For those of us who don't live in a city with a Chinese Consulate, do we still use one of the two or three authorized visa-processing services for the Embassy in Washington? I recall using Oasis Visa Service for my first visit to the mainland, back in 2006.

Update for HK
 

My son (US passport, born in US but with Chinese surname and now residing in HK) just got a one year multiple entry visa via his travel agent for HK$1400.

Just google "china visa" and you'll find ~100 agencies.

I've used http://www.travisa.com/ for visas for both China and Vietnam and was pleased with their service.

Got one recently through mychinavisa.com in Houston after seeing good recommendaton here on FT. Awesome service. Use them. ^

I never had a prior Cn visa. Read the horror stories here of not getting "good" one till you get hosed for several short ones. Rolled dice and asked for minimum I needed: L, 6 month, double entry, 30 day stay.

So of course they give me one year, multple entry, 60 day. ^ Must be the honest face in the picture I sent in. :D

PS. Visa worked. Saw 90% totality of eclipse today. Oops, wrong thread. ;)

Happy to report I got a one year multi from the Houston consulate

I'm beginning preparations for my next trip to China next year. I'm a US citizen. This time, I'm thinking of including a stop in Hong Kong -- perhaps at the beginning of my trip, or crossing the border in the middle of my travels. If, say, I fly to Guangzhou, pop across the border to Hong Kong, and then fly to Shanghai, does that require a multiple entry visa? And is that more difficult/expensive for tourists these days?

Thanks.

The price is the same.

Any difficulty these days getting 2 entries (especially if I tell them what I'm planning to do)?

AFIK, the current default is 1 year, unlimited entries.

OK, thanks. If anyone has a different experience, please post it here.

My wife has a two-year multi-entry but she's Chinese-born. The last time I applied the travel agent felt that getting me a two-year was out of the question despite being married to her and having had at least a dozen visas in the past.

Is there any service out there who could assist a traveller in getting a multi-year, multiple entry? Given the cost/hassle of continually getting entry visas, it would be well worth their service charge.

If you worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory you might be able to get a Chinese green card good for 10 years. Other than that its difficult to buy
your way into anything.

I've met people who have effectively purchased diplomatic status (-->passport) from cash starved countries.