Foreigners at hotels in China

[Corbin]

 

 

This is 'fer shure...

 

You're right Roger. Most people that travel to China on tourist visa never register or are required to register with the police. They simply go to the hotel, show their passport and check in. B)

Which from what I am reading means that most of the time you are register w/ the police through the hotel. Oh well saved me a trip and getting a strange look at what I would be asking to done.

Edited July 24, 2008 by Corbin (see edit history)

[Joshua + Wang Zhuo]

I have it from good sources foreigners are allowed to stay at any legally-operated hotel in China. I am trying to find this in actual print from a government source, so I can convince my fiancee and her parents of this matter. Does anybody know where I can find this information?

 

It is absolutely not true......You cannot stay at just any hotel in China.

You can stay at 99% being a foreigner, but there ARE hotels that will not let you stay there if you are not a Chinese citizen. I recently went on a trip to Beijing where I we booked our hotel a few days in advance. We found a really nice hotel in one of the beijing Burbs that was not too far from the Summer palace. After 4 hour trip to get there (train/subway/taxi) we arrived at about 9:00 at night. The hotel was hard to find, we drove around it about four times before we actually figured out where it was. When we finally entered the lobby they looked at me like I was an alien. When we told them we needed a room they said that they did not accept foreigners. Needless to say we were pretty pi$$ed. We had made the reservations from C-Trip and it said nothing on there. The site was also in English. As we left to go back into beijing to find another hotel I started laughing about it. Anna thought I was crazy, but I knew that we had a good story to tell. Almost worth the three hours we wasted getting to that hotel.

 

To this day we joke about it....

"sorry we don't accept foreigners at this hotel....."

 

Lesson learned, Not ALL hotels take foreigners

 

Have stayed at many other hotels with no problems though

 

Joshua

[Joshua + Wang Zhuo]

Also, as of right now, Nearly every hotel in the Beijing/Tianjin area is registering with the police. It may be the same everywhere, but I suspect it has something to do with the olympics.

 

They are very strict about it now......very.....

[izus]

my wife said that as far as the hotels are concerned its only the crappy 1 and 2 star hotels that you are not as foreigners aloud to stay in. she said it is for our own safety.

besides why would you wanna stay in a dump hotel anyway?

[Guest forrestg]

Please, I am looking for the law, nothing more, nothing less. My thanks to any who can help.

[rogerluli]

Please, I am looking for the law, nothing more, nothing less. My thanks to any who can help.

 

Ah yes, well Forrest I only wish that things were so simple here... But when you ask a question you are liable to get answers both on and off the wall...Replies from those who have lived in China for decades anbd those who are really hoping to go some day...Its YOUR job to separate the rice from the husk...

[Joshua + Wang Zhuo]

my wife said that as far as the hotels are concerned its only the crappy 1 and 2 star hotels that you are not as foreigners aloud to stay in. she said it is for our own safety.

besides why would you wanna stay in a dump hotel anyway?

 

Well, the one in Beijing that I was refused was a brand new 4 star hotel. I think the reason that we were not allowed to stay was because it was in the technical area and the hotel had conventions where secure topics were discussed.

 

We chose it because it was very reasonably priced, the rooms looked awesome and it was not too far from the summer palace. Well, the Lobby confirmed that the hotel looked awesome, but I never got to see the rooms.

 

Joshua

 

I agree.....why stay in a raggedy 1 star hotel when you can get nice accommodations for a pretty low price. I try not to spend much for hotel rooms because we usually do not spend much time in the rooms. 30-40 dollars a night has been more than enough to get above average rooms.

[Corbin]

Please, I am looking for the law, nothing more, nothing less. My thanks to any who can help.

This may be a difficult law to find as it is in China and most on this board don't read Chinese all that much and where to look for it may be hard to find. I understand your frustration because you want to show her something. As was mentioned before let her find a good place and go with the flow. I know this is not what you want to hear, but I think it will be the easiest way to deal with it.

[GZBILL]

I have it from good sources foreigners are allowed to stay at any legally-operated hotel in China. I am trying to find this in actual print from a government source, so I can convince my fiancee and her parents of this matter. Does anybody know where I can find this information?

 

It certainly WAS the case that foreigners could NOT stay at certain hotels in China. Is this still the case??? Is it decided on a city or province or country wide basis/criteria???

 

My experience is that when you are with your Chinese fiancee/wife you are no longer really a foreigner...Is that perfectly clear???

 

Let me give one example from our travels. On the famous Guilin to Yangshuo boat trip on the Li River there are both "foreigner" boats and Chinese boats...Guess who pays more??? ...We got a deal because we had connections and went on a foreigner boat at Chinese boat prices... In the well-known travel towns like these I'm quite sure a foreigner can stay anywhere...But in areas that see few foreigners???

 

Wish I could be more specific but when all is said and done...

 

 

I DON'T KNOW...

 

There was once a law that foreigners could only stay at hotels that were authorized to accept foreigners. This is no longer the case.

 

Even if you are with your Chinese wife, you are still a foreigner. Ask anybody who recently has been turned down for spousal visas because of the Olympics.

[GZBILL]

The law say you must register with the local police. Now I have never done this in any of the 7 cities I have stayed in and haven't been fined(yet).

 

I usually book online and didn't have any problem when I showed up by myself to register with my CheapTickets.com receipt. The bastard at the hotel trys to cheat even my chinese wife, so I get a better price online.

 

 

 

You're supposed to register with the local police and not have any lady friend stay in your hotel...but I don't know anyone that actually follow the law.

 

It is the law that every foreigner must register within 24 hours of arrival at a new dwelling place or, in rural areas, 72 hours. Right now during the Olympic period, there are a lot of spot checks and massive deportations of those who have not registered. At a minimum, expect only a fine if you show a very contrite attitude.

 

If you have permanent residence, you are not required to register and if you have a "Z" visa you are not required to register again if you have not moved since your original / initial registration.

[rogerluli]

I have it from good sources foreigners are allowed to stay at any legally-operated hotel in China. I am trying to find this in actual print from a government source, so I can convince my fiancee and her parents of this matter. Does anybody know where I can find this information?

 

It certainly WAS the case that foreigners could NOT stay at certain hotels in China. Is this still the case??? Is it decided on a city or province or country wide basis/criteria???

 

My experience is that when you are with your Chinese fiancee/wife you are no longer really a foreigner...Is that perfectly clear???

 

Let me give one example from our travels. On the famous Guilin to Yangshuo boat trip on the Li River there are both "foreigner" boats and Chinese boats...Guess who pays more??? ...We got a deal because we had connections and went on a foreigner boat at Chinese boat prices... B) In the well-known travel towns like these I'm quite sure a foreigner can stay anywhere...But in areas that see few foreigners???

 

Wish I could be more specific but when all is said and done...

 

 

I DON'T KNOW...

 

There was once a law that foreigners could only stay at hotels that were authorized to accept foreigners. This is no longer the case.

 

Even if you are with your Chinese wife, you are still a foreigner. Ask anybody who recently has been turned down for spousal visas because of the Olympics.

 

WOW...I had not heard that even spousal visas have been restricted... If this doesn't improve greatly in a few years I think we just may head down south...

[Guest forrestg]

A friend of mine from high school was able to find what I was looking for at this address:

 

http://www.gov.cn/banshi/2005-06/13/content_5904.htm

 

 

I include it here in case anybody else has this problem, or may have this problem.

 

Here is the text, in Chinese:

 

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¡¡¡¡4£®Íâ¹úÈËÔÚÒƶ¯ÐÔסËÞ¹¤¾ßÄÚÁÙʱסËÞ£¬ÐëÓÚ¶þÊ®ËÄСʱÄÚÏòµ±µØ¹«°²»ú¹ØÉ걨¡£ÎªÍâ¹úÈ˵ÄÒƶ¯ÐÔסËÞ¹¤¾ßÌṩ³¡µØµÄ»ú¹¹»ò¸öÈË£¬Ó¦ÓÚ¶þÊ®ËÄСʱÄÚÏòµ±µØ¹«°²»ú¹ØÉ걨¡£

 

 

 

Again, thanks for all of the information you have provided me.

[GZBILL]

I have it from good sources foreigners are allowed to stay at any legally-operated hotel in China. I am trying to find this in actual print from a government source, so I can convince my fiancee and her parents of this matter. Does anybody know where I can find this information?

 

It certainly WAS the case that foreigners could NOT stay at certain hotels in China. Is this still the case??? Is it decided on a city or province or country wide basis/criteria???

 

My experience is that when you are with your Chinese fiancee/wife you are no longer really a foreigner...Is that perfectly clear???

 

Let me give one example from our travels. On the famous Guilin to Yangshuo boat trip on the Li River there are both "foreigner" boats and Chinese boats...Guess who pays more??? ...We got a deal because we had connections and went on a foreigner boat at Chinese boat prices... In the well-known travel towns like these I'm quite sure a foreigner can stay anywhere...But in areas that see few foreigners???

 

Wish I could be more specific but when all is said and done... B)

 

 

I DON'T KNOW...

 

There was once a law that foreigners could only stay at hotels that were authorized to accept foreigners. This is no longer the case.

 

Even if you are with your Chinese wife, you are still a foreigner. Ask anybody who recently has been turned down for spousal visas because of the Olympics.

 

WOW...I had not heard that even spousal visas have been restricted... If this doesn't improve greatly in a few years I think we just may head down south...

 

It's only because they are culling the crowd for the Olympics. In Octiber everything will be back to the relative abnormal state it was in pre-Olympics. Well, more or less.