IS VISA-FREE TRANSIT IN CHINA AN OPTION?
Have a question? Ask our expert Simon Calder
Q Do you know anything about the 144-hour transit permit in Beijing? I’ve seen news articles about it but can’t find anything official. I am heading there for a few days, then to Hong Kong for a week, in June.
Harriet
A Compared with the arduous and expensive business of getting a Chinese visa (£150-plus, and lots of red tape), the visa-free transit system is an excellent way to get a glimpse of the People’s Republic.
To qualify for 144-hour visa-free transit, as offered in Beijing, Shanghai and some other cities, you must arrive from an airport/port/railway station outside the China by air, ship or rail. For this purpose, Hong Kong is regarded as outside the People’s Republic.
You must show proof of onward travel to a destination airport/port/railway station outside China (again, that could be Hong Kong), but crucially it must be in a different country to the one from which you arrived in China. For example, you do not qualify if you fly UK-Beijing and back, nor if you make a side trip to Beijing from Hong Kong. But you could fly Heathrow-Beijing-Hong Kong-Heathrow.
The onward booking must be for a departure before midnight six days after arriving in China (eg if you arrive at lunchtime on Saturday, you must leave by 11.59pm the following Friday). With the visa-free option, you are restricted to the region around the city of arrival. You cannot wander too far elsewhere in China (for example taking a train or plane to Shanghai or Xian), but the Beijing region extends widely and includes significant stretches of the Great Wall.
Every day, our travel correspondent, Simon Calder, tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder