Got a visa in 1 1/2 hours!

[John & Hai Yan]

I just took a two hour drive this morning to New York City from Philly. I dropped my passport off at the Chinese embassy at 1:00 PM and received my visa at 2:30 PM. Wouldn't it be great if the USA did the same for Chinese citizens wanting to visit the USA? Can you imagine an hour and a half to get a K1, or K3, or even a tourist visa?

 

I decided to take a short 10 day trip to Beijing. My fiancee lives in southern China, Guangdong Province, but we will be meeting in Beijing. Anyone have any recommendations for mid price hotels, things to do, or places to go? Of course, I will go to see the Great Wall, Tianamen Square, and the Forbidden city. But if anyone has any favorite, off the beaten path places, let me know. Any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions will be appreciated. I will be in Beijing for about 10 days unless I take an excursion to someplace nearby for a couple days.

 

Oh I forgot to mention, I will be leaving Wednesday night September 29th from Philadelphia and returning on Sunday October 10th.

 

 

By the way I finally put some pictures on the CFL picture gallery. My favorite pictures are on page 10 of my gallery. These are a few pictures from other countries I visited in southeast Asia. I will add more pictures at a later date.

 

Stop by if you want!

http://candleforlove.us/gallery/view_album...na-Travels-2004

[natrigon]

Wouldn't it be great if the USA did the same for Chinese citizens wanting to visit the USA? Can you imagine an hour and a half to get a K1, or K3, or even a tourist visa?

It would and it wouldn't. I partially agree with the wait for a K-1/K-3 visa. I think many more people want to immigrate to the US than any other country in the world. Soon the US would be over-run. However I do think they could (and should) be able to give a more concrete timeline so people could plan their lives accordingly. Like many others I was told 6 months and it took 14 months. To me that was the most frustrating.

 

Never been up by Beijing, sorry no suggestions other than... HAVE FUN WITH YOUR LOVED ONE !!!

[oregonknl]

Way to go John!!

 

And since I am assuming that you are going in the short term --- even better! One of the best times to visit Beijing! (If you don't get an unseasonal blast of dry, yellow dust filled air from the NW)!

 

Keep in mind that Beijing has one of the easiest subway systems of major cities --- a loop that approximated the old city wall: Now almost completely gone.. So where ever you book for a hotel --- suggest you look for one close to a subway entrance. Last time (Oct. 2002) I stayed at the New World Courtyard in the SE quadrant of the city (Chongwen District) --- but since it was an easy walk to the subway --- the whole city was a short ride away.. This is a Marriott Hotel, and if you have stayed at Courtyards in the US you will sort of see the similarity ---- except the room (the one I stayed in) and the bath are much larger (and of course, in the Chinese tradition, the bath is trimmed out in granite and marble) Got a very good price at the time (Asia Hotels). Two big advantages --- This hotel is an anchor of a mall that local Chinese use --- so you can go out a side door into the mall, and get, free of charge, use of an athletic club (including a very reasonable sized lap pool ---- important to me) --- and also a grocery store in the basement with local prices. (also several restaurants --- one Shanghai style was fairly good, and reasonable, but the dishes were a little hit and miss ---very good to average)

 

Two places outside of the usual tourist destinations that I recommend: Walking the loops around the loops around the North lakes: Quinhai, Hiuhai, Xihai --- in my opinion, very romantic...

 

Second is the weekend market: Panjiayuan Antique market (sometimes called the Sunday market) --- also in the SE part of the city, and a short cab ride from the New World Courtyard... lots of great stuff, competitively negociated... one of the best in China, I think...

 

--Kim

[beijingjenny]

Actually it is that easy for non-immigrant visas. If they give it to you it's right away. Prob is it's harder to get... Keep in mind that at least the US has the concept of immigration - China is working on it (made a big fuss about long term green cards recently but actually applies to very few of us), but meanwhile makes it much easier for anyone to live here.

 

I don't know much about hotels, depends a lot on your price range I think. You might want somewhere around the Tiananmen/Jiangguomen area which will make some touristy stuff easier (not the Wall or Summer Palace however, whcih are slightly closer to where I live in the NW)

 

Though I've lived here three years, I'm bad at giving tourist advice, bad at being a tourist in general. Kim has some good suggestions. I just recommend walking around what's left of the hutongs/courtyard homes, and places off the beaten path. There might be some walking guides out there on the Internet.

[cosmiclobster]

John: Can't help you with Beijing but did see your GREAT pictures!! Seeing Shanghai And Guilin And Sanya all brought back good memories! Thanks! I'll have to see about posting some of my pictures . . .

I liked seeing some pictures of other countries in Asia also.

My brother has spent the last 10 of 12 years in Asia (he actually filled every page in his passport once). He is now teaching English in Cambodia and he loves it there. He's written some books about his travels, but not many pictures. He does have some samples of his experiences at http://www.tripeast.com/ in case anyone is interested.

[ndjarrett]

Yaya and I just went to Beijing in May. We stayed at the Ping An Fu Hotel for about $40 per night. This hotel is fairly close to many things (we walked to most places we visited...Tianmen, Forbidden City, etc.). It is only about 30 mins from the airport. And it is in the middle of a few big streets that have most every bus coming to them.

 

Ping An Fu Hotel

100 Donsishitiao

Dongcheng District

Beijing, China 100007

Tel: (86-10) 64016660

[corvette]

I just took a two hour drive this morning to New York City from Philly. I dropped my passport off at the Chinese embassy at 1:00 PM and received my visa at 2:30 PM. Wouldn't it be great if the USA did the same for Chinese citizens wanting to visit the USA? Can you imagine an hour and a half to get a K1, or K3, or even a tourist visa?

 

I decided to take a short 10 day trip to Beijing. My fiancee lives in southern China, Guangdong Province, but we will be meeting in Beijing. Anyone have any recommendations for mid price hotels, things to do, or places to go? Of course, I will go to see the Great Wall, Tianamen Square, and the Forbidden city. But if anyone has any favorite, off the beaten path places, let me know. Any thoughts, ideas, or suggestions will be appreciated. I will be in Beijing for about 10 days unless I take an excursion to someplace nearby for a couple days.

 

Oh I forgot to mention, I will be leaving Wednesday night September 29th from Philadelphia and returning on Sunday October 10th.

 

 

By the way I finally put some pictures on the CFL picture gallery. My favorite pictures are on page 10 of my gallery. These are a few pictures from other countries I visited in southeast Asia. I will add more pictures at a later date.

 

Stop by if you want!

http://candleforlove.us/gallery/view_album...na-Travels-2004

US visa process is the most time-consuming one in the world I suppose.

 

I've been to BJ twice. In my oppinion the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven are the only 2 places that are worth visiting twice and I did visit them twice.

 

The first time that I was in BJ I stayed at a small hostle in the uptown area. it's about 30km from tian an men square, quite far away. Luckily I was with a friend and she had relatives in BJ. They rented us a car with a driver, so we didn't have to worry about the transportation. I can tell you BJ is a very large city, and taking a taxi to tour around BJ can cost a fortune. I would suggest the buses and subway. However, to be honest, the public transportation in BJ is not very customer oriented. Most of their bus lines run till only 9pm or even earlier. It's sorta difficult to catch a bus back in the evening. Lots of shops and restaurants close early in the evening. I remember the 2nd time I went to BJ I was feeling hungry at 8pm something and went down to the restaurant hoping to get something to eat, but, they were closed. I walked to the supermarket nearby, again closed. This will never happen in GZ. I've been used to the operation-around-the clock restaurants in GZ.

 

I enjoy the snack street which is close to the Wang Fu Jing area. In the evening there are hundreds of vendor selling all kinds of snacks at the street. What a scene. It's very interesting.

 

If you like night life, such as hanging out at bars or clubs, I guess San Li Tun, or the newly-established "bar street" at Hou Hai would be a nice haunt.

 

Don't miss the 2 famous Universities, Tsing Hua U and Peking U. I really enjoyed walking in these 2 universities.

 

I can't name many hotels in BJ. The 2nd time I went to BJ I first stayed at the Hotel by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. It's a nice hotel with a 3 star. The room is grand and it's at the Xi San Huan Road, right next to the Beijing University of Foreign Studies. Then later I moved to the hostel in the Beijing University of Foreign Studies. The hotel was about RMB 300 something and the hostel was only 50RMB per person. The latter one was nice too. The building used to be dorm for overseas students studying in the university. Of course not as "luxurious" as the hotel, but it's a pleasant temp shelter.

 

There are lots of travel agencies in China that offer good hotel deals. You can ask your fiancee to check them out. www.elong.com and www.ctrip.com are my 2 favorite agencies. I got good hotel deals from them for my honey when he was in GZ.

 

I think you can travel down to Bei Dai He, Cheng De resort and Tian Jin City. They are all nice places and not as packed as Downtown BJ. Personally I like BJ.

 

Wish you great fun with your fiancee in BJ.

[mikem]

I was in Beijing last December via Shanghai,, I stayed at the Crown Plaza part of Holiday Inn used my priority club points we were there for 3 nights I booked on line no problems.. The executive room cost me a few bucks extra but included a great breakfast bar on the upper exec club floor and they also had a great restaurant with European/Chinese and U.S. even fresh roast turkey hand carved, cuisine via huge buffet bar all you can eat or you can order from the menu.. It was worth it the room was absolutely gorgeous separate bath lots of marble as big as the bedroom internet desk etc, I recommend highly it was a few days before Christmas and everyone was in Santa outfits and they had the decorations tree etc. I thought I was back in the US..

We did the same things you are planning but it was cold went to Ba Da Ling do not forget Maos tomb on Tienemin You cannot bring any cameras bags into see him..also we hired a cabby for the day to go to Ba Da Ling Great Wall about $50.00 US for the day its about a 45 minute drive to the wall from Bejing..Right next to the wall Ba Da Ling is a Zoo its a bus ride type of thing you need to go, it was cheap..the best part was when they threw the chickens out the bus to the tigers// oh boy I thought the PETA people would love this but they do not allow that BS there......so far.. They also had bears wolfs all kinds of exotic animals you ride the bus through their area you are in the cage..The taxi driver waits usually sleeping while you do the wall he parks and waits for you. from there went to Xian pro nounced Che en about 1 hour flight and visited Qins terracatta solders.

I have been to Guangdong/ GZ Shenzhen Ningbo Zhoushan Xian etc etc..PM if you need more help

Mike

[rosyanne]

We just went to Beijing in May as well.

Don't worry, there is loads of hotel in down town. The prices are varied but you can always have your girl to book one first.

 

To the Great Wall, you can take the bus tour in TianAnMen Square which is 80RMB per person I believe. (that will make a full day for you guys and you will be taken to few palces.) Oh, be awared of the restauants there. They are extremely expensive. (Foreigner prices. We had very had experiences which ruined our trip.)

 

Hope it helps.

[bobmal99]

Have a great time in BJ. Was there Labor Day 2002. Can not remember then name but there is a very old and famous restaurant that is world reknown for the Peking Duck. Should not be to hard to find. Try to get there.

 

 

I am sending a link to check out some hotels. Don't know what your price range is but this is a great site and I have booked through them several times. Never had any problems, one (1) star to five (5) star hotels are listed.

 

Try to get to the old city in BJ.

 

Have a great time...

 

www.asia-hotels.com

[mari]

It must be the same restaurant we visited, which my fiance told me it's the best for Beijing duck. I don't recall the name right now but remember where's located: once out of the Forbidden City, walk across the main avenue and take the left side of the street, you"ll see a couple of small stores and then the restaurant, which I strongly recommend.

[NY-Viking]

Can not remember then name but there is a very old and famous restaurant that is world reknown for the Peking Duck.  Should not be to hard to find.  Try to get there.

The restaurant's name is Quan Ju De. There are probably better places, but it's the most famous.

[Jeikun]

Jun lived within walking distance. It was the first place I went after dropping off my bags at her apartment. (Ok... once we managed to get out of her apartment ) It was the first, and to date only time I've had Peking duck, so I can't really make comparisons, but it was very good. I turned down the brain though.

[NY-Viking]

I turned down the brain though.

Wimp.

 

I hope that you at least enjoyed the webbing of the duck feet.

[xian47]

Amy & I met in BJ last May.I asked her to take me to a place to look for music stores."Wangfujian" Street! Very interesting place and very nice restaurants to eat at. Subways are a way to travel also only if you know where you are going and how to use but you can always ask..Pollution is bad..i felt like i had the flux until i got back to USA and started to feel better. hope you trip will be a great one...