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[Senor Boogie Woogie]

Howdy!

I am currently on a one year "L" visa, thanks to being married to a citizen. As a matter of fact, I renewed it yesterday.

I decided to take a University job which will require me to get the RP/Z visa thing. Unfortunately, this will require me to go to Hong Kong to get it done. I will have to go probably at the end of August.

Questions:

Where is the office to get this done?

How long will it take to submit my paperwork?

Where is a cheap place to stay? If this only takes a day, I don't mind paying a few hundred RMB/HK dollars, but if I am stuck there a few days, I would like a cheap place to stay (air con, hot shower, single bed fine.) I know this place is a dump, but I want to stay in the Chungking Mansions, just because they are so notorious. Or maybe just to visit....

What is there to do in Hong Kong? I know this is a broad question. I like temples, walking around interesting streets, maybe eating some good food. I would enjoy going to a western supermarket and load up on stuff.

Is there anyway an outside agency can do this for a fee and me stay home in China? I don't really want to go to HK. To me, it's just a big Chinese city. I know its a bit different, but except for the food and maybe shopping, I just don't see it. I hate Shanghai and can't see this place being much different.

If I go to HK, after I leave, I want to make a side trip to Guilin/Yongshuo by train. How long does it take to get there. Google Earth says it is about 500 kilometers as the crow flies.

Any suggestions on how to make this a relatively painless process and how to have fun there would be sorely appreciated.

[Pashley]

Search other threads for more info; this has all been discussed to death.

Actual visa office is in Wanchai area on HK Island. http://www.fmcoprc.gov.hk/eng/zgqz/ Queues may be long. They are generally shorter in Macau. Both offices used to have same day service, but I'm told it is usually next day now.

I use an agent, http://www.fbt-chinavisa.com.hk/, and have been happy with them. There are lots of other agents too. Mine get 90 day tourist visa same day for many passports, charge HK $360 for Canadian. They can get business visas for more money. I do not know if they do Z.

The usual backpacker cheap place to stay is Chunking Mansions, East side of Nathan Road (somewhat sleazy main tourist street) in Kowloon, not far from ferry terminal or Tsim Sha Tsui subway stop. About $250 a night. Good Indian food on ground floor.

Basically C Mansions is an apartment building that has dozens of small tourist places scattered over different floors. Price & quality both vary. A friend who goes often likes one on 4th & 5th floors. Email chunkinghouse@yahoo.com.hk

Imperial Hotel, 50 m toward sea on same side of Nathan Road, is decent but not exceptional. $600-odd.

[Pashley]

Check Wikitravel for more, but there are direct overnight busses to Guilin or Yangshuo from near the HK border in Shenzhen, or take a train to Guangzhou, then either train or shorter bus ride to Guilin.

Or ferry to Macau, which I like better than HK anyway, wander about downtown or casinos or the relatively quiet & picturesque island Coloane, according to taste. Then taxi to border, walk across into Zhuhai, and there's a bus station just off to your right as you walk out of customs with busses to Yangshuo. Most are crappy & uncomfortable, but they'll get you there.

Book a ticket, then walk down the side street (Lotus Road) next to the bus station -- shopping, outdoor bars, hordes of streetwalkers, ... a really unique experience, worth seeing even if you are not interested in rent-a-hottie services.

[The Local Dialect]

I did the bus from Guangzhou to Yangshuo. The train from HK to Guangzhou is about 200HKD and takes a bit over an hour if I remember correctly. From Guangzhou long distance bus station, which is not terribly far from the train station, you can take a bus to Yangshuo, I think we probably got to the bus station around 10pm, got tickets and were put directly on a bus. We were in Yangshuo at just about daybreak, so probably around 5am. I don't remember the tickets being very expensive, a few hundred RMB at most.

If you stay in Chungking Mansions there's a CITS right across Nathan road, it has a big red sign, you can't miss it. I always used CITS for my visas and never had any problems with them. In general you'll want to use a travel agent to get your visa since they're usually a bit cheaper and you save yourself a lot of hassle, there are loads of agents and most of them are pretty much the same. They can expidite visas for you for a fee. I've heard a lot of people using the travel agent Pashley recommended too, both are fine, as are probably lots of others that you might randomly happen upon.

[adamsmith]

i can never understand why people will travel to Hong Kong on their visa run and then pay out large amounts of money to some company to get the visa for them. Simply go to the chinese consulate in Wanchei and go get the visa yourself. It is a considerable amount cheaper. There are plenty of cheap hotels within walking distance of the consulate if you cannot arrive early enough to get same day service plus numerous foreign language bookstores, coffeeshops, restaurants, and other things to do right in that area.
The money you save on the visa company could easily cover a hotel room for the evening. I usually stay at the metropole which is a nice hotel and cheaper than what the visa companies charge. 

[Pashley]

i can never understand why people will travel to Hong Kong on their visa run and then pay out large amounts of money to some company to get the visa for them. Simply go to the chinese consulate in Wanchei and go get the visa yourself.

Works fine for some people, but I prefer the agent.

A few years back, I and various friends routinely went to the consulate in Macau, and always got good cheap same-day service. No problem. Last time I went there, though, they said same-day service no longer existed, and all they would give me was a 15-day tourist visa for 200-odd. Ouch.

On my next try, I went to an HK agent, got same day service and 90 day tourist visa, no problem. I do not know if HK consulate would have been as bad as Macau, but I'll happily give the agent $360 HK to avoid the risk.

[The Local Dialect]

Yeah same here, of course it was years ago (the last time I went was in 05), but the last time I went the agent was actually cheaper and faster than the consulate, and they had visas available that the consulate wouldn't give you individually. Someone told me this was because agents get bulk rates (they'll take a stack of passports up and do the visas all at one time), I'm not sure if that's true or not, but I know that there are instances when you can get services from the agents that aren't available at the consulate.

[Con ate dog]

There's the key question, Adam:  How much is it to let an agency do it for you?  It's been 4 years since I did it, but back then it was damn cheap.

[ChinaChao]

     Chungking Mansions is awesome! There may be some cultural shock but they're relatively harmless. Just get use to seeing a lot of Indians and Nigerians. There is security at night. The one major drawback is the elevator usage. It gets very crowded especially at peak hours like 5pm. I went to Mr. Khem at Holiday Guesthouse. I have his business card if you want his number. It was 207 HKD per night and it's tiny, but it's clean. If you go, make sure you ask to see the room and that you were recommended because the rooms on the left behind two locked doors are okay, but the rooms on the right behind the one locked door (there are about 4 or 5 rooms in that section) is a lot nicer. They usually send you to the not so nice room if you were referred by another Guesthouse in the same building (something about their commission). I don't know exactly how it works.
     Finding Chungking Mansions is pretty easy too. It's by East Tsim Sha Tsui which is easily accessible by subway. Their address is: E Block, 6/Floor, E-1 ChungKing Mansions 36-44 Nathan Road Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Take the exit (I think it’s exit K) to Nathan Road and go straight until the first light. Turn right. You'll see the giant Rolex store across the street and you'll also pass a TGIF. Follow the street until you see ChungKing Mansions. It’s right after an Irish and Japanese restaurant. There are many hostels inside so you can choose. Also, Mr. Khem recommended me to his friend at Everest Club. Their Indian food is awesome. You can get a VIP card downstairs or you can ask Mr. Khem and he usually has coupons/vouchers.
     As for the Visa process, I think it took 4 days. The office is easy to find by subway also. Just take the subway to Wan Chai. Exit A, go upstairs where they have a bridge for pedestrians. Walk straight across and on the other side you should be able to see the Visa Office Building. It’s behind another building but it's really tall so you can’t miss it. You can see it from the bridge but I’m not sure of the address but it’s walking distance from the subway stop.
     Things to do. There is a lot. Do a Google search! I just love eating Indian food! They also have many free museums, mostly on Wednesdays, the giant Buddha, a lot of shopping, etc. Have fun and good luck!

[ChinaChao]

By the way, make sure you bring 1025 HKD to the Embassy??? If you're an American citizen they charge you pretty much the same price as it would cost in America, about $130USD. It's not surprising but hey, when you see the sign for 400HKD (or was it 200???) and get excited only to realize that applies to NON-American yeah...

    Chungking Mansions is awesome! There may be some cultural shock but they're relatively harmless. Just get use to seeing a lot of Indians and Nigerians. There is security at night. The one major drawback is the elevator usage. It gets very crowded especially at peak hours like 5pm. I went to Mr. Khem at Holiday Guesthouse. I have his business card if you want his number. It was 207 HKD per night and it's tiny, but it's clean. If you go, make sure you ask to see the room and that you were recommended because the rooms on the left behind two locked doors are okay, but the rooms on the right behind the one locked door (there are about 4 or 5 rooms in that section) is a lot nicer. They usually send you to the not so nice room if you were referred by another Guesthouse in the same building (something about their commission). I don't know exactly how it works.
     Finding Chungking Mansions is pretty easy too. It's by East Tsim Sha Tsui which is easily accessible by subway. Their address is: E Block, 6/Floor, E-1 ChungKing Mansions 36-44 Nathan Road Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Take the exit (I think it’s exit K) to Nathan Road and go straight until the first light. Turn right. You'll see the giant Rolex store across the street and you'll also pass a TGIF. Follow the street until you see ChungKing Mansions. It’s right after an Irish and Japanese restaurant. There are many hostels inside so you can choose. Also, Mr. Khem recommended me to his friend at Everest Club. Their Indian food is awesome. You can get a VIP card downstairs or you can ask Mr. Khem and he usually has coupons/vouchers.
     As for the Visa process, I think it took 4 days. The office is easy to find by subway also. Just take the subway to Wan Chai. Exit A, go upstairs where they have a bridge for pedestrians. Walk straight across and on the other side you should be able to see the Visa Office Building. It’s behind another building but it's really tall so you can’t miss it. You can see it from the bridge but I’m not sure of the address but it’s walking distance from the subway stop.
     Things to do. There is a lot. Do a Giggle search! I just love eating Indian food! They also have many free museums, mostly on Wednesdays, the giant Buddha, a lot of shopping, etc. Have fun and good luck!

[Pashley]

By the way, make sure you bring 1025 HKD to the Embassy??? If you're an American citizen they charge you pretty much the same price as it would cost in America, about $130USD. It's not surprising but hey, when you see the sign for 400HKD (or was it 200???) and get excited only to realize that applies to NON-American yeah...

It varies considerably by country. It depends partly on what the other country charges Chinese, partly on whether the two gov'ts have a reciprocal agreement on this. Some passports, like Australia, get visas cheaper. The US is among the most expensive. UK & Canada somewhere in the middle.

For some passports, mostly African, they make it very difficult. Not sure now but a few years back Nigerians were being refused visas in HK entirely, and told to fly home and apply there. Beijing was not at all happy that Lagos and Tapei had exchanged ambassadors. A friend with a South African passport went recently and all they would give him was a 15-day tourist visa. The local PSB will give him 30-day extensions, though.

[fullricebowl]

For an American passport holder, it is 1025HKD in cash, correct? Can anyone suggest the best place to exchange currency? I know a lot of places in HK accept RMB, but according to the consulate website the consulate only accepts HKD. I will be flying into Hong Kong directly and wondered if it would be better to exchange at the airport or if it was pretty simple to handle it at a bank downtown. Thanks for any advice you can provide!

[Nolefan]

do not exchange money at the airport, you'll get a raw deal on the rate. There are plenty of place to exchange it downtown that will give you better rates than the banks, especially along Nathan Road. Shop around for the better rate and try to exchange it in the mornings when they have much better deals.

[Paul]

There is a visa office in the railway station in Lo Wu (that's the Hong Kong side of the border at Luo Hu, same building - different 'country').  I did one there a while back in under 3 hours, cheaper than any agent and no need to stay in HK.  You may be lucky, maybe not - you know how these things are liable to change, but it's worth asking there first as you walk past it anyway on your way to the HK Metro or whatever it's called.

Take the bus to Yangshuo from Shenzhen (just around the corner from the railway station) overnight, arrive early morning.  Have fun there, great place.  Or if you don't like buses, take the train from SZ to Guilin and get a bus to Yangshuo from there. No need to go to Guangzhou, as others have mentioned.

[Ruth]

There are money changer booths every block on Nathan street near the above-mentioned Chung King mansions. Rates seemed to be equal every time I've bothered to compare. They post the current rates.