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You need a double entry. One entry to Beijing pre cruise and another for Shanghai, port of call.

The validity of the visa is 3 months from date of issue. You could of course get a 6 months multi entry visa which you could use in HK if you want to go into Shenzen just across the border for some shopping, if the cost difference is negligible as in Canada.

You do NOT need visas for the other countries listed.

Have a nice trip!

Only Americans get a multiple entry tourist visa. Other (UK for the poster or Canadians) get 2 entries at best.

... You don't need a visa for Hong Kong.

 

 

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Generally true but it depends on what passport you hold.

Buddhist temples, it doesn't matter. In muslim mosque, women need to cover their head (most of the time) and should not dress in a revealing manner.

Since it cost the same for single or multiple entry visas, go for the multiple entry. I just got my visa and it is good for one year @ 90 days per visit. Given how much it cost me $195 each for me and my wife ($145 visa $50 service company). I think I'll do another China trip before the Visa expires!

 

 

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But this is only true for Americans.

Your question is too general. It has nothing to do with Asia (which is huge). It depends on the religion of the place: a catholic church, a muslim mosque, a buddhist temple, etc...

Question is how does the Chinese interpreted 1st & 3rd country? Better check with the Chinese Consulate or Embassy.

It has very clear and this issue has been tested plenty of times. Any country other than China is a 1st or 3rd country. HK and Macau are also independent countries for this question. The 1st country cannot be the same as the 3rd country. Seems clear to me.

Nothing wrong with using guides and Vivi Pan is very good but it sounds like overkill to me. Why not just take a taxi?

Most nationalities do not require a visa for Hong Kong. And they do not stamp passports anymore.

Procedure to get to Shenzhen? From where?

Putting the jet lag recovery issue aside, I differ from the above and can't see what one does beyond one or two days in Singapore. While I don't see the point of traveling to "exotic" places to see a zoo, the Singapore one is nice. Otherwise, I'd like to see a list of what people see over 4 days. Singapore is a sanitized international city with little local culture. Nothing like the countries around it. They do have a beach though. Fake man-made beach where you can lie and watch tanker ships pass by. Not quite Bali. But the city is clean and safe.

On the other hand, Hong Kong has an endless list of places to visit. I would certainly suggest 5 days in HK. You can even cross over to China for a day and do some shopping.

Actually the rules about air transit are the same in all airports that have such a visa-free transit with the exception of Guangzhou that allows you to leave the city and visit the rest of the province and that counts the 72 hours in a different way, giving you possibly more than 72 hours.

for those anting to fly to Shanghai then take a cruise, the issue, as stated above, is to board the plane. Airlines rely on a database called Timatic. This is up to date and is the only reliable source accepted by airline personnel. One can see it here: http://www.staralliance.com/en/services/visa-and-health/#

And there is no mention of a ship exemption. It says that a visa is required unless "holding confirmed onward airline tickets to a third country" So, if one wants to fly to Shanghai to get on a cruise, the airline will not even let you board the plane.

Whether one can cruise to Shanghai then catch a flight, it should be checked with the cruise company to see if they will let you on the ship in the first place.

When on transit at the airport, whether for less than 24 hours or less than 72 hours, one can certainly leave the airport (but must stay within Shanghai). This has been the case for years and has been widely reported in all travel forum such as TripAdvisor , Lonely Planet, etc.

What we need to know here is whether this is available to people docking on a cruise ship (assuming that they previous and next ports are not in China in which case it is not a transit). We need to hear from someone who has ACTUALLY DONE IT. Any speculation as above in trying to interpret an english translation of the Chinese rules is not helpful. These are not the rules that people are referring to but a summary and a translation. They are most often wrong and certainly not official. The fact that they may be posted on an embassy website does not help. Most often these are wrong, in fact they are rarely right.

And once someone tries it, and assuming that it is successful, then we'd like to know the process and documents required. In the mean time we should stop making interpretations and speculation.

I am quite sure that staying on the ship is not a solution. At that point you have entered China. No need to touch the ground to have to produce a visa.

Same here. I live on a lake that is 75% in Canada and 25% in the US. I can assure you that if I cross the international line by boat, the US patrol will intercept me and the fact that I just want to cruise without going on land will not cut it with the Homeland Security guys.

So my guess is, the cruise company will not even let you on board at the point of origin.

@Bowie MeMe - not sure where you were exactly but there is wifi nearly everywhere in China including Starbucks. I have been all over China and this was the case even n fairly remote place. some places do require a password which you ask the waitress.[/Q]

 

I was in Beijing and Xian. Yes Wi-Fi was everywhere. No problem that! My problem was with the Chinese government's regulations for providers of the internet connection to submit the personal information to gain access. It seemed to me at the time to be too obtrusive and thus I would not provide the information and thus did not access the internet from China (including on the ship -- same thing in Chinese waters).

 

Probably it would be OK because Governments probably already have the information from their own sources but I was not volunteering:eek: My own little protest over media regulations in China.

 

You need a password in many places but I never had to provide any personal information anywhere. In a place like Starbucks, you get the password by asking the cashier. In many countries in the world though I had to provide my passport to get internet access, It was the case in Italy for example even at my hotel (where I pointed to the clerk that I had already provided my passport on check-in). Many countries want to know who is behind some web activities, this is all the result the recent anti-terrorists activities. No need to do this in the US, they already know all about you, your internet activities and phone calls.

The port is named Xingang (新港), which is about 45 km east to downtown Tianjin. The district where Xingang is located is named Tanggu. Tianjin Metro Line 9 connects Tanggu to downtown Tianjin. A train ride from Tanggu or TEDA metro stations to Tianjin's central railway station takes 40 minutes.

There is also a few direct high-speed trains serve Tanggu Railway Station every day, make a stop in Tianjin's central station before continuing to Beijing South. A single trip from Tanggu to Beijing South Station takes just under an hour. Both Tanggu metro station and the railway station are about 15 minutes away from the sea port by cab and should not cost you more than ¥20–¥30 by meter.

To visualize this, go to Google Maps and search "Tianjin port"

Train stations are reasonably easy to navigate. You can buy your tickets on the sport or use an agent like http://www.china-diy-travel.com who will provide you with directions in English and Chinese. They get outstanding reviews on TripAdvisor.

The answer is...it depends. Not enough information. The best people to ask is your cruise company. If you want to play it safe because you can't get adequate answers, then go fo a double-entry.

Note that you ship will not spend any time in Beijing. Beijing is inland. You are probably docking in Tianjin which is a city of 10 million people about 125 miles from Beijing. So if you want to go to Beijing, plan some transportation.

@Bowie MeMe - not sure where you were exactly but there is wifi nearly everywhere in China including Starbucks. I have been all over China and this was the case even n fairly remote place. some places do require a password which you ask the waitress.

A simple taxi (they use the meter) will do. If you really want to pay up, the hotel will have a driver take you at 3-4 times the cost of a taxi.

January is obviously winter so it will be quite cold. It also means that you have less daylight. So plan shorter days and figure that you need to go inside somewhere from time to time. Good season to visit places like the National Museum. While it will be quite cold and often quite windy, do not expect to see any snow. We often only snow once or twice per winter. It is a very dry city. You will probably find that your skin is getting dry (due to the dry air and heating) so bring the appropriate creams.

The fast trains from Tanggu to Beijing only take one hour.

For an 11 hours visit, the 72 hours visa exemptions are irrelevant. Every nation qualifies for a transit of up to 24 hours visa-free.

Not sure that your experience is relevant to the question being asked as the OP wants to take a cruise that departs from China. This is clearly not allowed by the rules.

The cities are 125 miles apart. You can take a taxi to the Tianjin train station of Tanggu. The train to Beijing is about half an hour, not 2-3 hours as stated above.

You should go to Beijing as there isn't much in Tianjin.

You can check train schedules here, just enter Tianjin to Beijing: http://www.china-diy-travel.com/

Hi, the cruise sails from Beijing, but it calls on Busan S. Korea and then Nagasaki Japan before coming back to Shanghai. Would this still be considered as the first mainland China port? Done lots of European and trans-Atlantic cruises. This is our first cruise to Asia. Because of the EU there is hardly any immigration formalities. If I get in line real early, would a time of around 8:15 AM be reasonable? Thanks for all the help.

Just so that you know, cruises cannot start from Beijing. Beijing is inland. The nearest port is Tianjin, about 125 miles away.

How about credit cards at any of the above recomendations ??

 

Tring to avoid withdrawning more RMB than we'll need

Thanks Srpilo

Not sure about The Private Kitchen but every other place accepts credit cards.

At DaDong, half a duck with condiments will be about 125RMB including the service charge. You can order half a duck or a whole duck depending on how many people there are in your group.

Understand that Beijing duck is not a meal. you will order other dishes as well as vegetables and drinks.

DaDong is consistently ranked number 1 in Beijing for Beijing duck. However service is terrible. especially the one near Wangfujing.

The best duck I ever had was at Made in China at the Grand Hyatt. also high-end. you need to order your duck the day before. In that part of town, I would now go to Made in China. Much nicer environment and better service.

For more affordable pricing and still very good duck, I like the Private Kitchen. Xi He Ya Yuan also gets very good reviews in the affordable segment but I never tried them.

Avoid Quanjude.

While around Wangfujing, one should try hot pot at Haidilao.