A question for the travel experts

[dtool242]

I am planning a business trip to Taipei in October. While there I need to make a sideline trip to Shenzhen China. I know I need a visa to travel to China, but in the past my trips there have been directly from the US. Is there any restriction on where I enter China from? I'm thinking no, but I don't want to be stuck in Taipei finding out "you can't get there from here".

[VaSteve]

Send a notes to Rick Lee. He's an adventure traveller in china.

[Shuie]

If you are a US citizen then you need a visa. You also need an invitation letter from the business in China, a letter from your US employer, and a passport that is good for at least 6 months after the initial stay. Then you need to fill out the application. Travisa can help you with all of this.

It isn't required, but you should make sure your immunizations are up to date. There are several that are strongly recommended for travel to China. Your health insurance may not cover the cost of this and your primary care provider may not be able to schedule something quick enough for a business trip. I've used passporthealth for immunizations in situations like this. I've never been asked for my yellow card (shot records) when going through customs but I keep it with my passport.

[jcommin]

Originally Posted by Shuie

If you are a US citizen then you need a visa. You also need an invitation letter from the business in China, a letter from your US employer, and a passport that is good for at least 6 months after the initial stay. Then you need to fill out the application. Travisa can help you with all of this.

It isn't required, but you should make sure your immunizations are up to date. There are several that are strongly recommended for travel to China. Your health insurance may not cover the cost of this and your primary care provider may not be able to schedule something quick enough for a business trip. I've used passporthealth for immunizations in situations like this. I've never been asked for my yellow card (shot records) when going through customs but I keep it with my passport.

+1 agree with everything. I would talk to Rick Lee too.

[shinrai]

I'm pretty sure you still need two visas. One for the Republic of China and one for China (Taiwan and Mainland China). Your company can set you up with your Taiwan Visa and for China you should have no issues with a tourist visa if you're just passing through. China has become fairly lenient with issuing visas over the past decade.

Many carriers offer direct flights to China nowadays and you can probably find a direct flight from Taipei to Shenzhen. If you can't get a direct flight to SZ on the day you'd like to fly head into HK instead and take the train from the Hong Hum station (~1 hour). You can book your flights and hotels on Ctrip.com. I find they offer greater options compared to Expedia and Agoda.

May I ask what sends you to Shenzhen? If you're out by GZ I can recommend some good spots.

[dtool242]

I have a visa for China but that expired almost 3 years ago, I know I'll need to get a new one. No visa is required for Taiwan, I've been there 4 times in the past year. I plan on going round trip ORD to TPE (via NRT) on United and with a round trip TPE to SZX on China Southern Airlines while I'm over there.

My question was about possible restrictions about where I enter China from, just want to make sure there will be no surprises. But now that I think about it, I have entered China from North Korea before (long story that one).

Going to be in Taipei to witness the final acceptance testing and to give some training on some equipment we installed in a power plant over there. Going to Shenzhen to discuss some possible business opportunities at power plants in China.

[dtool242]

Since I mentioned it and now I know it's going to be asked http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/620391-north-korea-trip.html

[Rick Lee]

China (PRC) doesn't care where you enter. Multiple-entry visas are the same price as single-entry and are good for a year from the time you enter. No reason not to get a multiple-entry visa. I've done it a few times with no invitation letter and I don't think I even produced a paid hotel booking with the visa app. Direct flights from Taiwan to the PRC are not a permanent thing. They seem to do it for a few mos. suspend them and then start up again. Hong Kong is easiest and you can apply at the local Public Security Bureau there for a Mainland visa and then take the train to the border and walk across. Or there are lots of Chinese travel agencies in the US that will get it for you for an addtional $30-$50 fee.

I have a cousin in-law who is Chinese but has a Canadian passport. She recently flew to Shanghai for a funeral and didn't have enough notice to get a rush visa. I don't know how they let her on the plane, but she was detained for five hours in Shanghai before getting a 72 hr. visa. Total PITA.

[shinrai]

Originally Posted by dtool242

"No visa is required for Taiwan, I've been there 4 times in the past year."

That's good to know. 'love that place a lot more than I ever did the PRC.
Have a good trip!

[dtool242]

Originally Posted by shinrai

That's good to know. 'love that place a lot more than I ever did the PRC.
Have a good trip!

That's for us Americans, not sure what the requirements are for you Canucks.