lele

Hehe. Naturally I can address everyone in English. English is my first language! I have attended university for many years in English. However, I wanted to give it a try in pinyon. It seems that everyone in the northern cities universities from China who is now studying in the US has studied it at one point or another (at least from Shanghai, Nanjing, QingHua, and BeiDa). Sorry, but I can not type in Chinese Characters, since I can barely read Chinese (my reading consists of about 50 characters), and my current linux computer does not have the applicable fonts. From home, I can try. However, since I have never officially studied Chinese, only learned it through speaking with people, my ability to do anything other than speak is really bad. :-( I thought, however, that it would be quite fun to write that! I was hoping that we could get people to focus instead on better understanding each other, and ourselves. As I wrote about before, it seems like we all are a bit frustrated with the biases in the process. So instead I want us to all stretch ourselves and to work to better understand, so that we can be like water and flow and best encompass the challenges that we face, and to live all aspects of our life as we ideally believe we can. If we can take all of this frustrating energy that we feel from our waiting and place it into better understanding, at least we can gain something small, can we not? I hope?

women bishu womende aide pengyo mei tien duo yi dian fen xiang. wo renwei wo ai womende weihunle. ta gausu wo pengyo shi hao ren. ta gausu wode xing bishu bei yingwei hexing bushi jurhue. danshur ren zo ren bushi hao ren. wode putonghua bu hao, danshi wo renwei nimen ming bi wo? niemen ming bi ma? wo fen xiang mei tien nege dien nao yingwei nimen bang wo. danshi jingtian wo ganzhua buhao. women bishu bang women. kur yi ma? (sorry, my pinyon is really terrible!)

Hello! Question to all: Supposing that we can not receive an interview before the Chinese New Year, my darling and I have agreed that I will go to visit her one more time. However, this time, we wanted to travel to HK/Omen(Macau)/Vietnam/Thailand (since we have already seen every province in China not absolutely freezing in the Winter time). I have looked into all of the visa requirements needed, and is the reason we have chosen these destinations. Vietnam does not require a visa anymore for Chinese people, so long as they cross by sea or by land, and Thailand will issue a visa on arrival (if you do not ask the embassy or consulate at home at least!). However, I am not sure what the US Consulate in GZ will think of this. Is this a highly inadvisable thing to do? What do other people think of this idea? Has anyone else tried this plan yet, or something similar to it? Thanks for your help everyone!

Hello Everyone. I best tread carefully, lest I step on toes. So please, do not take offense to my remarks. Thank you! I am not directly involved, nor do I know the people directly involved. All I know is what has been written and my own personal take on it. However, when I read through the comments, it seems to me that this was never meant to be a joke, nor was it meant to be insensitive. I instead see it as an act of frustration on the part of the people involved. And if it is this reason, then the comments make sense from all sides. Given that the various different political perspectives can see this from a different perspective, some taking offense, and others looking on it as a right or as humor. However, I do not believe that it is necessarily cultural. Why do I say this? Since my own darling who has been Chinese her whole life and many of her friends do not mis-understand the cultural context here. It may be that since they are from parts of China where people speak Putonghua as compared to Guangdonghua that there are some differences. It may also be that they are ethnically hanzhu and have been for centuries. It may be that politically, they grew up (my darling and many of her friends) as children of people who were in families which were broken apart by mao's purge, and that these students have been trying to piece together how to live their new lives in the shadows of ideas from the ming, the song, and deng xiaoping. People from this part of the country, although entering into the middle class in the cities (such as for my darling) only over the lat 3-4 years, many of whom have not had the financial support, relatively, that people from Guangdong have had. Maybe it is also that in this region, there has been a legacy left over of foreign concessions and japanese aggression, which causes people to realize when a situation is not fair and right. My darling took it the same way that I did when I read this post. Out of frustration. Out of frustration that our system is not treating us fairly. Just because of our darlings being from China, we are forced to endure wait times which are MUCH LONGER and MUCH MORE INTRUSIVE than people applying from other countries. Just because our darlings are Chinese, the consulate proudly displays that all cases will be completed in 3-5 months after they receive your application in GZ, and yet already I am at that point, without an interview date assigned yet, and it seems that many people are far past that point. I certainly am frustrated. However, I must be like water, and to acknowledge that often times tough situations help us to grow as individuals. She reminds me of this as I remind her of it at the same time. Then, she quoted me to something I have not heard from a long time, and I have not heard applied to this type of situation in years: "survival of the fittest" -- Darwin This is supposed to apply to evolution, and in a way, we are all evolving in our lives. Is this really what we want our darlings to see of America? When I talked with her more about this, and about our wanting to build a life where we can do more than just survive, but where we can grow as individuals and we can help our community, our world, our families, and others to better enrich their lives, she completely agreed. She then realized the frustration which we are all facing, and that was how it was summed up. This explanation makes great sense to me and allows me to think back at the lessons learned. The Chinese people have learned that violence and aggression get them nowhere. This is why the whole concept of storming seems to make such little sense! However, the general frustration is still in our environment, and we must use our wonderful experiences and our passion and our love to help to channel these experiences into wonderful actions. So, rather than trying to talk about this being a joke, even if some may find it funny, I would prefer that we work to do the best that we can every day. To acknowledge that at times this process will really get us down, and yet at other times that at least we are so fortunate to have met such wonderful people! And that finally, we should all remember the actions behind the words. I will never again politically vote for or support a candidate who do not intend to reform this system, so as to make it fair. Additionally, I will not stop talking with people to raise awareness on this side, so that hopefully, everyone can better understand our frustration and pain and to help us to realize that there are many wonderful vistas ahead.

Thank you for your help. In fact, this is one of the hospitals approved by the consulate (I believe, however we are still waiting, and waiting, and waiting, ..., for the p4 to arrive, but it is on their website as being an approved hospital). Ideally, she could get it done in her city, which although a large city with hospitals up to par for its many korean and japanese workers and business people there, does not meet the us consulate's standard. The reason to choose shanghai is that it is closer than beijing and much closer than guangzhou. Additionally, the rate of corruption of people trying to swindle the petitioner out of money in exchange for a clean bill of health, when there already is a clean bill of health, is significantly reduced (Both she and I have read stories of this in GZ's medical units). How long does the typical exam take to perform, and how long is it for the results to be returned?

Hello. I am friends with a person in Chinatown in New York City who can get you a round trip to Beijing and then 50% off of your flight from there to anywhere else. However, this deal is only good if you fly out of New York City, San Fransisco, or Los Angeles. In the end it works out to 650-700$ total (including the connecting flight). However, this deal is ONLY FOR roundtrip flights. Last time I needed to change, I just called up the airline, and paid them 100Yuan to change the date, that works out to about 12.50 USD and I think it is the cheapest way to go. It is much cheaper to purchase the tickets from China to the US for a one way, but generally not for a roundtrip (since they regulate all of their prices, the cost of a one way is always 50% of that for a roundtrip, but from the US side, one can often get discounts for a roundtrip, versus a one way). Is this information still accurate or useful? Also, you may want to be very careful for the time you are traveling. There may already be no tickets left, if you want to travel within 1 week of Chinese New Year, and internal flights may also be impossible to get. In fact, internal trains may be impossible to get without at least a 5-6 day head start, depending on the route you are taking. Does anyone know if the consulate is even open during the week-long holiday?!?

OK, thanks for this information. However, in our case (and in others here I am sure) the applicant is MUCH CLOSER to Shanghai or Beijing, and was hoping to get their checkup done at one of the approved places in these cities. If this is to be done 4 days before the interview (although the regulations on the website and in the US Federal Register say 30 days), then how will it be possible for them to collect the data and get to Guangzhou (even if flying, never the less by train??)? Thanks for your advice on this!

My father and brother have been very supportive from the beginning. This makes sense to me though, since my father has always been very liberal and open on race issues: he was one of the people protesting in the 1960's for equal access for African Americans on his campus and in his home state. My brother, having been raised around my father and I also was very supportive. My mother came around after she, along with my father and brother, joined my precious and I near the end of my 3rd trip to China. Then, they three of them continued to travel with her for an extra 2 weeks (I had to come back to attend my next university term). It was a great experience for them all, especially since unlike myself (who can now speak and understand enough Chinese to get by in china without any problem...except for reading!) they could not speak a word or understand a word of Chinese. After hearing about her life story and seeing how closely it emulated that of my only living grandparent, my grandmother came on board. So, now the whole family that was important for the situation was on board. As far as co-workers go, it has been a mixed bag. Those who are Chinese from guangdong or from hong kong or from taiwan province have been highly critical at first, constantly warning me about being possibly duped. This really frustrated me greatly. I do know that there are occasions where this has happened to people, but I have lived with her and traveled with her for many months, and I have spoken with her for so many hours. In fact, it came down to an argument with one of these people from taiwan province that basically made her realize that her own boyfriend had cheated on her, before she came around. However, people from the rest of china have been very supportive. many of them can understand now why I always am trying to talk with them in Chinese, and how I seem to be slowly improving, and why my knowledge of Chinese history and culture are important to me. In fact, many of them appreciate it greatly and always encourage me, teaching me a new word, or inviting me along with them for group food outings. Many of my other co-workers who know have been mixed in their support, ranging from the "wow, you seem very lucky, yours is an amazing story of timing, open-mindedness and adventure", to those who are skeptical (usually they are prejudiced). However, since most of the people I know well trust my judgment with issues like this, they are initially on board. However, there are two now ex-friends who pestered me and attacked me over this for so long. However, I am really happy to have had this happen now, since it helped me to realize that these two people are not actually friends of mine. I am not sure how the remaining people around me will react to the news when they first see her, but since all of the people that I know best are now supportive of me (sometimes after some struggle), I think that it will work for the best. I have also had a tough time convincing people that it is the US which is holding everything up. However, once this has been done, I have been able to even get some of my peers who are US citizens to actively vote against Bush, since in our understanding of the process, whomever heads the executive branch is the one who sets the policies that that DOS must follow, and hence the consulates over seas. I am lucky to live in a liberal and open-minded place. I do worry however for those who may not be as fortunate, and would love to share ideas with you about how you can best try to explain yourself to others. Have others had problems or issues in public? How have people found it to be when they travel outside of the US together with their new life-long partners? Thanks all!

I only know the official line. As quoted from the Canadian New York City Consulate Website: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/visas.h...html#exemptions that anyone in possession of a united states residence card (a green card) can enter to canada, for the purpose of tourism. It seems to be the same as an eu passport, or other exempt wealthy nation passport, for tourism purposes. Tell us how it goes! Have you tried applying for a visa to visit Europe with her yet? I am really interested to hear how that goes. Enjoy your trip.

I am not sure what city your fiancee currently lives in, but this could make a large difference. When the time comes, because of its local proximity, she will be taking her medical exam in Shanghai instead. A fellow student with me has a parent who works at that medical center and has told me that they always so a very professional job. There are no tricks there with people asking for extra money to make sure the results are good, and the rate of mess-ups is really low. I also have heard that Beijing and possibly other cities offer valid sites? Or do people think that guangzhou is the best way to go? Thanks!

This is not perfectly known. I can only mention nations that I know of for sure: China = 1, India = 2, England = 4, Canada = 7, Germany = 6, Thailand = 1

Shenzhen is in Mainland China so She will have to go through GZ for the Visa... If she lived in Hong Kong--the visa process is much faster--I have no idea why though... One roof two system or is it two systems one roof.. either way to me it should be the same---but it's not.. China (mainland) is the only country in the world I think where you need a visa to go somewhere in your own country (Hong Kong) ???? Anyway--someone correct me on this if Im wrong... You are absolutely right on both counts. The reason why China currently limits access to Shenzhen, legally, is because Hong Kong, under their system, insists upon it. If your Darling or Chinese citizen is from certain well-to do towns, they can go easily and without hassle. Notice, this means that their Hukou must be from these cities. They include: Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, WuWei, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, and a few others. They are thinking of adding a slate more, since HK enjoys the tourist dollars. As far as why the consulate is so slow, however, that is a good question for George Bush. He is the reason why it became much slower. If you want, I can point you to the new federal regulations that were issued under his first 4 years that made this the case. Here at my university, a person from the UK (which has more k1 applicants than China, which only has the 4th most in the world to the US after Canada, UK, and India) had the entire process finished in 7 weeks, from the day he mailed in his I-129. In fact, the consulate (in the UK and in all EU nations, as well as in Canada, multiple US consulates issue these visas, how come China and India only have 1 consulate each which does this? why not the Beijing one? or the Shanghai one? Or the Chengdu one? etc.) said that they were sorry...it usually takes 6 weeks from England to get a K1 issued. It is sad. It is a political decision on the US's part. Why? I am not sure. But my guess is that money has something to do with it (HK is quite well to do). But this is not wholly it, as in Malaysia, the process is also quite fast for a K1, although they have on average the same GDP per capita as China. Go Figure. However -- there is a route. If you go to marry her in Mainland, and you can get her a work visa for HK (she will have to have either at least a Bachelors degree, or at least 15 Wan Yuan), then it *MAY* be possible. Has anyone tried this approach yet? Has it worked? For me, it is too late in the game to think more about this option... I just wish that issues such as this would be discussed, so that we can make the process fair for all of us who truly are just waiting thanks to US policies... But, at least China always grants me a visa to go and visit! Lele

Thank you very much Jim for your email and your advice. I appreciate your background and experience on this. It is good to have the reality down, so that way we can prepare as best as possible! :-) I certainly hope that it does not take until June! Yikes! I was hoping, since both the DOS told me today that I would likely get a January Date (2 different people confirmed that and that the name check completed around the same October 10-15 time as everyone else's here did) and since the P3 was received around September 1 (about 1 month later than this last batch) that there was some hope. Does anyone know if they intentionally load in more interviews to be nice before the Chinese New Year??? At any rate, is there a reason why the Chinese consulate is so much slower than other similar consulates (except for India, which I also know is very slow)?? A friend of mine in Germany just did the whole process, and it took a mere 7 weeks, from the first I-129 through the K1 being issued... **Sigh** Best of wishes and luck to you and your wonderful situation, and thanks for the information. One final question: You mentioned that showing that I care is important. However, I have contacted them a lot so far, and am wondering if all of my contacting them could be considered pestering (which would possibly slow things down)? Thanks again!

Hello! My recommendation: use whatever date it says in your SO's passport. If a date is not given, please have her go to the local jincha and ask them what they will use in the passport and have her apply for one quickly (which she must have before the visa can be issued). gl

Hello Everyone! I *just* found this site yesterday while at my University, and I am so excited that I found this place. The amount of useful information was truly amazing. It is too bad that I did not find it until this late into the process. We are already waiting on a p3 which was acknowledged by GuangZhou in very early September. However, the information here about what to ask at the DOS has been very helpful, thank you. About myself and my lovely precious (I will be cautious for now, since I have found out that some DOS people actually read this site and look for troublemakers...which I believe none of us are, but I still feel the risk is too large to be completely open, except for in private emails, so email me!): I am currently completing my doctorate degree and after my masters degree and some travel in Asia I met my lovely when I was in Beijing. I have been to China now 3 times, have learned much Chinese from her (and thanks to the many Chinese grad students in my department) and have brushed up on the history, culture, food (mala sichuan tai hao chi), and diversity of the nation. It is absolutely amazing! we spent time in more than 12 different provinces together on our trips, exploring exotic locations, cities, places of worship and cuture, forests, mountains, etc. I love to share of my experiences and would love to learn of more places from all of you. this is the type of thing which really drives each of us down our academic paths and towards each other (that and many other things too). As for she, having grown up in a small town, to a poor family, and then moving into a large city in her Coastal Province was a huge jump for her more than 10 years ago, to find work to support her family (we are both very close to 30 years old). This really has established many shared values and experiences which helped us to grow closer to each other, and helped us to better understand each other as we have each learned the skills to better communicate (although all of her English is self taught, it is really good!!!). This does create some logistical issues, since her family is quite poor and since although her hukou was officially registered in the large city, many of her papers come from the small city. However, it was an absolute treat when I was able to go there and see her house that she was born in and many of the older things left over from her past. What is of greatest interest to me is if: a. you have a story which is similar -- or advice -- that you could share with me b. you live in Shandong in or near one of the two large coastal cities (she is in one of them, and I will gladly share in a private email) c. you live in the Boston USA area (where I am in one of the universities) and wanted to share more experiences on this end d. you have any suggestions for assembling a website with our more than 3.0GB worth of photos taken (we are conceiving to write a travel book at some point, but we would love to get feedback, especially on many of the scenery shots) e. you have any suggestions as to how to best proceed at this point. We do not want to wait (as everyone else here does too!), however, since I am a full-time student with a huge exam coming up next term, after this winter is over, i will not have more than a few days at any given time through the end of June (save for a week for spring break, that I was hoping we could travel during, and that is not until the latter part of March anyway). Ideally, if she could get here by the middle of January (the earlier the better) then we would have at least 2 weeks where I could take off all of my time to help her to adjust, to marry, and to file all of our papers, as well as find a place to live together. I am worried that if it goes much later than that, it will be tough on us both. Naturally, I will put her above my school, but that will not be easy, politically. Do you think that there is some way to convey this information in a polite, and nice manner to GZ? Thanks everyone, and it is a pleasure to meet you! I can not wait to go back to China again, and this time, hopefully married, together, and as a single family!