Does China care about middle names for the visa/flight ticket? I always just book my first name and last name for all flights and that has never been an issue, ever. I was about to book my China flights and realised that maybe they would care for the visa to match with the middle name in the passport? But to add my middle name to my BA account it would take well over a week as my name is 'protected' and I can't just change it online, so wondering whether it is fine to just book flights with First Name Last Name and then in the visa itself list my middle name to match the passport etc. Would like to book now to secure the price I found.

(I have one middle name listed together with my first name in my 'given names' in my passport, which I have effectively ignored for all flights in the past.)

Thanks!

No problem whatsoever.
My passport and visa have my middle name, my airplane tickets never do.

Thanks. I'm the same with all my flights but was worried China would be extra strict about it.

When it says 姓名 you are supposed to enter Last FirstMiddle (no space between First and Middle, often everything in caps). But Last First usually works. Last First Middle will usually not work because it complains there are too many spaces.

You're talking about the visa, right? And it doesn't matter that on my flight ticket it would be just last name first name - as long as the visa documentation itself matches my passport?

The visa is used just for the flight into China, not flights inside China or flights out of China.
It's already linked to your passport number (except for the case when the visa is in an older/expired passport).
This is checked by the checkin agent, gate agent (optional), and immigration upon entering China. Having just Last First should be fine.

Inside China, you need to provide your name and passport number to do pretty much anything including, for example, booking train tickets or going to tourist attractions.
Often there is only a Chinese site which will say "姓名" aka "surname and given name". The English versions of the site will say Last then First/Given. You can put your middle name in if you want but I don't think anyone cares too much.

Thanks. I will go ahead and book the flight with just last/first now then!

A few quick follow up visa questions while I am here..

I am an EU and UK citizen based in the UK. I want to book a flight to China from a different country. I take it this is no big deal? And am I fine to apply for the isa with my EU passport, showing my UK passport to cover the requirement of proof as to how I am allowed to live in the UK?

Finally, for the visa, how do the other 2 travelling with me (our plan is to share one hotel room for 3 everywhere) use the hotel confirmations for the visa, since it will be just in my name? Or do they not care? One of the requirements is to show hotel reservations.

(Will I have issues that we are all 3 guys, ie, double room plus single, so one same sex couple?)

Sorry for all the questions but thank you!

• Any flight ticket entering and departing China is fine.
• If you want to apply with the EU passport, you might need to apply in the EU country. You might want to do research if it is better to apply under the UK passport, but it's probably the same visa wise. This might be a better question for the visa thread China Visa / Visas Master Thread (all you need to know)
• Make separate hotel reservations for the purposes of visa application
• It depends on the hotel. Some might allow 3 people in the room and others may not. Hotel registration is a "big deal" in China (foreigners are supposed to be registered at the place they are staying every single day). You are not allowed to sneak people into rooms.

How do I make separate reservations with the hotels (to show for the visa application) if we find rooms for 3 to share? Do you mean we should book 3 rooms and just cancel 2 after?

For the visa application, yes, each person should have their own separate reservation. Most hotel bookings have flexible cancellation policies so this is not an issue.

With regards to actually staying in the room, you need to confirm with the hotel that you can actually put 3 people in the room. If you can't, you will need to book two rooms.

Agree with the above, just get three separate cancellable hotel bookings for the visa application, and then ditch them once the visa is issued and get the triple rooms booked as needed. You don't need to stay in the hotel you had the reservation for your visa application.

Whilst three names do not need to be on the hotel booking, just make sure that when you check into the hotel they ask for all three travellers passports and register you, having a gap in your registered overnight stays can cause issues for future visits or visa applications.

From my experience there is no issue at all with guests of the same sex sharing a room in China, I would wager that for some companies they would expect staff travelling on business to share a room, so no need to overthink this point.

Great, thanks. I take it the actual flights don't need to be booked separately and it's fine if we are all on one booking?

that's fine