thflie day ba malalaman kung pasado or hindi? and what if wala pa naman talaga ako plan mag china just incase may biglaan kasi promo flight at least i have china visa na ...btw i already have us visa

[mama squeak!]

^Basta kumpleto yung documents na hinihingi nila no reason na ma-deny. In my experience one of the easiest makakuha is the Chinese visa. Regular processing is 4 working days. Meron din silang rush (3 days) and express (2 days) additional na lang na bayad.

[sistah!]

I'm currently in Shanghai now for work training. Tomorrow, I will request for an extension of my work visa because I need to stay until December but I was only granted a 1 month stay. Hehe. So far, all past applications naman have been successful but medyo hassle kasi kami talaga ang pupunta at mag-aayos.

Ok naman dito in Shanghai. Except for the occassional rain, the temperature is good and life is quiet.

[melodymedley]

Sharing my China adventure tips:
Visa:
We used Lucky Travel Corporation located in Makati. Hassle na kasi for me mag-asikaso ng visa application so we opted for a travel agency. Paid Php 2,000 (kasama na yung visa fee of Php 1,400). We passed our  flight and hotel bookings, itinerary, COE, Bank Cert and Bank Statements. We requested for 18 days but we were given only 14 days. Sabi ng agency, ganun daw kapag first-timer. I don't know if that is a new unwritten rule. Parang yung Php 100K ADB sa bank. I didn't see that rule sa China Embassy website but all the travel agencies require it. Lucky Travel requires Php 100K ADB sa bank but they will still accept your application even if you don't meet that requirement.

Flights:
We used booked Cebupacific flights last September 2013. As in more than one year in advance. But due to the visa brouhaha, we had to exit China before our visa expires. We booked expensive Shenzen Air flights from Beijing to Singapore (with a stopover in Shenzen) for Php 14,000 and a Jetstar flight from SG to MNL (Php 5,000). Painful, pero kelangan eh. If we end our holiday early, flights already cost Php 12,000 already so might as well spend more and tuloy lang ang vacation.

Currency
ATM withdrawal. I used my BPI ATM. ATM are everywhere naman. Yung machine dun sa 7-11, maximum of CNY1000 lang ang withdrawal kaya I had to withdraw again.

Itinerary:
5 days in Shanghai (matagal kami dito kasi our main purpose is to spend quality time with our best friend who is now in Shanghai
3 days in Pingyao
3 days in Beijing
2 days worth of traveling (the train from Shanghai to Taiyuan took 16 hours, then another 1.5 hours o get to Pingyao). Bullet train from Pingyao to Beijing took 4 hours

Costs
Soft-sleeper from Shanghai to Taiyuan - RMB 591
Second class seats from Pingyao to Beijing - RMB 183. We asked our friend to book for us.
180RMB per night for a twin room
80 RMB daily budget for food, water and trains.

Is my understanding correct that one thread na lang for all China posts? I think I saw a Shanghai thread before.

[sistah!]

what i want to do is to spend one weekend in beijing so i can see the great wall. never mind the shopping and all. i think i will take the plane rather than the train.

[amethyst028]

question ko lang, if sa march 2015 pa flight ko [textspeak!] dapat kumuha ng visa. may expiration kasi siya diba?

first time to visit a country that has a visa kaya wala ako idea. and kung may letter of invitation need pa mag present ng bank cert, and other requirements? i'm thinking of using a travel agency for visa assistance. ok lang ba mag do it yourself?

mag isa lang ako mag travel to visit a friend who is now based in china. im pure chinese pero filipino citizen. i grabbed the opportunity kasi free accommodation dahil dun ako sa friend ko stay. mahigpit ba sa embassy i mean pag mag isa ka lang mag travel tapos single ka pa. di ba nila pag dudahan na mag tnt dun or something. girl din yung friend ko 1yr. lang contract niya sa china.

gusto ko din mag punta ng beijing to see the great wall. possible ba to do that 6days ang stay ko in shanghai.

[Girltalker2]

^ ang alam ko din sis, sa visa application, last time we applied, parang need magpakita na ng ticket and hotel accommodation under your name. But of course, you can have the travel agency process it for you, para ma explain nila na baka ok na ipresent yung hotel reservation ng friend mo.

Shanghai - I am not sure if there is much to see here, I remember just taking the river cruise, tapos night life.  You might want to spend more time in Beijing, feeling ko mas marami makikita. 1 trip to great wall is 1 day narin.

Baka possible narin - if the bullet train Shanghai - Beijing operational na? To spend 2 days for great wall, 1 day is to Beijing, then great wall, then spend the night in Beijing, sightseeing within the city sa day 2, then back at night sa Shanghai.

[haisah]

Tip lang mga sis, if you go on bargain shopping sa China. Pag tumawad kayo is yung pinakamababa na agad. yun tipong 10 to 20% lang ng original offer nila. Kasi if you just ask the price and you wont give an offer they can be so RUDE as in Rude. Pag di nila bigay sa inyo doon sa tawad nyo at least you have idea na kung magkano ang last price nila. on the next store may idea ka na.

[amethyst028]

^^yes sis nag try ako mag research operational na yung bullet train from shanghai to beijing. they even have a schedule posted on their website. 5hrs ang train. i might opt for the sleeper train.

safe ba sa beijing if i'll be traveling alone? i don't know if my friend can come with me since may work siya and baka nakapunta na siya sa beijing, baka mag 2days ako sa beijing depende sa usapan namin ng friend ko. i'm planning to go to xian also para makita yung terracotta army.

i might book a hotel na pwede i-cancel para lang ipakita sa pagkuha ng visa. will also be brushing up on my mandarin speaking and reading.

[mama squeak!]

^I was just in Beijing last month. My hubby was on training kaya solo ako umikot. I went to Xian also na solo and took the overnight sleeper train. You can check my blog for my posts to get an idea how to go about it. Bawal to post links here so just click on my signature. Good luck!

[justine]

mama squeak tourist visa din ang hubby mo? my hubby kase is going to china for a month. work related. his visa will be processed by his company. baby and i are going with him pero separate visa processing. but im hesitant na sabihin sa embassy na we will be there to be with my hubby while he attends to work related matter (kase he's on tourist visa lang)

[amethyst028]

^^mama squeak i'll read your blog.

another question how about guangzhou? eto talaga target ko puntahan kasi business related. sino na nakapunta sa guangzhou? any feedback?

[mama squeak!]

@justine, not sure what kind of visa he had. Office din nila ang nag-process. He always had one kasi since he used to fly there before. I think okay lang naman to mention you will be joining your husband in China. Maybe you can ask him kung pwede isabay yung application nyo ni baby? Or you can always get the services of a reputable travel agency bayad ka lang ng processing. All my previous Chinese visas lahat travel agency lang ang gumawa.

@amethyst028, mas madali pumunta ng Guangzhou coming from Hongkong (2 hrs by train) as compared to Shanghai (+15 hrs by train).

[amethyst028]

^yup i know sis. memorize ko na mga cities sa china na gusto ko puntahan and how to get there.
question ko is kung ok ba sa guangzhou as tourist. baka lang kasi puro factories dun and business area talaga. i'm going there but not on the same trip to shanghai. yung sa guangzhou purely business lang and maybe 1 week stay para masulit ko talaga. baka kasi mag isa lang din ako pumunta kaya takot ako.

[aranses]

^2 whole days enough to roam around guangzhou as tourist. pero pag business related kulang 3 araw para maikot mo factory ng shoes, clothes & tiles (foshan) 

[justine]

can anyone with a very kind heart pm me their beijing itinerary? hi!hi!
im still undecided kung kukuha kami ng visa thru travel agency or personal application.
ok lang naman magbayad ng processing fee sa agency but we need kase 20-30days, so better personal application daw but we need to present itinerary. kaso ang hirap naman gumawa ng ganun kahabang itinerary

[riandrew]

2013 trip, single entry visa 14 days lang binigay sakin.

2014 trip, still single entry visa pero 30 days na.


anyway, we loved our Huangshan and Harbin trips! sobrang ginaw nga lang.

[paulavalerie]

kami 2014- 7 days lang binigay