You will be charged the applicable rate for UK passport holders no matter where you apply.

Well we certainly seem to be going in circles...

That said, I've found reports of Canadians in the US getting charged $30 and not their reciprocal fee, albeit those are from 2014.

I'll report back on what happens once I get to the consulate.

Canadians applying in Canada must use visa centers, which tack on additional processing fees that are unrelated to reciprocity. I can't recall if the UK has a similar arrangement off hand, but if it does, you would presumably save some money by applying at consultant that issues visas itself.

Yes, the U.K. now has mandatory visa service centres. It's become quite expensive for a family of four planning just a single once-in-a-lifetime trip to China.

Right now they have both the reciprocity fee and visa centre fees, I don't know if they had reciprocity fees back in 2014 though. (Same if you're applying in the UK actually.) I'm applying in the US so I only get the Visa fee (I live close to a consulate so I'm planning to do it myself).

I am planning to go back to China, the main purpose of travel is to take the new Lanzhou-Xinjiang railway. Any problems for foreigners (Canadian citizenship) with visas when mentioning Xinjiang as the destination?

Chinese immigration will most likely not ask you and you really shouldn't have any issues, but if you're really concern then just say you're visiting Lanzhou. I always find that simple quick answers are the best when dealing with immigration in any country.

If your out there already please take the train a bit further and visit Kashgar. Its an amazing city and the Sunday market was unlike any other in the world. So much fun and huge!

It is preferable not to mention Xinjiang in your visa application. Put a standard itinerary like Beijing-Xian-Shanghai. Once you get a visa, you can go anywhere. They don't match your application and where you actually go.

10-year Tourist Visa in Expired Passport
 

A colleague of mine (US Citizen) was denied travel yesterday in Surabaya (SUB) by SQ because his valid 10-year Chinese Tourist visa was in an expired passport.

The station manager apparently insisted that the Visa needed to be in his new US passport. My colleague is a savvy guy and had the TIMATIC printout with him that clearly states, "Valid visas or resident permits in expired passports are accepted if holding valid passport of the same nationality." The manager wanted nothing do with it. My colleague ended up just booking a same-day ticket on Garuda who had no issue with the 10-year being in an expired passport.

I'm going to be in a similar situation early next year when my passport expires and would like to have a new 10-year issued in my new passport. Will the embassy have any issue with this given that the Visa in my expired passport will still be valid? I'm guessing that they will cancel the valid visa in the expired passport.

Thanks for the information and opinions, all.

Please ask your colleague to follow up with SQ, in order to draw attention to the bad apple.

Unless you encounter a bad apple yourself, you have nothing to worry about.

He's going to follow up, he was very upset when he called yesterday. I tend to depart for trips to China from SUB and often on SQ so that is why I am concerned. I'm not sure if SQ has incorrect information regarding the 10-year visas being valid in expired passports or if this was a one-off.

The station manager is simply uninformed. No need to stress after your colleague clears this up.

I am thinking of applying for a tourist visa. Noticing that they require flight info and hotel reservations. Do these need to be firm? I would prefer to book after I have the visa in hand and not be stuck with a firm itinerary in advance. Also I can't find any info about reputable visa services in the U.S. that other posters have used. If someone can point me towards that thread I would appreciate this.