China travel questions, China Travel FAQ.
A visa is a travel document issued by the destination country, which grants permission for the visitor to be in that country. China visas are required for visitors of non-Chinese nationality, whether for business or tourism. But if you travel in HongKong or Macao for less than 30 days, the visas are not required.
2.What type of visa do I need?
The type of visa you need will depend on the length and purpose of your trip. For individual travelers, you need only to apply for a single-entry at any Chinese embassy. The procedure is usually takes about one week working days.
3.How to obtain a China visa?
Visas for individual travel to China are quite easy to get. You have to send your application to the consular section of the Chinese Embassy. The process usually takes 5-7 working days. The following documents are needed to apply for the visa: 1. Passport with spare visa pages 2. Visa application form filled and signed by the applicant himself 3. One passport photo 4. Travel information including the booking of air tickets and itinerary in China whenever we deem it necessary 5. Invitation letter from the Chinese authorities concerned or the host company in China. Once you book tour with our company, we will send a formal Invitation Letter to you to apply for the visa, which will save much more time.
4.How long is a China visa valid?
The Validity of Single-entry China visas is 3 months after the issuing date, and the duration of stay is 30 days, which is enough for a normal tourist.
5.How far in advance do I need to apply for my visa?
You can apply anytime as long as it's within 90 days from entry date. For single-entry China visas, you should normally apply for your visa three to four weeks prior to departure.
6.What are the most popular destinations in China?
7.When is the best time to visit China?
Generally and traditionally, April, May, early June, September, October and early November are the best time to visit China. They are actually the traditional Peak Seasons in China travel industry. While, if you are travelling at other time of the year, you can enjoy not only lower prices, but also a leisure pace during the journey.
8.What clothes should I pack?
Your packing list depends on the time and destinations you visit in China. In spring and autumn, you need to bring a couple of shirts, sweaters, and a jacket that can be worn in layers to accommodate China's range of climates. A pair of comfortable walking shoes is very important, as you are going to have a lot of walking in sightseeing. If you are going to do a lot of climbing, shoes with high sides and a hard sole will be the best choice. In winter, you should bring down coats. Summer is very hot, sometimes reaching 40 C (104 F). Hats, sunglasses, sunscreen and lip balm are needed to protect you from sun and windburns.
9.What medicines should I bring?
We suggest that you take some pain killers, anti-inflammatory prescriptions and medicines for cold, fever and diarrhea while traveling. If you take some tour at a high altitude, highly recommend you to take some travel pill or anti-nausea medicine along. If you travel in some remote areas, remember to take some anti-mosquito spray, cream or lotion. In addition, medicines for preventing sunstroke in summer are all necessary.
10.Do I need vaccinations to enter China?
No vaccinations are currently required to enter China, unless you come from or through a yellow fever infected area. Highly recommend taking along the international certificate of vaccination lest it is required when you pass the customs.
11.Do children pay the same fare as adults?
It depends on the child's height and whether he/she shares bed with adult.
12.Does your price include airfare?
Our prices only include airfare of China domestic flights, so you have to settle your international flights beforehand. Generally speaking, passengers can get a reasonable discount if they purchase the tickets from the departure city/country.
13.How far in advance should I make my reservation?
We suggest that you book tour from our company as early as possible so that we can confirm everything according to your require. Especially in peak season, most items are very difficult to reserve, such as the hotel, air ticket, ship space, and so on. So the sooner you confirm and make your reservation from us, the more satisfactory tour arrangement you will get.
14.Do yo accept late reservations?
We do accept late reservations, but we cannot guarantee that we can book everything according to your requests if some reservations are not available. Therefore, we cannot do nothing but make some alternative choices accordingly. For example, book another hotel but with the same rate, change another sailing date of Yangtze cruise. To avoid this inconvenience, highly recommend you to confirm your tour as early as possible.
15.What proof will I get from you after I send the payment?
The Financial Department will provide you a voucher or invoice through e-mail.
16.How to book a tour? Do you accept credit cards?
As soon as we receive a deposit from you, we will book everything for you and send a formal Confirmation Letter to you to confirm each item. We do accept credit cards, such as VISA, MasterCard, American Express and Diners Club. You can also purchase the tour through Wire Transfer or Western Union. Please click on Booking Procedure to learn further information.
17.Can I pay for my tour through the telephone instead using fax?
It is a pity that we are not able to take orders for our customers through the telephone because we have to relay a formal Credit Card Authorization Form with customers signature to the Bank of China. You can scan the payment form and send it to us by e-mail, or fax it directly. Please attach a copy of both sides of your credit card. Otherwise, we have no right to charge money from your card.
18.Why is the money you charged from my card more than the amount you quoted for me?
The following two reasons may explain this. 1.The exchange rate we use between Chinese RMB and US Dollar may be slight different from the one the Bank of China issues when we charge money from your card. 2.your credit card issuing bank may probably charge you a 2-3% fee for foreign currency exchange.
19.Can I customize my tour?
In addition to scheduled China tour packages, VisitOurChina also specializes in tailor-made programs that include activities and events that are of particular interest to you. We will make every effort to take care of all the aspects of your tour.
20.When will the deposit be charged to my credit card?
If you have satisfied with the itinerary and quotation we customized for you, please state in an email to confirm with us that you accept them. Then we will send you a "Credit Card Authorization Form" or account of "Wire Transfer" and "Western Union" for your initial deposit payment. But for some late reservations, we will not charge deposit from you until we can confirm the reservation for you.
21.How will I know if my reservation was accepted?
As soon as all portions are confirmed, we will send a formal Confirmation Letter to you to confirm everything.
22.When will I need to make final payment?
The final payment for your China tour is required 30 days prior to the departure date. You needn't fill out another Credit Card Authorization Form again, the balance and the date of the final payment has been authorized by you in the original form and we will not charge it before the appointed date.