sort of....

-the (48-hour) transit visa program in sh is pretty legit these days; probably, partly due to the urging of mu, which is trying to establish an international hub there (i believe an overnight is required either to or from australia for european pax).

-i've also been told by a friend that is pretty high up at the us embassy in bj that those "visa-on-arrival" desks actually can issue a variety of actual visas in special and not-so-special circumstances; presumably, one should make such arrangements with their home consulate before taking flight

-although not too relevant here, hainan province has a visa free travel program in effect so that it can attempt to compete for tourists with [much better] beach destinations in se asia

regarding my second point above, i've entered china 10 times to far this year and on 9 of those 10 occasions, the desks were actually staffed; on 5, there were people standing in line.