Spring Festival Travel

So, it's getting close to the end of the semester and you have a few days off before the next semester starts. "What is there to do?" One might ask. Well, the options are rather varied and depend largely on two factors, the length of time you have off and the amount of money you are willing to spend.

Before buying any tickets or reserving any hotels, make sure you are willing to spend up to 25% more money for the tickets or hotels. Travel fees in Asia-and especially to and from China-increase dramatically around the Spring Festival (春節--Chūnjié). Expect to pay more for tickets beginning four weeks before the start of the Spring Festival (often called Lunar or Chinese New Year). Hotels will begin to fill up a month before the start of the festival, and the fees will increase as the festival gets closer.

Step 1: Figure out where you would like to go and how you want to get there. 

Destinations:

• Some popular domestic destinations are: Hong Kong*, Tibet**, Macau*, Inner Mongolia*, Beijing, Shanghai, Harbin, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, and anywhere that isn't where you currently live.
• Some popular international destinations are*: Korea (North and South), Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

For some ideas on where to go inside China, check out my "Summer Travel" series of blog posts.

Modes of transit:

• Trains: the newly complete high speed train system is very efficient and will get you to and from all the major cities in China. There are still 'old" trains that run from the major cities to the smaller cities in most of China.
• Buses: There are both short distance and long distance or "sleeper" buses available in China. If you don't mind listening to 50 snoring Chinese, this is the cheapest mode of travel, but it also takes FOREVER.
• Air: If you are going outside of China for the holiday or if you are going to a remote place, air travel is often the fastest and easiest way to go, but it is also usually the most expensive.

Step 2: Travel day.

What to expect:

• Sardine cans: the buses and trains will be "standing room only" so book your ticket early and make sure your ticket says you get a bed or chair if that is what you want.
• Standby to Standby: while airlines don't have "standing room" if you wait too long, you will be relegated to the standby line. Also, you should expect incredibly long cues at all the major airports for both domestic and international flights so be sure to arrive early.

What you need:

• "Documents please": Make sure that you have your passport (with one entry left if you are leaving the country for the holiday), tickets, and hotel/hostel reservation. 
• cha-ching!: Remember that prices for everything will jump during the Spring Festival. most shops will be closed and those that remain open will jack the prices up on sought after commodities like toilet paper, fruit, and vegetables. Bring a lot of extra cash or have a credit card or debit card handy.

*(Please note that if you are going to one of the "Special Administrative Regions" (Hong Kong, Macau, Inner Mongolia, etc.) this counts as leaving the country and you will need an open entry on your existing visa to return to China).

**(Please note that depending on the political climate, Tibet may not be good option).

Happy travels!

新年快乐!

PS: Personally, I never travel for any national holiday in China. I would rather save my money and travel during the late summer or early fall (the tourist "off season") when the prices are much lower.

Happy New Year

Happy New year to all who may or may not be reading this blog.

This year, I managed to get a whopping 1 day off for Christmas and 1 day off for New Year. Taking my work schedule into consideration, I have had the following schedule since 22 December: work, work, work (half day), off, work, off, work, work, work, work, off. That is a crappy holiday schedule. However, the fault is mine since I did not negotiate for specific days off. Hopefully your holiday schedule was a nicer one.

Awkward schedules aside, one might wonder what there is to do in Wenzhou for the Holidays? The answer to that is...not much. The options for staying in the city range from staying at home and relaxing to staying home and eating food. OK Odessa (and most of the bars in Wenzhou) do host parties on 24 and 31 December that are usually very entertaining. I chose all of the options.

December 22nd: End of the World/Zombie Apocalypse party at Odessa
December 24th: Christmas Eve party at Odessa
December 25th: Lay about at home and go to two (yes, TWO) Christmas dinners hosted by friends
December 31st/January 1st: back to Odessa for a New Year's Eve bash
January 1st (later in the day): made the mistake of shopping at Wanda Plaza (more on this later)

Below, I have posted a few pictures from the past 10 days:

IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD!!!!

This picture is from the Christmas party at work.

Live music at Odessa on Christmas Eve

Party #1

Party #2

Holidays

Guide to Holiday Celebrating in China:

Step 1: Get the day off.

The holidays are a time for fun, food, and...WORK!?!?

Yep. Believe it or not, you will most likely be asked to work on Christmas Day. This may come as a shock to some, but most people in China (and Asia in general) don't celebrate Christmas. Therefore employers don't think to let the foriegners off for the day. However, you do have one card you can play.

According to Chinese law, all foreigners are entitled to their usual national holidays. Your employer can not force you to work on your national holiday if you tell them you don't want to work it. Of course you can always work on Christmas or New Years or any holiday you choose, but many will want the extra day off instead.

Step 2: The celebration

Here you will be able to do pretty much whatever you want. If you choose to host a dinner at your place, go for it. If your firiend is hosting, all the better since you won't have to clean up after. Another option is to go out for the night and celebrate with all the foriegners at your local bar or pub. Really, it's totally up to you and the limits of your imagination.

Tips for hosting:

•  Potlucks are a MUCH cheaper way to go. Have every party goer bring 1 dish or drink.
• Make it a BYOB (Bring Your Own Booze) party.
• Visit some of my earlier posts for ideas on main dishes that can be made with local, easy to find ingredients.
• Play music and tell people they can arrive early. This increases the chances of someone offering to help set up the party so you don't have to do it alone.
• If you're not doing it potluck style, try to buddy up with someone and co-host to cut back on costs.

Tips for being to "goer" to a Chinese hosted party:

• If you are going to a Chinese-hosted party, it's OK to bring a bottle of wine or other small gift. Stay away form food as a gift unless you really know the person and the guests.
• Be prepared for a lot of alcohol.
• Arrive on time.
• If it is New Years Eve, be prepared to be both blind and deaf tomorrow.
• Always sample the food, even if you don't like it. It might be considered rude if you don't at least rty the food that is offered.
• Offer to help with the clean up after. You will be told it isn't necessary, but offer anyway.

Tips for being the "goer" at a foreign-hosted party:

• Try to bring a dish or drink to the party to lessen the burden on the host.
• Arrive early or on time.
• Offer to help with the set up and/or clean up.
• It's OK not to try all the food, but try to eat some of it.

Hope this helps. Below are a couple pictures of my apartment decorated for Chirstmas. I will be putting up more decorations in the coming days.

Ye Olde China-->Hong Kong Visa Run

So, eventually you will have to apply for a Z visa if you plan to work (legally) in China. For some of you, that might mean sending all your documents off to a visa service company and hoping like hell that they deliver what they promise. For others, your school or workplace will do everything for you. But for most of us, this means embarking on the infamous China-Hong Kong Visa Run.

What does this mean exactly? Well it means that you will make a trip (hopefully short) to Hong Kong, deliver all your papers, get your visa, and in 48 hours be back where you came from. IN YOUR DREAMS!

48 hours is the MINIMUM amount of time it will take to get your Z visa. Mine looks set to take 6 days.

Here is my trip so far;

1. Fly into Shenzhen.
2. Because my flight was late at night, I could not cross the border into Hong Kong so I needed to rent a hotel room.
3. Wake up very early the next morning, exchange 5000 RMB for the equivalent in Hong Kong Dollars and hop a train (paid in RMB) from Shenzhen to the border.
4. Spend 2 hours in customs because there is only one line open.
5. Get to the Hong Kong visa office only to discover that my visa can't be processed because my bosses forgot to give me a copy of the receipt for my last visa extension.
6. Frantically find a public wifi spot, pay for a wifi card at a 7-11 and hop on BOTH skype and QQinternational to rally help for myself (messaged my friend who is organizing people to cover my work that I will miss and messaged my boss telling her what I needed).
7. Find the cheapest hostel in Hong Kong and rent a room for 6 nights.
8. Wake up early the next morning, collect the missing receipt, and run down to the visa office AGAIN.
9. TBD. A. Maybe be told I have to wait 4 days before I can submit the papers. B.Maybe get it all done in 1 day.
10. If A, frantically go to bank and exchange the rest of the 9000 RMB I brought. If B, call boss, book flight, stay one more night and then fly home.

Paperwork you need (bring 3 copies of each; originals + 2):

This is what they TELL YOU TO BRING (all of which I had):

1. Health check document
2. Letter of invitiation
3. Residency Permit
4. List of invited people on company letter head.
5. Visa application paperwork and Supplemental Visa Application paperwork.
6. Passport
7. 3 extra passport photos
8. Foreign expert certificate
9. Foreign worker ID number*

*You may not have this, it's OK.

What they DON'T TELL YOU to bring (but which you should):

1. Copies of hotel reservations in both Shenzhen (if you are like me and stayed there one night) and in Hong Kong with their addressed listed.
2. COPIES OF ALL RECEIPTS YOU HAVE PERTAINING TO EXTENDING YOUR PREVIOUS VISA (if applicable).---This is what I was lacking.

Where to go:

The visa office is in the China Resources Building located mid way between the Wanchai Metro Station and the Wanchai Ferry Terminal. Finding the building is not hard. From the Shenzhen border, you take the light blue line to it's end at Hung Hom.

When you get to Hung Hom station, you take the connecting pink line to East Tsim Sha Tsui station. You get off there and walk a bit to the other side of the station (follow the general flow of traffic) where you hop on the red line to Central station. Get off at Central and catch the dark blue line 2 stops to Wan Chai station.

From here, exit the metro and walk out the skywalk and follow the signs for Gloucester Road. Once on Gloucester Road, walk toward Harbour Road and the China Resources Building.

Here is a map of the block. The actual entrance is on the side of the building facing Fleming Road.

Address:  Consular Department of the Commissioner of Foreign Affairs for the people's Republic of China.
Chinese Visa Office
7th Floor, Lower Block, China Resources Building
26 Harbour Road, 
Wanchai, Hong Kong S. A. R.

Website: http://www.fmcoprc.gov.hk/eng/

Telephone: 3413-2424

Hours of Operation:
Monday-Friday: 0900-1200 and 1400-1700

Getting In:
If you get to the building, but can't find the entrance, simply ask the nearest concierge where the OFFICIAL visa office is. The key word here is OFFICIAL. If you just ask for a visa office, they might send you to a visa service company.

When you enter, you and our bags will have to go through a security check and x-ray. No lighters, knives, or food or drink are allowed. However personal electronics are OK.

The Operation:
Be sure to get there early. A cue will form a few minutes before the office opens and depending on the day, it may take anywhere from a few minutes to an hour to get inside.

Once you are in the building, proceed to the 7th floor and take a number. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL OF YOUR REQUIRED PAPERWORK AND ALL COPIES HANDY.

The Wait:
This is the worst part. There is a large LED screen that displays the cue numbers. depending on the day, it can take anywhere from 1 minute to 2 hours for them to reach your number so bring something entertaining like a laptop, book (*gasp*), or play games on your phone or tablet.

When your number is called, you will hand over all your documents to the lady [usually] behind the desk for processing. She will make sure all sections are filled out adequately and that you have not missed any paperwork. If you have missed something, you go back to the end of the line to try again later.

There is no same day service. the days of service are listed and INCLUDE the day you submit the paperwork. So a 2 day service is really the next day. This is the selection you should make. It costs more, but it's better than waiting 4 days. A hotel in Hong Kong is quite expensive at 260 HKD/night for a cheap hostel and north of 400 HKD/night at a nicer hotel. It is considerably cheaper to pay for the faster service.

Collection:
It takes anywhere from 24 to 48 hours to process your visa if you choose the 2 day option. The day of collection is much easier. You simply show your receipt to the guard and are ushered through without having to wait in the cue. Before you leave, make sure you pay any fees they require and that your new visa is properly placed in your passport, with valid dates and a number.

Hope this helps you!

Here are some additional useful sites for your Hong Kong adventure:

Visa Paperwork:

Application forms A and B and a list of everything you will need to bring for each visa type.

Hostels:

Several low-cost Hostels offering single private rooms for as cheap as it gets in Hong Kong (there are 80 "guest houses").

Hotels:

Hong Kong hotel search engine.

Visa Troubles?

Hello everyone. I apologize for my lack of activity recently. My VPN has been on the blink and for some reason it started working again today. Sometimes there is no explaining things. This is China so anything is possible. In any case, I have some additional advice for foreigners.

The visa laws have changed (again). It is currently more difficult to obtain a Z or "working visa" that it has been in the past. There is a lot more footwork and paper pushing involved now that there used to be. Let's go through the steps to obtaining a Z visa:

1. Extending your 30 day tourist visa. It now takes more than 30 days to obtain a Z visa so if you come here on a 30 day L or M visa, you will have to extend. This will cost anywhere form 700-940 RMB depending on the length of extension. 7-10 days

2. Obtaining your residency permit. This doesn't take long, only a couple of days of running about to the various police stations (starting at your local station and gradually moving up to the city's main station). It also involves getting a health check, but that should be done withing a week or two of arrival. 1-5 days

3. Obtaining a foreign expert certificate and registering online. There is an online registry for foreigners to register as "Foreign Experts." There is also some paperwork that has to be submitted to the government that will include your university transcripts, residency permit, and current visa information*. 7-14 days
   
4. After your visa has been extended, your residency has been established, and your foreign expert certificate has been approved and issued, then you have to send your paperwork off to the government again to obtain approval to seek a Z visa. This might take as much as 1 week. 4-7 days

5. After 5 weeks of running around and signing papers, you will get a letter and some additional paperwork in the mail that will tell you if you need to go to Hong Kong or not to obtain your Z visa. Usually you will have to go to Hong Kong, but in the past this was not always necessary. You will be a Hong Kong for a few days so be sure to bring enough money to live on. I suggest you pack for as much as a week. The trip should only take three or four days, but could take longer if there is problem with the paperwork (as often happens here). 7-10 days

*Please note that this only applies to teachers. If you are in China for other business, it will not apply to you unless your job requires a foreign expert certificate. Also please note that if you have worked previously in China under a foreign expert certificate, your old certificate will have be deactivated by your previous place of employment before the new one can be issued.

As is the case with so many things here in China, there is no "standard" experience. Much depends on the will and attitude of the person behind the desk that day. If they feel like being a pain, they will look for some minute detail in your papers that is not quite right (but has no bearing on the outcome of the process) and deny your application. You then have to start over again. That's life in China.

Good luck with the visa applications and hopefully the laws loosen up again soon so you don't have to go everywhere in person.

Buying Stuff

Regardless of where you end up in China, you will eventually have to do some kind of shopping. This can be a little intimidating for those of you who are not accustomed to shopping and haggling in open-air or street markets. Whether that shopping be for groceries, furniture, clothes, dishes, or other random items that you might require there are several options available to you. To assist with your general shopping needs in China here are a few helpful hints:

Food:

Supermarkets: Most major cities in China have supermarkets that have both fresh and preserved foods. However, I would only recommend them for the forzen or preserved foods as fresh fruits and vegetables as well as meat tend to be rather expensive. If you live in Shanghai, Wenzhou, Guangzhou, Hangzhou or Beijing (and other large cities) you will have access to Walmart, Carrefour, Century Mart and a few other local supermarkets.

Corner stores: You will find many small shops carrying basic items like water, oil, snacks and toilet paper on every street in every city and town in China.

Street markets: Most neighborhoods in China will have an open air market for fruits, vegetables, beef, poultry, fish, and pork within easy walking distance. Some of them will also carry dried or preserved items like dried mushrooms, noodles, tofu, or dried or preserved vegetables and meat. I highly recommend getting your food from these markets. While they look dirtier, they are much cheaper and you know that the boards used for chopping meat are not ever used for cutting fruit or vegetables.

Furniture:

Supermarkets: Supermarkets like Walmart (formerly Trustmart in China) will carry some furniture items for relatively cheap prices. It can be worth checking them out if you need a bookshelf, chair, or table for your place. However for larger furniture items like beds you will have to go to the specialty stores.

Specialty stores: These are often the most expensive route to take. I would first ask your Chinese coworkers where they find items like sofas or beds before going out to purchase one from a specialty shop. They may know of a store that sells it cheaper.

Commodities and street markets: There are many cities with at least one commodities market where small furniture items can be haggled for and purchased for relatively cheap. I would check these out if you need a water cooler, table or other small items for your living room. Remember that most street market stall operators expect you to haggle. You shouldn't pay the initial price quoted. Instead, haggle with the operator until you come to a price you both agree on.

Household Goods:

2 yuan shops: These can be found throughout most towns in China. They are shops that sell all kinds of items for 2 yuan: roughly the Chinese equivalent to a  five and dime store or (pound shop in the UK). The stock they carry will vary from month to month, but generally includes plastic utensils, cheap metal cutlery and flatware, hair brushes, towels, toys, and other random items. I recommend getting your towels, spoons, forks and knives from these stores.

Supermarkets: Again, this can be hit or miss. If you happen to come across an item on the discount rack, it can be cheaper to buy it at the supermarket than on the street, but this is a rare occurrence. If you require a heavy duty pan or cookpot, the best place to look will be the street market rather than the supermarket, but Walmart does offer VERY good prices on cleaning supplies, insecticide (a must if you live in warmer climates), bathroom supplies, and occasionally on bedding and towels.

Street/independent shops and vendors: Ask around to see if anyone at your workplace knows of a street market or shop that sells pots and pans, dishes, etc. Here in Wenzhou, you can get VERY cheap dishes and cookpots from the various mom and pop shops that supply the many restaurants in the city. The dishes will be plain grayish-white, but they will be much larger and sturdier than what you can get at the supermarkets. The cookware will likewise be more industrial, but much less likely to break. You can sometimes haggle prices at individual shops, although generally haggling is only accepted in street markets.

NOTE: Appliances like ovens, microwaves, refrigerators, etc. are usually cheaper to purchase online (used or new). See the Internet section under Other below.

Clothing:

Supermarkets and street markets: If you are lucky enough to be Chinese sized, you can get some basic items like t-shirts, underwear, and socks from any supermarket or street vendor. Keep an eye on sales and prices to determine who is cheaper in your neighborhood.

Tailors: For the rest of us who are not so lucky as to be Chinese sized, the cheapest option is to locate the nearest fabric market in your city, purchase a bolt of cloth and take it to the tailor to have your dress, pants, suit, or shirt made specifically for you. Tailors are usually rather cheap if you purchase your cloth before hand. Since you can haggle the price of cloth, your suit might actually cost less than you paid for your pants at the supermarket.

Other:

Foreign Markets: You may get a craving for something special from home. Maybe it's a special ingredient or specific brand of something that is not readily available in the Chinese markets. For these items, ask around for a foreign market. Most larger cities will have at least one foreign import market. Keep in mind however, the IMPORTED = EXPENSIVE in most cases. However, as is the case with all stores in China, everything comes with a "sell by" date (even toilet paper) so keep an eye on that Italian coffee, it will eventually be marked down for sale starting two weeks out from its "sell by" date.

Internet: One of the gifts of the modern age is that anything can be had on the Internet. The best way to go about it if you do not have a Chinese credit card (most foreigners don't) is to ask a Chinese coworker or friend to do the ordering for you and for you to pay them back. The best website available in China is http://www.taobao.com/. Taobao is where I recommend you go for any foreign items you can't get in your local import stores or for items that are exceptionally expensive like APPLIANCES (ovens, microwaves, toasters, etc.) as they will generally be much cheaper on Taobao than in the supermarkets.

Note:  I also use Taobao to pruchase certain food items that are difficult to find in China such as cheese (especially hard cheeses like Cheddar or Gouda) and specialty flours for baking.


Convenient Taobao Searches (sorted by price):
Cheap Jewlery
Microwaves
Water Dispensors and Accessories
Electric Ovens and Accessories

Tutoring in China

After a few weeks in your new job, you may begin to feel that maybe you should be earning a bit of extra money. How can you do that you ask? The easiest way is to become a part time tutor. Tutoring is an easy and relatively low maintenance way of making a couple extra quai (RMB). Most people, especially teachers at public schools in China will find that the extra money goes a long way. I am certainly in this boat. The last time I was in China, I tutored just to make ends meet. This time I have a bit more room in my budget, but I still want some extra spending money.

 So what is involved in finding such a job you ask? It's actually not all that hard to find tutoring jobs teaching school-aged children. Every parent wants their kid to be "Best in Show" all the time and in all subjects. This is especially true in China where most families are placing their entire future on the success of a single child. The easiest way to land such a job is to put your name out there with other expats to see if they know anyone who is looking for an English tutor or instructor. Posting your advertisement in online forums is useful only if you can use Chinese-language forums (and read and write Chinese).

While looking for a tutoring job, there are several things you should consider:

First, if you are working at a private language school, you should avoid tutoring at another private school. This can cause unnecessary friction; and in most contracts, teaching for a competitor is expressly prohibited and would make you liable for termination and all that the "breach of contract" clause entails.

Second, try to avoid tutoring anyone who might otherwise become a student at your private school. Your school will not look kindly on you taking money out of their pockets (potentially). However, tutoring an existing student might be OK if you clear it with your employer first.

Third, you should try to tutor in your local area or online to cut down on transportation costs. You can also negotiate to have the students come to you.

Fourth, be wary of online advertisements or "help wanted" ads. These can be false and in the case of online ads, clicking on them may present you with some unwanted "surprises."

Fifth, before you agree to any tutoring job (public or private) you should make sure your rates and billing structure are understood clearly. Get it in writing if you must.

Sixth, if the client demands an strange or restrictive stipulations that make you uncomfortable, don't accept the position. There are plenty of other jobs out there.


So what should you charge? This depends largely on the nature of the tutoring job. More advanced and technical tutoring should demand a higher price. Business language tutoring also usually claims a higher pay rate. The average rate in Wenzhou for tutoring children is 100-200 RMB per student per hour. I charge 150 RMB if I must travel to the student. If the student comes to me, I typically charge only 125 RMB. Also, if you are tutoring at a business, you may negotiate to have them cover your travel costs or give a discount to them if they refer additional students. The terms and conditions of pay are almost entirely up to you. Remember to ensure the client(s) understand your pay and billing requirement BEFORE you start work.

If you have a class of 4 students at 150 RMB per student for one hour a week, then you are making an additional 600 RMB per week or 2400 per month. If you are teaching twice a week, that will double. Please note that these pay rates are approximate and apply only in Wenzhou. To find the average rates in your city, ask your fellow expats what they are charging and charge similarly. Also, remember that tutoring at a business or tutoring business English should command a higher price than tutoring children so do your research.

Happy job hunting.