L is currently not available.

My stamp from HGH
 

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...af550f9e9.jpeg
Since I have returned from China, I can post out my temporary visa stamp. The printer ink was very dry. They used for the second time in the past three years (As mentioned earlier, I was the second applicant in HGH since Jan 8 reopening). I could image how the stamp for the first person looked like. 😄😄

My friends in NYC just applied for Q2 visas.

The application form is lengthy (8-9 pages) and you have to answer all sorts of questions, such as info about your siblings, your education since undergraduate, your employment history, and phone number of your boss.

Why do they care so much? This is not an immigration visa?

Worse, you need to make reservation to submit your application effective Jan. 25.

http://newyork.china-consulate.gov.c...3_11006691.htm

The website to make a reservation at PRC Embassy/Consulates is simply broken.

https://avas.mfa.gov.cn/

Very annoying!

Big brother, XJP, wants to collect a lot of data for AI.

This looks like the general COVA system that a lot of non-Americans had to go through in the past. Looks like it's being implemented for Americans as well.

Any word on whether in-person fingerprinting at the consulate is required, or if having previously done a fingerprint means you are exempt from having to go in person? Hearing some conflicting information including from New York sources.

From the most recent announcements about visas by NY and SFO consulates, it seems that fingerprint is not needed.

Luohu Port will resume operations starting Feb 6 (next Monday) per information received from shop owners in the customs building

Tit for tat... just take a look what Chinese have to do to get a US/UK/EU visa...

Waving the old hoary tit-for-tat flag again. Tit-for-tat the US wouldn't now be giving Chinese tourist visas and would have suspended all pre-pandemic 10-year visas.

A few updates starting next Monday: No COVID testing required traveling between Mainland and Hong Kong, nor would vaccine be required traveling to Hong Kong from overseas. The initial quota for travels between HK and Mainland has also been cancelled following the resumption of Luohu / Lo Wu checkpoint.

It was reported that Blinken planned to raise the 10-year visa issue when he visited Beijing, and I half-expected Beijing to offer reinstatement of the visas as a sop to him. I guess that's now off the table.

Tit-for-tat: US suspends all pre March 2020 visas. PRC requires US citizens to show up for interviews.

Here is my current SOP:
1. Identify <wherever>-<cx gateway airport>-hkg-<somewhere in China (pretty long list, tbh) fare that is upgradeable with Asia Miles AT THAT TIME
2. Xfer ~25k AMEX to CX, and get everything done within 10 minutes
3. Stop obsessing about what UA should or shouldn't charge, or how it is trying to game us

To repeat, the US normally requires interviews only for the first visa, not renewals, and the renewal can be done by courier.

https://www.asiamiles.com/en/redeem-...ard-chart.html
To clarify, this means this upgrades a paid Y+ to J that's 5,001-7,500 miles long? Does it upgrade all segments or just the long segment?
Eg. SFO-HKG-PVG is 6927 miles and 779 miles, does it upgrade only the first segment?

UA is still charging us “arms-and-legs.” Perhaps, UA spares us the smallest toes now. 😂😂😄😄
Have a good journey to China.

Question: Person coming from Singapore, flying to Macao, 2N (over 48hrs), then continue to the PRC.

Currently required an ART test in Singapore and a PCR in Macao, correct?

Hope they soon make away with those testing requirements.. (at least for fully vaxxed travellers)

It appears that you can only upgrade from Y to Premium Y on CX using Asian miles.

If you upgrade from Premium Y to business, it's going to be very expensive.

Longer flight requires more than 25K miles. JFK-HKG needs 48K miles, almost double 25K.

I guess I forgot to mention upgrade from PE (so 25k miles for west coast and 28k from east coast). I don't find CX pe to be especially expensive (e.g. BOS-PVG was only $1100 last month).

CX PE could be VERY expensive.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...de07eced3c.jpg


This looks like a terrible deal.

For BOS-HKG-PVG, the lowest PE fare in Feb. and March is $2,200 EACH way.

Of course, they often charge a hub premium (don't almost all airlines do this?). Tack on a PVG leg (that you could easily no show for) and the price drops by $5,000.
Right, they're not pricing aggressively at this point in time.

ETA: I suppose I should also point that for much of the past two years, $2200 would have been considered a great price for BOS-PVG in PE.

Going back again to China within a few weeks. just doing EWR-SFO-PVG in E with PlusPoints upgrades to J requested. We'll see how that goes...really hoping for ERW-PEK to start!


----------------------------------

Not sure if already posted (probably has), but United mentions a tourist visa-on-arrival for Shenzhen for max. 5 days:

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...cec86dfc97.png

Yes, officially that's the case but I haven't heard of anyone who's tried it yet.

Note that it's a very expensive option for Americans, who pay over US$150 for the Shenzhen visa.

What do people think the chances are, of China still requiring PCR tests at the end of April?

That's $210 (CVS or Walgreens) that we simply have to factor into the equation for the time being.

ETA: By way of comparison, the 2021 drill entailed: a three day stay in the Bay Area, going to one of five approved testing places, and handing over $500 to have our nostrils violated. This was merely a prelude for fun times ahead.

I'll be going through HKG (business award redemptions to Asia are back, finally!), so I'll just get it there for HKD499/$60. Not great, but I feel like it's enough under $100 that the cost is tolerable. The uncertainly is the more annoying aspect, so I'm hoping they get rid of the requirement within the next 2 months. Everyone already got it anyways.

My May 2022 drill: required one week stay in the Bay Are ($1,000 hotel) plus 4 COVID tests at one of two approved testing site for $660.

At that time, SFO-PVG Y Class was $6.600, Premium Economy was $8.500 and Business Class was nearly $20,000.

Or, 400K miles for Y award and 800K miles for J award.

Then after landed in Shanghai, my welcome package was 14 day forced quarantine plus 7 additional days of quarantine after Shanghai when I arrived at another city. Total 21 days quarantine cost was nearly 10,000 CNY.

As a comparison, a family member flew to Shanghai last week. No quarantine cost. Only $125 PCR test fee.

Bought $1,500 coach ticket BOS-SFO-PVG and upgraded to business class using UA Plus Points.

Life is so much easier now.

You don’t need a test if you’re leaving HKG via land border. I know they say you do but nobody checks it. I heard they aren’t checking on flights to the mainland either.

not 100% accurate. If you have not been outside HKG for the 10 (or 14?) days before entry to the Mainland, no COVID test or vaccine. But if you fly to HKG to go to the Mainland, you need to have a PCR test within 48 hours of initial flight.

I did it after landing at HKG, it cost HKD499 and I only had to wait about 3 hours for the results. Much cheaper than most places in the US and in the US, most testing places are not open 24/7

True, nobody seems to check, But you have to fill out the WeChat form for China Customs, and declare that your test result was negative.

HKD499 and a few hour wait is nothing compared to being caught cheating at Shenzhen Bay border crossing. Life's too short.

(although I admit I really really would like to say eff it and not get a test)

Has anyone posting above successfully used the Visa on Arrival at Lo Wu or other checkpoints? Or did you all manage to get fresh visas?

Still can't get any feedback whether it's back, it was supposed to be "in a few weeks" in January...

what happens, potentially or in theory, if you’re caught cheating at the shenzhen borders crossing? Return flight home?

If Chinese passport, I wouldn't be surprised if you weren't detained for a couple hours or days. Maybe not but quite possible

As a non-Chinese on a family reunion Resident Permit, I just don't want to find out. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't just send me back to Hong Kong, since needing a PCR test itself is ridiculous at this point.

I did confirm that a suitcase full of bottles of red wine went through the arrival x-ray machine and nobody said anything :-)

So does China allow tourists already?

My dad being very old would like to go to China one last time to visit his siblings and relatives. He's still a holder of PROC passport, but he wants our entire family to go with him, and we are holders of Philippine passports. Can we already apply for visit visas?

Asked our travel agent and was told issuance of travel visas still on hold. But according to the website below, visiting relatives is allowed. But there's a note at the bottom saying visa applications related to travel and medical treatment are still suspended currently.

New?Requirements for China Visa Application

Visitor (Tourist L) Visas are still suspended. You can apply for Q1 or Q2 which would allow for family visits.

Apparently VOA is only available for humanitarian travel (e.g., death of a close relative), not tourism.

Does your dad have a valid Chinese ID? If so he can simply invite you all as his relatives. If not you'll need to get your dad's sibling to send you a letter of invitation, along with a copy of their Chinese ID.

A few other categories (e.g. F, M, X) are on offer too, but it does appear Q might be best in his case.

No, he doesn't have Chinese ID, just a Chinese passport.

We'll just ask for invitation letters from the relatives. Thank you.

The consulates are being very picky about the exactly family relationship, so you may have to try more than once. As of two weeks ago:

PRC citizen inviting his sibling with a foreign passport - Q2 issued
PRC citizen inviting his sibling's spouse, also with a foreign passport - Q2 issued
PRC citizen inviting his sibling's children - Q2 denied, because they aren't issuing Q2s for "more distant relatives yet." The solution was to have the PRC citizen's mother (the sibling's children's grandmother) issue the invitation letter, since grandkids are considered closer relatives, apparently, even though there's no difference between a grandparent inviting a grandchild vs an uncle inviting a niece.


Anyways, the official list of allowed relatives is:
"Family members" refers to spouses, parents, sons, daughters, spouses of sons or daughters, brothers,sisters,grandparents,grandsons, granddaughters and parents-in-law.

But there's some wiggle room since sibling's spouse is apparently okay even though that's not in the list.