The first of the recommendations to visit China that we want to give you is about the processing of the visa to China. The first thing we recommend is that you go to the official website visaforchina.org.
From here, you have two options, one is to process it personally at the local Chinese Embassy near you, and another option is application online and shipping by post.
Whichever way you apply, remember to have the following documents ready in advance:
- Passport with 6 months validity and 2 empty pages
- Photocopy of the passport data page
- Photo in passport format
- Visa application
- Plane tickets, hotel reservations, etc
- Passport Return Information Sheet
1. Local Chinese Embassy (or Passport Office)
In case you want to go personally, the schedules are:
Monday to Friday (Closed on official holidays and weekends)
Application submission: 9:00-15:00
Payment and collection of the visa: 9:00-16:00
The great thing about applying for a visa in person is that it only takes about 5 business days for you to get your visa.
2. Apply China Tourist Visa Online
On the home page of the official website, select your region and country:
Once you have read the application process, you can go to "Quick Access" and from there enter the application form.
You can fill in and save each page (there are 4 in total), and they will give you an application number.
Remember that if your itinerary includes Hong Kong, but you are returning to China to continue your journey, you must apply for the double-entry visa.
Once you have completed it, you only have to print it out and attach it in an envelope and sent it to your area's Chinese Visa Application Service Center.
Once they receive all the documentation and manage it, they send you an email giving you the total amount (visa+fees+service+return transport), which is more or less 150 USD per person and which you will have to pay by credit card or bank transfer.
The visa expires after 3 months, so it is recommended that you apply for your visa to China about a month or month and a half before your trip, as the paperwork usually takes about 10-15 days.
They will call you if they have any questions, for example, they called us to confirm the address of our jobs and within a week they sent us an email with the total amount and the account number where to make the transfer of the visa plus the transport to send it back home.
*Before doing anything, we recommend you read carefully the official pages as this type of management can vary over time.
3. Helpful Tips
If you want to have internet in China a good option is to buy a Holafly SIM card, with which you will have internet from the moment you land, several Gb of data, keeping your WhatsApp number, support service in Spanish and most important, VPN included so you don't have any problem when connecting to any application or search engine.
If there is something important on any trip, it is to make it safe. For that nothing better than doing it with good travel insurance.
Another thing you should do on a trip to China is to book your tickets in advance (today you can do up to 30 days in advance). For us, it has been the best option to book trains in China. Keep in mind that transport in China is super punctual, especially at the time of departure.
Language: Most people use their mobile phone as a translator. In shops, restaurants... so it's easier to communicate today than a few years ago.
Finally, have a great trip and feel free to leave a comment.
I remember goint to Hong Kong like 10 years ago, it was mendokusai 🤣
👍👍