From first hand experience I bring you the ultimate guide to applying for a Chinese visa.

Next month (11th of June) I will be going to China for 3 months. I learned the hard way (by going to the Hague’s Chinese Visa application center for nothing) that getting a 90 day visa is apparently quite difficult nowadays.

I had already done some research and found that you need the following things:

1. A valid passport (obviously)
2. One portrait photo
3. Chinese Visa application form
4. Flight tickets that show your date(s) of entry and exit
5. An itinerary
6. A bank statement of the last month (because I am not on payroll)
7. and finally hotel bookings

Now, like a good boy I had prepared all of these except I did not have booking for every place I was going to. Nor did I have an extremely detailed itinerary. On the judgement day (I made an appointment, and so should you, lest you wait for many hours) I sat patiently until my number appeared on the electronic board. I shuffled up to the counter and handed over my stack of papers. The cute girl that was still in training took a look at how many days I was requesting and almost immediately a difficult look appeared on her face. Her lazy eyed co-worker came over and many a Chinese words were exchanged before they turned to me and asked what I’m planning. “Just want to travel, m’am”.

After some explaining I was then finally told that I need a hotel booking for every place listed in my itinerary (I had only one for the place I first arrive: Beijing). It thankfully didn’t need to span the entire period of stay, “Just two or three days will do”. So, not wanting to waste my trip from Amsterdam to the Hague, I quickly hopped onto the internet to make some bookings.

Back in line, this time without appointment, I had to wait a long time, silently cursing every person that came in between me and the number I was dispatched. Once it was my turn I got assigned to a very nice lady that took a quick look over my papers while having some small talk. She advised me not to go through with the application in it’s current state. The chance of approval was close to zero. Well crap! Couldn’t they have told me before I made those extra bookings? Before leaving, I asked her if it would help to have a letter of invitation. Turns out it does! She gave me some more tips and I went on my merry way back home.

So, that’s my story of how I failed to get a Chinese visa, now let me tell you how to get it right the first time.

One: Be as detailed as possible. You don’t need to actually follow through on your itinerary after you’ve gotten your visa, it’s just a hoop you have to jump through.

Two: A letter of invitation helps. Get a friend to write you one. How it’s written doesn’t matter, the only thing that’s important is that it includes the following:

• Your name
• Name of the person inviting you
• Contact details of the person inviting you
• The Chinese passport or ID number of the person inviting you
• A copy of the Chinese passport or ID of the person inviting you
• Adress of the person inviting you
• and the period of time you will be “staying” with the person that is inviting you.

This is how my invitation letter looked:

{Current date} Dear Chinese Consulate,

Please be advised that I have invited my friend, {Your name}, to visit me in {Location} during the period of {Period of stay}.

My name is {Name of person inviting you}, I am a Chinese citizen living in {Location}. My Chinese ID number is {ID of person inviting}. A photocopy is attached.

My address is: {Address of person inviting you}

We would appreciate your assistance in issuing {Your name} a Chinese visa to allow him to visit me here in {Location}. Please let us know if you need further information.

Thank you, {Name of person inviting you}

{Signature of person inviting you}

{Contact details of person inviting you}

And here’s what my itinerary looked like:

Itinerary

During this trip I hope to see a large part of China, experience its culture and cuisine, meet the local population and also some friends that live there. I will be travelling very light, and mostly staying in inexpensive hostels. From this trip I hope to improve my knowledge of China, its people and its language. In the past I have done a similar trip through Japan.

I will enter China on the 12th of June (departing from the Netherlands on the 11th), arriving in Beijing. Here I will meet my some of my friends and stay for 2 weeks. Please see the invitation letter.

After 2 weeks in Beijing I will travel to Xi’an by train. From this point on I plan to go to the south of China and loop back to Beijing for my return flight. After staying in Xi’an I will go to Chengdu and take a trip to Jiuzhaigou Valley. After that I will continue on to Kunming where I will stay for a week to explore Kunming and surrounding areas. I will stay Guilin for a couple of days while I’m travelling to Guangzhou. During my stay in Changsha I will take a trip/tour to Zhangjiajie. I will visit some friends in Suzhou before I continue to Shanghai, where I will also meet some friends. From this point on my trip back towards Beijing will start, traveling through Nanjing, Dengfeng and Jinan.

On the 6th of September I will be back in Beijing to say my goodbyes to my friends there and to return back to the Netherlands on the 8th of September. *Please note:

I have no full bookings for every place I will be staying to allow for some flexibility and travel delays. Since China is such a big country, the travel between areas itself to take up quite a lot of time as well. Therefore I have to be aware of occasional discrepancies in my schedule.

Travel Schedule

12-Jun / 27-Jun Beijing Qianmen Hostel No.33 Meishi Street, Qianmen, Xuanwu District, Beijing, China 100051

28-Jun / 03-Jul Xi’an Warriors Youth Hostel No.98 Bei Ma Dao Xiang, Lian Hu District, Xian, 710082, China

04-Jul / 10–Jul Chengdu Chengdu Dreams Travel International Youth Hostel No.242, Wuhouci Road, Chengdu, 610041, China

11-Jul / 18-Jul Kunming The Hump Kunming Jinmabiji Area, Jinbi Road, Kunming, 650021, China

19-Jul / 23-Jul Guilin Guilin Flowers Youth Hostel Block No. 2, 6 Shangzhi Lane,, South Zhongshan Road, Guilin, 541000, China

24-Jul / 27-Jul Guangzhou The Boa Garden Xin Gang Road East, Hai Zhu District, Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, N/A, China

28-Jul / 01-Aug Changsha Yha Changsha International Youth Hostel NO.61 Gongshang Lane, Dongfeng Road, Changsha, 410000, China

02-Aug / 07-Aug Hangzhou 4 Eyes Backpackers Youth Hostel #66, Si Yan Jing, (4Eyes Wells Villiage), Hu Pao Road, Hangzhou, 310013, China

08-Aug / 13-Aug Suzhou Suzhou Watertown Hostel #27 dashitou alley, jiangsu, Suzhou, 215002, China

14-Aug / 23-Aug Shanghai I will stay with a friend at: {Redacted}

24-Aug / 27-Aug Nanjing Traveler’s Soul Inn Nanjing B5 Chengguan Science &, Creativity Park, Nanjing, 210000, China

28-Aug / 01-Sep Dengfeng Dengfeng Climb International Youth Hostel North Song Yang Road, Deng Feng City, He Nan Province, Dengfeng, 452470

02-Sep / 05-Sep Qingdao Man Cheng Hostel NO.88 Da Gu Road,Shi Nan District, Qingdao, 266001

06-Sep / 08-Sep Beijing Qianmen Hostel No.33 Meishi Street, Qianmen, Xuanwu District, Beijing, China 100051

In the end I was armed with a huge stack of papers.

Final summary:

• My passport
• Portrait photo
• Application form
• Bank statement
• Flight ticket
• Invitation letter
• Copy of Chinese ID
• 14 separate accommodation bookings
• Cover letter for itinerary (detailing my plan in China)
• Itinerary travel schedule

This time the application went without a hitch and a couple of days back I was able to pick up my shiny new passport with my shiny new visa!

Mission accomplished!