Thread: Hong Kong and Beijing 9/10/04

Hi J
Randy, the Chicago correspondent, has an excellent China article in the forum's travel articles section. You can also post China questions directly to Randy in the Chicago thread. China
Also for a quick response from Al, post your question in his Australia, Oceania, South Pacific thread.
Have fun.

Keep'em flying

Hi there!

You do not need a visa for Hong Kong. A valid passport is the only thing you'll need.

Yes, you can apply for a visa to the mainland in Hong Kong, it takes about 3 business days. Most hotels can direct you to the appropriate place. However, I would highly recommend that you take care of your visa prior to departing the U.S. China has consulates in several major cities here. You don't want to get there and have some sort of unexpected snafu that either ruins or delays your mainland plans. Visit www.china-embassy.org and click the "visa and passport" section for locations, requirements, etc.

In Hong Kong budget tourists have long praised the Hong Kong YMCA. Yes, the 'Y'. No, it's not anything like what you'll find here. It's actually a great place. Other good budget options are the Metropole Hotel and the Ramada Hotel Kowloon.

As for Beijing, most major hotel chains are represented in the city. You can do a search on Travelocity or Expedia for rates. If you want to find out about interline rates just call reservations for each hotel. You should look for something central. Around the Temple of Heaven or Tiananmen Square or the Forbidden City. A piece of advice, Sheraton has a location called 'Great Wall', there are several other hotels in the vicinity near Hard Rock Cafe, this is about as far from anything, including the Great Wall, as you can get. Yes, they are nice hotels but you are nowhere near the Great Wall nor the main tourist sites of central Beijing. They do serve a number of tourists but primarily serve business, industry and a number of embassies in the area.

Hotel recommendation: Beijing Yongdingmen Hotel, www.hotelinbeijing.net/. The site is often slow, very slow, and sometimes unavailable. Just keep trying and it will work. Mr. Renny and his family are the nicest of people and will take you on private tours cheaply. The hotel is located in south-central Beijing just south of the Temple of Heaven. However, you need to know that this is not by any means a western-standard hotel. It more resembles a run-down, backpacker-type hotel. It is clean and comfortable but old and very, very worn. We've stayed with him once and are planning do so again. We hope to attend the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and Mr. Renny has already promised to keep a room for us. When you check in ask to see the hotel's photo album located in the main lobby. When we got home from our trip I emailed him a photo of us standing on the Great Wall. Mr. Renny tells me that he printed it out and put it in the album.

I hope this helps! Let me know if I can do anything else.