Visas to China

Alright.... for travelynn-ers interested to stay in China for more than 14 days (the maximum period of stay for a tourist), you may wish to apply for a Visa. Generally, it can be applied at any Chinese Embassy in your country. The rates are differentiated by the no. of entries and the duration you stay in China. Hence please do check carefully before you apply. Esle; you'd end up like my dear friend... he applied for a single entry visa and realised he needed a multiple one. Hence, he threw away SGD25 for the former visa.

The Difference?

So far, Ive only applied for 2 types of visa. One is "L" and the other is "F" visas. "L" visas are basically for travel/leisure purposes in China. While the other "F" is for professional work in China (im currently holding this). TIP: please check with the person over at the counter and if possible tell him/her which visa you are applying for. Ive got friends who had "L" instead of "F" visas.. and that will be really a pain changing it again. (the time spent is annoyingly long) Anyways, the difference when you apply for these two is that for "F", you need a official company letter from the organisation hiring you or the local company posting you over for professional business reasons. You will need a passport size photo for both visas (B/W is fine).

Extension of your Visa?

If you dun plan to stay for a really long period of time, you should go to the nearest Police Station of your destination to apply for a Temporary Stay Permit. Ha! for this you need a passport size photo as well. With this, if you decide to extend you stay in China, it would be easier.

A side note: if you are worried about what culture you'd experience when you arrive in China, you can get to observe chinese people over at the chinese embassy (ha! im a chinese too, but our cultures are really different) Therefore, see and judge for yourself! In all, we are all warm people... hahaha of course there are a few black sheeps amongst the herd! =D