Ever since China opened up to Western tourists in the 1980s, obtaining a visa has been complex and expensive.
Applicants must pay over £150 and attend a visa centre in London, Manchester, Edinburgh or Belfast to be photographed and fingerprinted (though under-14s and over-70s are exempted from the biometric requirements).
But this year travellers to the People’s Republic can avoid much of the traditional red tape.
One option is to explore China while technically “in transit” – with passengers travelling from the UK to China to a third country able to get 10 days on the ground.
Alternatively, a leading tour operator, Wendy Wu Tours, now offers an easy online application that avoids the need to attend a Chinese consulate.
The People’s Republic was closed for several years during the Covid pandemic. Having fallen off the tourism map, it has reopened with incentives for travellers to swerve the usual bureaucracy.
The “transit without visa” option was popular before Covid with travellers wanting to get a flavour of the nation.
Previously stays were limited to six days, and visitors could not travel extensively around China. Now, though, the length of stay has increased and exploring multiple regions, such as around Beijing, Shanghai and Xian, is now feasible.
The basic rule is that passengers must arrive direct from a location outside China (a definition that, for this purpose, includes Hong Kong), stay no more than 10 days and depart direct to a third country.
Internal travel is allowed so long as the traveller departs from a major international location.
Under the new arrangements, a traveller could fly from the UK to Beijing, travel overland to Shanghai and continue onwards to, say, Japan. On the return journey, they could visit central and western China, including Xian and Chengdu. Advice from a specialist travel agency is recommended to ensure all the conditions are met.
Wendy Wu, founder of the leading China specialist, Wendy Wu Tours, told The Independent’s daily travel podcast: “All you need is just show your ticket, and then you will be able to stay there and travel through China.
“As long as you leave with your ticket to go to Japan, to Australia, to Sri Lanka, to India, then you will be fine.
For holidaymakers who want to travel only to the People’s Republic, Wendy Wu Tours has also launched a new light-touch online visa.
“We will send you a link to a simple online form, rather than the 12 pages of the proper form,” Ms Wu said. “Fill it in and upload a photocopy of your passport photo page. That’s all.”
She also said a visit to China right now will prove especially rewarding currently as the recovery from Covid continues.
“They just really love the foreign visitors. The hospitality is warmer, the warmest ever.”
