Vacation Home Rentals

posted by Vacation Home Rentals on Aug 3

A China tourist visa is required of all U.S. citizens who wish to enter the mainland for tourism. While the Chinese consular services offers several differnt types of visas, this article will provide information on how to apply for a China tourist visa.

Visa applications by mail are no longer accepted by the Chinese consular services. The application can be submitted personally by you or you can get another person to do it for you. A family member, friend, travel agent or visa expediter can do this for you.

China visas have validities of 3 months, 6 months and 12 months. You can ask for a single, double or multiple entry visa. An additional travel permit is necessary in order to visit any non-open city. You can get this in China at the local public security bureau.

The China Tourist Visa

A China tourist visa, also known as an L visa, is usually valid for 30 days from the day of entry. Upon arrival, your documents will be examined by an inspection agent. If all your documentation is in order, an entry seal will be stamped in them. Request for an extention can be made while in China at the local public security bureau.

The tourist visa only allows you to travel to China for sightseeing or to visit family. If you want to travel to any area not yet opened to tourists, you will have to apply for a Foreign Travel Permit at the local public security organ.

Chinese Visa Requirements

The following items are required in order to obtain a tourist visa to China.

Completed Declaration Form

The Declaration Form became effective in May of 2009 and is a requirement for all those who are applying for a Chinese visa. The form includes space for name, nationality, passport number and a list of countries or U.S. states you have been to during the two weeks prior to submitting the form.

Your Current US Passport

You have to submit your current, valid and signed U.S. passport along with the application for the tourist visa. Your passport should have at least six (6) months validity remaining after your intended arrival to China. Also, you should make sure you have at least one blank visa page in your passport.

One Recent Photograph

The photograph must be 2×2 inches in size. To avoid problems you should get your photograph at a place that has experience with this type of photo. The photo will only be accepted by the consulate if it is high resolution, clear, and provides proper contrast with white background.

Completed China Visa Application

The China visa application has seven sections. The first section is for personal information such as name, sex, nationality, date of birth, passport number, occupation, etc. The second section is where you provide information about your trip to China. This includes the purpose of your trip, intended number of entries, date of entry and length of stay.

Questions about your health and prior travel are found in Section 3. You need to include information about previous trips to China. Section 4 is for your contact information such as home address, work or school address, contact in China, telephone numbers and email.

Additional declarations about your travel plans are made in the fifth section. The sixth section asks information about the person that completed the form if other than the person requesting the visa. The seventh and final section is for your signature.

How to Get Your China Tourist Visa Quickly

Regular processing of your visa to China can take 4 business days or more. If you need to get your visa in a hurry, the Chinese consular services offers express and rush processing. Express processing takes 2 to 3 business days. It only takes one business day for rush processing. There are additional fees for expedited service.

If you are unable to travel to the nearest Chinese embassy or consulate general and do not have a friend or relative who can do it for you, then you will need to contract a private visa expediter. An expediter can submit your visa application and documents to the consulate for you. This allows you to get your China visa expedited as quickly as the same day.

posted by Vacation Home Rentals on Jul 27

Lao She Teahouse, sitting at the center of Beijing not far from the Hwa Apartment Hotel, is where tourists get a taste of old Beijing life while sitting down for a good cup of tea.

Former U.S. president George H. The teahouse even appealed former U.S. president George H. Bush and Jordanian queen Rania to step in for a good cuppa.

It, indeed, has much to offer.

The building itself is a Qing dynasty-style loft structure, so the establishment really brings you back in time at your first sight! The waiters wear ancient outfits, and greet you in a very special way that seasoned Beijingers say reminds them of the city’s old days.

Despite being called a teahouse, Lao She is more like an entertainment venue, where some of China’s finest traditional performing arts are staged every night. On its third floor, you can enjoy acrobatics, Kung Fu shows, Peking opera, ventriloquism, cross-talk, and the famous face-changing dance while taking a sip of your favorite tea.

One of the most welcomed performances is the face-changing dance that originated in Sichuan province. A performer will wave his arms and twist his head as his painted mask changes, almost by magic, often in less than one second. The best dancers can bring up 30 different masks at one go. Due to difficulty of changing masks faster than the eyes blink, only a small number of artists can perform this old dance today. There are also occasionally such performances around the Haige International Hotel.

Another program that also amazes many is the ‘Han Deng Da Gu.Singers of this ancient folk art don’t sing in the normal way. They light up a few of candles, put the candles on a holder, put the holder in their mouths, and sing.

They need to somehow keep the balance of the holder using the muscles in their face, otherwise the candles will fall. Han Deng Da Gu signers of the Lao She Teahouse are all masters. They sing so skillfully that their sound is hardly comprised by the holder in their mouths. All around China, only a few of singers are able to perform this ancient art because it is simply too difficult to master.

But that’s not all they offer at the Lao She teahouse. Here waiters pour tea in a procession that looks more like an acrobatic show. The pot they use is quite usual for it has a long and thin spout with the length of up to 1.5 meters. When serving, the waiter tosses the pot around before pouring your tea from the long spout without splashing even a drop. This is a task few can perform, and therefore is often met by much applause.

You can also enjoy a variety of Beijing snacks as you enjoy the shows. Rolling Donkey, known as Lv Da Gun in Chinese, is actually a dish of glutinous rice balls stuffed with bean paste. Millet Mush, or Mian Cha as known in Chinese, is a kind of porridge made with sesame and peanut butter. Sweet tooth may try Wan Dou Huang, a serving of small cakes made of soybeans.

Prices are reasonable; an average of 50-60 dollars should be enough to cover the fare of the shows, tea and a couple of snacks. Business hours: 14:00 – 22:00.

The Lao She Teahouse’s location in central Beijing is very convenient, and you can book a Beijing hotel here.

posted by Vacation Home Rentals on Jul 22

With slick new malls opening all over the city, Beijing definitely is a shopper’s stop. But one street in particular is right next to some of Beijing’s most famous hotels, and it keeps the style of the old.

Suppose you want to shop somewhere with a little history, somewhere where you can get lost in antiques and traditional Chinese art forms. History for Beijing’s liulichang street traces back to the early Ming dynasty in the 16th century, and there is no shortage of unique Chinese gifts here.

For centuries, the street remained one of Beijing’s most prosperous shopping grounds. Today people shop from window to window on this very street for unique Chinese gifts, such as fans, brush paintings, tea sets, shadow puppets, antiques, and a variety of ethnic items.

For unique Chinese gifts to bring back, this is just the place for you!

Here are some of the shops:

Pin Hu Tang – A Good Cup of Tea Made Easy

This quaint shop at the west end of Liulichang Street is where big-time tea lovers go for authentic Yixing purple clay teapots. It’s not far from the Haige International Hotel. 

Yixing teapots are said to be able to improve your tea by allowing tea aromas to build up right in the walls of the pot. The key is the special purple clay they use for the pots: the clay is micro porous and absorbent.

The clay is found nowhere but Yixing, and the shop carries a large collection of teapots made of this clay and from their own kiln. The owner himself is a well-know teapot maker in Beijing.

The designs of their teapots are pretty unique. There you will find shapes imitating pumpkins, gourds, stumps, and castles, to name a few. And you will find skillful engravings on these teapots: a scene showing harmony between man and nature, a quotation from an ancient love poem, or an auspicious animal mounting the lid to entertain your eyes…

These really are things you won’t find in your back home! That might be why so many tourists would like to spend their travel dollars here.

Gu Miao Hua Yuan –- Pristine Beauty of Flowers Live On Your Walls

This interesting little shop is tucked away in a 600-year-old building and offers exceptional Chinese flower paintings that have found their way into the homes of many Beijingers. It is just a short cab ride from Hwa Apratment Hotel.

In the shop, you’ll find paintings of plums, orchids, chrysanthemum, as well as bamboo; they all are the work of our master - Mr. Xie.

Mr. Xie owns this shop. He specializes in painting many flowers, but what he is the best at and he loves most is painting peony. He’s spent more than a decade observing the flower so as to create works that are true to nature.

Not everyone can accomplish such an achievement!

Upon your request, Mr. Frame works, and scroll works which is easier to carry, are both available in the shop.

Qing Ci Lan Ting – A Lovely Touch To Your Home

This interesting little shop with an old-fashioned façade carries a large collection of celadon products made in Longquan, a southern Chinese town knows as the hometown of celadon.

There you will find a nice array of products with designs that are rarely seen outside of China. For example, a bowl is engraved with a pair of fish that are unique to a small river in Longquan. Another teapot looks like a big river snail. It is very likely that you wouldn’t recognize it at first sight!

In fact, there is a little something for each and every home: a hat-style vase that is nice for holding roses, a pumpkin-shaped jar for placing CDs, and a lotus leaf platter for holding dishes, and so on.

Some products bear cracks. They are made by an ancient technique. New cracks keep showing up ever since a celadon ware is made, but the ware won’t break into pieces as the glaze holds it into one piece. The cracks only add up to a more gorgeous looking item.

Anyone who comes in will be served a cup of tea for free. The manager is a young, nice lady. Quite a celadon expert, she knows celadon well and is kind enough to tell whatever you hope to know.