potato

I think there's something about the medical forms that requires you to have the originals at the health check. Maybe some kind of bar code? I took printed copies to the medical check and they didn't accept them. Luckily I still had the originals with me so we got out ok. If we hadn't had the originals, we might have been screwed since the interview was the next day!

Yes, brown curly man is a good VO. ps. you should try eating at IKEA too, it's pretty good and not expensive for western food in China! They also have infinite free refills on milk tea, coffee, cappucino, or soda.

It seems like it's not a problem. I heard someone was there getting a medical test and it was that time of the month. They didn't do the urine test, but their medical exam was considered complete and they got the visa too. I suppose they have other ways of checking what needs to be checked with the urine test.

Just got back from Guangzhou, got a pink on Wednesday. Everything was very smooth, and the visa was delivered to the post office the next afternoon! Very fast and relieving to us, since some other people staying at Yang's had had their interview on Monday/Tuesday and still hadn't picked up the visa! The VO was long-ish curly brown hair guy. My wife said the interview was basically just a chat and then the guy gave her a pink slip. Thanks to Mr. Yang for advice and getting his friend to meet us at the Shamian medical place and help! details will follow later!

Thanks for posting your experience. We're going to be staying there starting tomorrow, so I hope we'll have a good experience with the Yangs too.

I have 3 folders. One is my info, one is my dad's(co-sponsor), and one is her files and info. The folders are the kind that have 30 transparent A4-sized pockets. I also bought some little sticky tabs and labeled each pocket. I put the things I thought would be the most useful on top, and the old stuff last. I'm just going to put them in a backpack for the plane, since I want all of it to be in my possession to avoid any chance of losing it. We also made a photo album with about 30 pictures. It's just a small album, because I don't think they'll have any doubts about our relationship since we've been living together for 2 and a half years! If you're separated, you might have to prepare more photos.

I've found that many college students and/or educated young people(in China) think that CCTV1 News is a joke. My understanding of Chinese is good, and I sometimes watch the CCTV1 News too. Maybe some news stories are ok, but I see many stories that are too fake sounding and overly-glorifying of the government. They often say stuff like "The military training exercise was a great success, Chairman HuJinTao was extremely pleased and he said it was a great testament to China's rising power in the world today! The soldiers worked hard and fought through many obstacles to give a great lasting impression of their courage and honor to fight for our great country." Maybe the news is still true, but they just overamplify anything and claim it as a great success for the country. It's like something too sickeningly sweet, and I usually can't stand it anymore and just switch to cartoons to get the bad taste out of my mouth. There is one channel called Phoenix TV that's based out of Hong Kong or Taiwan which you can get on digital cable that doesn't do this stuff as badly.

I think you can just do your medical/x-ray in Shanghai. There's one place in Shanghai that's on the official list of approved places: Shanghai International Travel Healthcare Center Find it here, along with Chinese version: http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/up...-8_-_May_20.pdf

Thank you very much for the info. I wish your fiancee good luck in the interview!

Do you have to buy a drink on the 4th floor to sit in the "coffee shop" or are there other places to sit and wait?

Thanks for the reply. I actually have all of those forms already, but I was wondering if there was a certain way I should put the forms together to make the process smoother! The reason is we have to do the medical exam the day before the interview!

Well, only about 7 days til we go to Guangzhou now, and I've been looking at stuff about the medical exam. As we want to make the medical go as fast as possible, I want to have as much prepared as possible. I found a post which has a lot of info, but it's from a few years ago. Can anyone who has recently done the medical check+vaccinations comment on whether the info in this post is still valid? Also, if you've had a recent medical experience, it would be great to get some first hand accounts! Here's the post I'm referring to: http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...&hl=medical (I know this is from Beijing, but I'm assuming Guangzhou will be similar if this is still relevant) Thank you!

Xi'an

I'm not sure why, but the edit button isn't there on my other posts, so I've gotta make another reply here! I just found out that the United Family Clinic is not on the list of places you can get vaccinations that was sent to me! Therefore I'm going to go to the Shamian island place instead. I'm guessing the people who went to United Family Clinic were fiancee visa, since I remember reading they don't have to get vaccinations before the interview. If you are doing a marriage visa, I think the Shamian is the only approved vaccination place in Guangzhou!

If anyone's looking for contact info for that United Family Clinic: Tel./µç»°: +86(20) 8710 6000 Email/µç×ÓÓʼþ£ºgzumarketing@ufh.com.cn