The Logistics.

In case any American citizen wants to visit China, I'll give a short and dry run-down of what you need. 

First, you need a Visa and although mine was miraculously processed overnight, leave some time to get it. If you don't have money to waste, don't book any flights before you get your Visa. 

You can get your Visa from a Chinese embassy or consulate. LA only has a consulate, so I went there. (LA Chinese consulate) Since I am only a tourist in China, I had to get the Tourist L Visa (there are different classes of Visas). To get this Visa, I needed to fill out an application form which included some rough information about my travel plans, I had to present my US passport, a photo of myself, and a letter of invitation written by someone form China officially inviting me to visit. Cece wrote my letter of invitation letter and walked me through the steps. (Visa details)

Once you know that you are going to China, I'd say get your Visa ASAP so you can book flights because a few weeks before your trip, the flights start increasing by hundreds of dollars each day. I took a while for me to finally realize that I'm actually going to China, so I didn't get my Visa until two or three weeks before the trip. 

The trips to the consulate were an adventure in their own right. It is open from 10 am to 2 pm. I got there by noon and the place was packed. It was on the third floor of some building and before entering the room, everyone had to go through security and put their bags through a scanner.

Once inside, I realized that this place was very much like the DMV in appearance. It was packed. Second, we had to sit in rows of chairs. Third, upon entering everyone got a numbered ticket. An electronic voice would periodically announce which ticket number is ready to be served at which window and that number also lit up in red rights on a board in the center of the room.

This is were most of the similarity with the DMV ended. The place was so packed that I was sure I would not be called before 2 pm and would have to come back the next day. However somehow I made it out of there before closing. Magic. 

There are three processing speeds for a Visa: regular 1-week (which I heard actually only takes about four days), faster 2-3 day, and express overnight. Although I asked for the 2-3 day processing, I was told to come back the next day to pick up my Visa.

I returned later that week, picked up my Visa and opened my passport to see a nice Chinese Visa sticker covering one of the pages. When exiting the consulate, you will see a funny thing across the hallway.

Unfortunately the photo came out blurry. This is a cafe/waiting room which at one point was packed with Chinese clients. All the menus were Chinese and the place sold many Chinese products. I just thought this was pretty cool. Preview of China!

Now as I am packing for my departure tomorrow, I need to be very careful. I must not forget my passport with the Visa in it. I also need to print out the letter of invitation that Cece wrote and bring it with me. Finally Cece advised me to bring my student ID because she says we can get many discounts with the ID. 

One more thing: money. I called my banks putting a travel note on my cards so that they don't get blocked when a charge from Beijing goes through. However, Cece told me in good time that the cards won't work anyways because there is no bilateral agreement between China and the US allowing one to withdraw money from overseas accounts while in China. The solution is to either bring cash or wire money. So, I'm making a nice trip to the ATM today and exchanging the money at the airport. I'm not too thrilled about carrying cash though.

I booked my flights through Delta airlines with one stop in Seattle and then a direct flight to Beijing ("PEK" airport). While comparing flights, I found some good sites to look at, such as "Student Universe". If you register and prove that you are a student, you can find some pretty good deals. I also found that Japan Airlines has some rather good flights to Asia with very competitive prices. In the end I chose Delta because on the day I was searching, it had the shortest flight time and was one among the cheapest. 

I also bought travel insurance in case I need to change flights or I miss my flight. When paying over 1K for something, I'm willing to pay an extra amount less than $100 to ensure that I'm not risking losing the entire amount. My flights between Seattle and LA have one free checked bag. The flights between Seattle and Beijing have two free checked bags. Oh well. I'll pack light.

Chinese sockets are 220 volts instead of 110, so hair-heating tools might fry even with a transformer. However, computers will still work and I am definitely bringing mine. Now I need to buy a good transformer. I guess I'll just walk around with funny-looking hair the whole time.

Medicine. I'm not being overly cautious to avoid being a walking emergency room, but I will bring a few things: bandaids, Claritin, a pain reliever, and I will try to find something for travelers diarrhea (which I really hope I won't need to use). Since the food will be very different, I expect to have a surprised stomach for the first few days. Technically, there is a whole list of medications that various travelers' guides and health centers will recommend, but thankfully I will be staying with Cece at her home, and I hope that I will not have any emergency medical situations in which I am completely alone.

Finally, it should be very hot and humid, so I am packing light clothes that won't become nasty when I sweat. Sunglasses and a hat are also on my list. I'll bring some nice clothing but also some very wearable walking clothing and a set of running shoes and shorts to work off all of the delicious food that I am sure I will consume in good amounts. I will also bring my much-loved camera to record what I see and to share some photos on this blog!

Wish me luck with packing so I don't forget anything!

OK, one last thing before I go. I should double check my flight because last weekend a friend of mine booked a flight for Saturday thinking it was on Sunday and we only realized this when I was dropping him of at the airport ...

Cheers,

Nina.