I met an Australian guy last week who claimed that his APEC Travel Card not only got him China e-Channel access, but also spared him from passport stamps. I'm a bit skeptical about the latter claim because the Chinese seem to be keen on having printed evidence of entries/exits, but I'm also in no position to dismiss his account.

Since the US version of APEC apparently does not serve as a visa substitute, the above scenario isn't helpful for Americans any way.

Today, I finally got around to adding new pages to my passport in HK. The process was far more annoying than it was the last time I did the same drill in Shanghai (need to make an appointment using their online scheduling system... mornings only, and everything after 9a fills up quickly; have to go through multi-phase security ritual; repeat the same in the afternoon). This seems to be one area in which the US has outdone China in terms of useless bureaucracy (i.e. making a seemingly simple task needlessly complicated).

The good news is that they give out 2 sets of inserts for the same $82. Interestingly, a new passport, which can also be 48 pages only costs $70, but I wasn't about to go that route because apart from the aforementioned annoyance of carrying 2 passports, I'm guessing that I would need to re-enroll in HK eChannel with the new passport.

Apologies for drifting off topic, but I'm good for another couple of years at least, and the girl who stamped me this evening kindly adhered to my request to put the entry stamp as close to the top left corner of my new page "A" as humanly possible. ^