China is not an easy country to visit, in fact I found it hard to travel to Beijing and travel in Beijing. I was glad I could lean on my friend knowledge, transport, housing, wallet and a lot more. Here some tips which will help you to make it easier to travel to China.
How to arrange for a China Visa
It is a lot of work to apply for a visa for China. Luckily, the Chinese Visa Application Service Center is located in The Hague where I live, so it was still fairly easy for me. You have to fill out a whole questionnaire online and that goes quite far. In addition, I also need to provide an employer’s statement and invitation letter from my girlfriend with a copy of her passport. I slept at my girlfriend’s house, otherwise hotel bookings are also accepted. You must also provide a copy of your flight ticket and a passport photo, which must meet strict requirements. So you already buy a plane ticket and book hotels before you know if your visa will be approved, that felt really weird for me. The process is explained quite well on the visa website, but if you still find it difficult, you can also call in the help of agencies that help you with applying for the visa (costs are around 250 EUR). I paid 126.55 EUR and got a nice sticker in my passport after 5 working days. I went to the Service Center twice, the first time to drop off the stack of prints (not digital, all printed) and had my fingerprints taken and the second time to pick up the 30-day visa. Keep in mind that it can be quite busy in the Service Center, so you will lose quite a bit of time.
Check in advance if you need a visa for to get into China, you can get the visa upon arrival nowadays as well
Flight and Health Form for China
Many airlines are flying to Beijing and Shanghai again after the lockdown period, so prices are back to normal. However, the flight with KLM is slightly longer because you don’t fly over Russia, so pay attention when booking your flight which airline and which route they use. I was still asked to fill in a Health Form when leaving, this is not very much but you an QR code. When you arrive in Beijing, you have to go through some hoops before you are outside. Immigration checks your visa and passport and they also scan your face. A bit later you have to print a form where you approved that they have taken your fingerprints and then you have to scan your health QR. If you’ve done everything right, you’ll be through in no time and you can move on to the luggage!
WeChat, Pay, and VPN for China
I already downloaded the WeChat app because this was my way of communication with my girlfriend in China. WeChat is similar to WhatsApp. WeChat is used by the locals for everything; taxi booking, payment, communication and health form.
I was able to withdraw the Yuan/Renminbi (local currency of China) in Beijing with my bank card so that was fine, but the problem is that cash is not accepted in many places. A lot of the payments goes through the WeChat, linked to my girlfriend’s Chinese bank account. You can also link an AliPay account with Credit Card to your WeChat or download the app separately to be able to pay online. Credit Cards are not widely accepted either, so I was happy that I could take a “loan” from my girlfriend. If you are going on an organized trip, this will be arranged there.
Furthermore, the internet is of course protected in China; to circumvent this you can take out a VPN subscription for the period of your trip. This way you can access the Wi-Fi and you can even use your data bundle (this could be extremely expensive). Of course, you can also buy a local SIM card.
This is the difficult part of the trip, traveling alone to China is quite difficult and you are almost obliged to book an organized trip or know a local to help you out in my opinion.
