The Amazing Chinese Travel Visa

Have you always wanted to visit the Great Wall of China?  Dreamed of spending a day at the Forbidden City?

Well it's an exciting time to be alive, my friends, because visiting China is now easier (and cheaper) than ever!

First of all, there are multitudes of flights to China fairly cheap--each of my flights have cost only $500 or less!  That's cheaper than I can generally fly domestically (i.e., within the United States), so I consider that a good deal.  There are even non-stop flights from multiple U.S. cities, which makes a trip to China much less time consuming than it once was (yes, it is still a 13+ hour flight, but it's DIRECT!).

Let’s get down to business…to defeat…the huns!

But what does that mean for the Chinese Transit Visa?

Well, formerly insular China has begun allowing visitors from a number of countries (including the United States) to visit the country on a 72-144 hour transit visa if they have a flight arriving in major Chinese cities and another flight departing to a third country destination (note: you can't wait until you arrive in China to make your next reservation; you need proof of your continuing transit in order to qualify for the transit visa).  For the purposes of the temporary transit visa, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan are regarded as a third country--or you could continue on to Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, or pretty much anywhere else in the world.

Not a bad deal if you can swing it, especially since the 10-year visa I got a couple of years ago cost a couple hundred dollars and a week or two of gathering information, mailing it off, getting a request for more information, etc.

What began as a 72-hour visa has now expanded to a 144-hour visa in large, popular destinations like Beijing and Shanghai (144 hours is about six days, so you have plenty of time to hit the major sites before jetting off to your next destination).   Keep in mind that the Chinese are sticklers for protocol, however: have enough blank pages in your passport (generally 2+) and make sure your passport is good for at least six months following your visit.  Have copies of your itineraries and a photograph.

Once in China, know what your transit visa does and does not permit you do to; for instance, passengers passing through Chengdu cannot leave the city, whereas visitors to Qingdao may travel through the entire Shandong Province.