MoonCarolCafe

Congratulations. Cigars for everyone?

Yes. And we all know the best (most romantic) restaurant in GuangZhou is... B) B) (even if the quality of the place has taken a hit due to change of ownership)

No. And Yes. Multiple visits help, but do not gaurantee you will get approval. There is no set criteria for passing the sniff test; if there was then all the fraudsters would know EXACTLY what they had to do to get in. I think about the only thing you can do to guarantee her getting the visa is if she is holding a newborn baby with your nose and ears on her lap during the interview.

I feel you. It takes a bit of adjusting when you first arrive. Then you realize 8RMB for a can of coke is not highway robbery, and it's no big deal to walk an extra 1/2 block to save 5 jiao on a juicy. Hagen Daaz is expensive as all get out. 45 yuan for a small container of ice cream? Homey the Clown don't think so! On the other hand, 20 yuan for a taxi ride that would cost $20 in Los Angeles? Lemmie in that red/grey VW Bora!

IIRC a cab from the airport to the East Central Station (from where you can get to everywhere in GZ as well as parts of SZ and HK) will run you RMB50. Likely much less if you take a bus. AFAIK there are no hotels near the airport.

Blue slip, yellow slip, or white slip, have her keep it hidden until she is well away from the crowd in front of the consulate!

This isn't just China. Rural Indians practice sex-selective abortions. Both India and China have a problem; tens of millions of men who won't be able to find a wife when they come of age because the women they would normally pair up with never survived much past birth. Millions of young villiage men with no hope of being able to marry = BIG problem for everyone. Remember what started the slaughter on Pitcairn Island? Historically there has been only one way for a government to shrink an excess population of young males... Abduction of women to become wives for single men already occurs. (Yes, I do worry about my wife going back to her village)

I'm going to answer your post point by point. A bit of background before I begin: I'm 7 years older than my wife. When I met her I was an anti-mainlander-Chinese bigot. Initially my wife wanted nothing to do with me, it was I who did all the chasing. My wife would have been quite happy for me to move to China (she wants to stay in HK or SH) instead of her coming to the USA. (Are the women young, or do they just look younger?) I have news for you... most American men (including yours truly) are overweight. Most single American men with the economic ability to make multiple trips to China are going to be older rather than younger. Older men are more likely to be balding, and/or have grey hair. Due to cultural differences wide differences in age between husband and wife are not quite the issue it might be in Poughkipsie. If they could really get any man in China, why would they settle for a middle-class American when they can have a millionaire Chinese real-estate magnate? Would you settle for less if you could have more? Immaterial. It does not matter where/how a couple met. The actions AFTER a couple meets are germane, but I would never say it's a sham marriage based on them meeting on a site... dedicated to hooking up American men who want to meet Chinese women with Chinese women who want to meet American men. SOME of these are shams, but I would never accuse all of them of being so. Really? That's the reason? Because earlier this year I had a chance to speak with a man who had just transferred out of the visa office, and he indicated otherwise. IIRC if you get divorced in a few months, she has to go back unless she can prove spousal abuse. And if you are in jail for spousal abuse, you are not going anywhere to marry anyone. Petitions for marriages in HK take less time to process than petitions for marriages in China. I you married her in HK you'll be going through a different office than those of us who married in China, and so our shenanigans will have little impact on you.

Some people just can't resist testing a pointy stick on a sleeping grizzly.

Another P3 has been granted. I must now do the banana dance.

Yes, your SO won't be allowed into the consulate unless she has an appointment letter. Remember that you're not allowed to take anything inside with you, no cellphone, cameras, pens, nothing, for security reasons. Which makes it odd that they would prefer you to bring in a large opaque VHS tape instead of a slim, translucent VCD. I know for a fact that an Ericsson T68 cellular phone will make it through the detectors without setting off an alarm. I also know for a fact that if you try to use said phone inside the consulate walls the guards will boot you back to the front gate and make you leave it there.

In the mid-90's I was part of the wedding party for a Chinese wedding. My first time being IN the wedding instead of just going TO the wedding. My job along with one other guy is to be the Best Man's ground-pounders. The Best Man has to be available for pictures, keep his attention on the groom, stand around looking pleasant and Best Manly. Our job was to actually get things done-- making certain all the cars in the convoy had the double-happiness stickers on them, checking traffic reports to determine at the last moment the best route to take from the groom's house to the bride's house, being rude as needed to the other guests to get them in line. We get to the bride's house as an advance crew, make certain the driveway is clear so the rented White LS400 can park front and center, that everone is ready so the Best Man can show up in 15 minutes and take all the credit. (We also re-parked the LS400 while the groom was inside dickering for his bride so they would not have to reverse the car down the driveway.) So far so good... The invites said the reception starts at 18:00. The invites also said RSVP, but as I later found out a RSVP on a Chinese wedding invite means about as much as a 65mph speed limit sign on a straight, lonely stretch of interstate highway. It's 17:40 and I am FREAKING out because the restaurant (The Sam Woo in San Gabriel) is normally 20 minutes away, and I had wanted to be there at 17:15 to being with! My partner (From Taiwan, limited English) is assuring me that everything is OK, there won't be a problem, this is normal. Normal like hell I say, as long as I'm a wedding goon the wedding will happen as planned and on schedule! We manage to get to the plaza at 18:05, I go racing upstairs to the restaurant expecting to see a crowd of people aimlessly milling about... And the busboys are just starting to roll the banquet tables out of storage into a large room that is absent of any sign that a wedding reception is scheduled to occur in 5 minutes, and far more importantly, no sign of any guests!!! I'm certain the look on my face was priceless. I get in touch with the Best Man who explains that it's OK, no problem, nobody will start to show up for another 2 hours or so. And except for a caucasian couple who arrived at 18:30, he was pretty much correct. The rest of the wedding/reception went off without a hitch. So many people came who had who had not RSVP that I gave up trying to get them properly seated... but the bride had already planned for that and everyone was still able to eat. Back then my ability to comprehend spoken Chinese was about 2 words on a good day, but the entertainers were first rate. After they tallied up the cash gifts the new couple made a slight profit on having the reception. After the party shut down armed guards escorted the newlyweds and the bag-o-cash down to the Lexus (which I had parked out front). Afterwards I had 2 boxes of leftover Hennesy, Crown Royal, and some expensive champaigne that I had to dispose of... poor poor me. B)

I've been where you are Alex. And I know that there's little I can say that will ease the pain.

Yes, that would be me. Never did get my license back. It's OK, they gave us the visa instead. Fair trade.

Yes, but these are "American" documents. You can get a color copy of your passport made and notarized in the Citizen Services section of the consulate. I don't recall how much this normally costs. You don't need to have these certified.

CERTIFICATION is what needs to be done to when you are in China, after you have had the documents NOTARIZED by a Chinese notary. Certification is done at the county seat. There's a place on Shamain Island that can handle it, takes a day and a small fee. If my memory serves correctly, after the documents have been certified you can take them to the consulate and have them put a stamp of approval on them, after which they will serve as legal documents as far as the USA is concerned. I had to jump through these hoops to get my wife a SSN before she set foot in the USA. (Don't try this now, the rules changed days after I got her number).

(I only had a civil ceremony in China) Having attended several Chinese weddings here in the USA, I think you'll find they beat the stuffing out of western-style weddings. Summary: Groom starts out at his house, rides a white horse (Usually a rented white Mercedes S600 / Rolls Royce/ BMW760) to the bride's house leading a parade of parents, siblings, friends, carrying an assortment of gifts (roast pigs at a coupld of the ones I participated in). Oh, and lots of red envelopes. Don't forget the envelopes with CRISP bills. The procession gets to the brides house, the folks inside act suprised "Who's this at our door come to pick up our daughter?" and then the husband-to-be has to bribe his way into the house to get at the missus. Once inside, gifts are presented, permission to marry is asked and granted, blessings are given, then everyone piles back into thier cars to caravan away. The reception is later in the day, with perhaps 10 times the number of people present who were actually at the wedding. The couple greets everyone at the door where guests are encouraged to make gifts of cash to the newlyweds. The bride changes into several different dresses during the reception; the one she wears to greet you at the door is not the one that she wears on the way home. Lots of food, bottles of expensive booze on every table, entertainers of indeterminate gender, loads of fun. I like to attend OTHER peoples elaborate weddings, but I think I'll skip the show for us. We've been happily married for over 2 years, it's a bit late to throw a party now. Anyone think I've missed anything? Please speak up!

I do: The public restroom at the Great Wall of China section open to tourists, just outside of BJ, comes close to being the foulest restroom I have ever had the displeasure to slide across the floor in. An open sewer might have been more sanitary and better smelling!

He swings-- a solid hit, and this ball is going outta the park! Congrats.

OK, so then you sit on the place where everyone was sitting when they were trying to avoid sitting on the seat?

China Southern. Good in-flight service, decent in-flight movies with individual screens even back in cattle-class. And "Spot the Negro" is not valid when I'm on the plane, or on the day I arrive in GZ!!!

Yeah, what he said!

3 days is too close. Your better half should get the medical exam done before you get to GZ. If for any reason the results get held up or lost you'll have time to redo the exam (Which is no biggie actually) On interview - 3 you should have your video taken care of, and dropped off at the hotel across from the White Swan for conversion into a VHS tape. On interview - 2 you should pick up the VHS format tape and make certain all your papers are in order. On interview -1... enjoy your last normal day. The decision to give/deny her the visa has already been made, and there is nothing you can do but keep a bottle of champaign and jar of vaseline on hand . On the day of the interview: Wake up early, have breakfast, drop her off at the consulate while you go make a slow, relaxing walk around island perimeter.

No you should not have to pay anything. You bought the phone in the USA, the phone left the USA, and is coming back to the USA. How is this any different from you buying yourself a cellphone, flying to China, and then coming back? Also, I've never had any problems charging my USA cellphone at our flat in GZ. read the specs on your wall charge, if it says INPUT 110V-240V or some such you shuold have no problem at all. (My laptop, camera, camcorder also charge up just fine in China)

I drove. Still don't have my Chinese drivers license, but was it my fault that I took care to remain sober while everyone else who knew how to drive was getting drunk? B) Traffic patterns in the smaller cities must be seen to be believed. There are no traffic rules, only traffic suggestions, and why fit 3 cars in 3 lanes when you can fit 5 cars in 3 lanes?