For residents of most countries, a visa is required for visits
to the People’s Republic of China, although 144-hour visa-free
transit in Shànghǎi (and Běijīng, plus five other cities with
international airports) is available.
Visas are easily obtainable from Chinese embassies, consulates
or Chinese Visa Application Service Centres abroad. Getting a
visa in Hong Kong is also an option. Most tourists are issued
with a single-entry visa for a 30-day stay, valid for three
months from the date of issue. Your passport must be valid for
at least six months after the expiry date of your visa (nine
months for a double-entry visa) and you’ll need at least two
entire blank pages in your passport for the visa. For children
under the age of 18, a parent must sign the application form on
their behalf.
In many countries, the visa service has been outsourced from the
Chinese embassy to a Chinese Visa Application Service Centre
(www.visaforchina.org), which levies an extra administration
fee.
A 30-day visa is activated on the date you enter China, and must
be used within three months of the date of issue. Longer-stay
visas are also activated upon entry into China. Officials in
China are sometimes confused over the validity of the visa and
look at the ‘valid until’ date. On most 30-day visas, however,
this is actually the date by which you must have entered the
country, not left. Although a 30-day length of stay is standard
for tourist visas, 60-day, 90-day, six-month and 12-month
multiple-entry visas are also available. If you have trouble
getting more than 30 days or a multiple-entry visa, try a local
visa-arranging service or a travel agency in Hong Kong. Note
that if you go to China, on to Hong Kong or Macau and then to
Shànghǎi, you will need a double-entry visa to get ‘back’ into
China from Hong Kong or Macau, or you will need to reapply for a
fresh visa in Hong Kong.