Yes, I found that odd too. But, I suppose the rationale for that arrangement is that further back in the main cabin is more spacious than in the nose (and upper deck), making it more suitable for First Class. However, I do find the nose to be the quietest cabin on the 747 by far (aside from the occasional noise from pilots moving around in the cockpit above you).

I have both PNR's, even though I never got a confirmation email from LIfeMiles (I just took a screenshot of my booking on their site). Had to do a little digging to get CA's PNR myself. But I did contact CA to confirm my seat selection, and got an affirmative response. So, I'll print that out and take it with me, too.

May also simply be more feasible to use identical seats when you don't have to deal with the curvature of the nose.

Any idea if Q2 (I'm married to Chinese) can apply for eChannel? No plans on working or doing real job, at least not anytime soon. but I travel a lot.

Assume no. Travel a lot does not mean anything unless you are a repeated traveler for the same place.

I live in China, and have left 6-8 times on overseas trips so far this year.

But I saw in another place where Moondog wrote you need an RP, which I do not have. Used to have it for Hong Kong but that didn't have any visa or residency rules.

Q2 itself is not eligible. However, since your spouse is a Chinese national, you can simply apply for a residence permit at her registered resident city which would make you eligible for eChannel.

That would immediately invalidate the Q2, no? And then to keep eChannel, wouldn't you have to keep renewing the residence permit? Q2 for US citizens can be issued for 10 years (good) but isn't eligible for eChannel (bad). But a residence permit is eligible for eChannel (good) but also must be renewed every year AFAIK (which is annoying).

There are also 3 year and 5 year RPs, the requirements vary by region. For example, many places have elaborate points based schemes. Meanwhile, Shanghai seems most concerned about tax contribution (e.g. 10k per month in taxes paid for an A iirc).

Maybe you should start a thread about what the requirements are in each region. I think 10k per month in taxes may be a problem for someone who doesn't plan to ever work in China.

Are there any rules about having to spend more time in China than outside China if you have a RP? Because even if I otherwise meet the requirements, that would be a big problem for me (and anyone else who can probably better describe himself/herself as a frequent visitor to China but not really a permanent resident).

RPs happen to be a visa related topic that I know little about, apart from what I've been able to glean from the experiences of myself and a handful of friends in Shanghai and Beijing. Furthermore, while it's possible to pull off the drill on your own, my company pays an agency to do pretty much everything, and I'm happy to treat them as a black box.

I was curious about A work permits because I know a few people who got them, and they didn't understand how/why. So, I resorted to Google, and found pages like this:

https://www.china-briefing.com/news/...c-tier-talent/

I could probably get 85 points using this system, but I was planning on taking the HSK (very easy) for good measure, so I asked my visa agent for his advice. This is when he told me about the 10k/month tax requirement for Shanghai (I don't qualify for this). Honestly, my gut tells me that this was a brush off response.* I'll try to do some more research between now and my renewal date. I'll update this thread (or maybe the main visa thread) in the event I stumble upon any useful information, and encourage others to do the same.

On a semi-related note, rumor has it that steps are being taken to make the process less painful because China honestly does want more people to work legally, and realizes that some of the current barriers are exceedingly difficult for young professionals to achieve in the absence of sponsorship from an MNC.

*ETA: It just occurred to me that the agencies make a lot more money from people who renew every year v every 3 or 5 years, so it's not in their financial best interests to provide advice on pathways to As.

A residence permit obtained this way is good for ? Proving residence, buying home, etc? But not eligible to "work" I assume?

I was under the impression that RP's were only issued for people with work permits, or returning Chinese (parents who immigrated to US and now hold US passport), etc .

You're talking about the requirements for a work RP. The requirements for family RPs are totally different and are not based on points.

No RPs are issued either for work reasons or for family reunions. AFAIK there isn't a returning Chinese RP per se, they are usually done through the family reunion channel (although there was a peculiar over-60s RP that came with a house purchase).

As for work privileges, even a work permit doesn't let you change employers willy-nilly. You essentially have to go through the whole work permit application process again with each new employer. So essentially a work permit has no advantages compared to a family reunion RP when it comes to finding new employment.

Unlikely an issue unless you do something bad there - I thought that should be obvious, shouldn't it?