We spent an entire day walking atop the Great Wall in Jinshanling, a less-touristy area of the wall that was a great mix of restored wall and original wall. Some parts of this section of the Great Wall date to the 1300s.
More Photo of the Day posts from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Vietnam
We spent four days in Beijing, gaining a better insight on China’s capital. The changes taking place in China are perfectly illustrated on this shopping street near our hotel as Western brands blend with traditional shops and restaurants.
More Photo of the Day posts from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Vietnam
Waiting in line to see Mao Zedong’s memorial is an event in its own right. The line zig-zagged through Tiananmen Square, around to the front of the giant mausoleum and back around to the other side again. An hour-long wait gets you less than five minutes inside where thousands of Chinese lay flowers at the feet of a statue of the Chairman before scuttling past his body laying in a preserved state of rest.
More Photo of the Day posts from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Vietnam
We took Beijing’s subway for the first time to Yonghegong Lama Temple where they provide free incense service for visitors. Three incense are burned at each temple for different types of prayers. The Tibetan Buddhism monastary is one of the few to survive the Cultural Revolution.
More Photo of the Day posts from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Vietnam
Our first day in Beijing, China! The golden lions guard a hall inside the sprawling Forbidden City complex.
More Photo of the Day posts from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Vietnam
Update: As of February 2016, Cascadian Abroad reader Linda from Yokosuka has verified American passport holders can still apply for 10-year visas at the Chinese Embassy in Roppongi. Read on for more information and thanks to Linda for the update!
I like to think I’m pretty good at the internets, but when researching our next adventure, I hit a major roadblock trying to figure out the visa process for China. Our situation is a little unique because we have Japanese residency but U.S. passports.
Older posts indicated that we could go directly to the Embassy to apply. Newer posts said that you could no longer apply directly at the Embassy and needed to go to a travel agency. Comment after comment mentioned being turned away at the door. Even semi-official websites suggested going through a travel agency.
I turned to crowdsourcing and asked a Facebook group focused on foreigners living in Japan. Four of the five commenters replied that I’d need to apply via a travel agency.
The price difference between the Embassy and a travel agency was around $200 USD, so I figured it was worth a shot to try the Chinese Embassy first.
American passport holders living in Japan CAN apply for a Chinese tourist visa directly through the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo.
And it was actually pretty easy! While passport holders from most countries can apply for short-term tourist visas, Americans tourists can only apply for a 10-year visa. Here’s a few tips to make the process go as smooth as possible.
The current visa application form is called Form 2013. The website VisaRite has detailed instructions to help with some of the funky parts.
You’ll need the following items for your application packet:
The Embassy in Tokyo is located in the Roppongi District and is open for visa application and passport pickup from 9 a.m. until noon Monday-Friday. There is very little signage in English, but some of the security staff speaks English, so if you get stuck, ask for help.
Pro tip: When you enter the building, you’ll pass through a metal detector and your bag will be searched. Make sure you’re not carrying your X-ACTO knife or scissors as they’ll be confiscated.
Head for the third floor via the elevator or stairs. There’s an information window just to the left when you exit the elevator. Get in this line. I went on a Tuesday and the line wrapped down the stairs back to the second floor.
The woman at the information window will quickly review your application and give you a ticket with a number. Take your number to the waiting area. You’ll be called to one of the two windows on the left side.
Pro tip: Watch the number and be ready to run toward the window as they don’t waste a lot of time skipping through the numbers.
The staff at the windows speak excellent English. Give them your passport and application packet. They’ll give you a receipt and a return date. Sounds like four days is pretty average.
When you return to pick up your visa, stay on the first floor and head toward Window #6 with your receipt. The person at Window #6 will give you a numbered tag and another receipt with the amount to pay.
Go to the purchase machine by the door—similar to the ordering machine at the ramen shop! Insert your money and push the button(s) for the amount you need to pay.
Take the ticket from the machine, the numbered tag and the receipt to Window #4 to collect your passport.
[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m14!1m8!1m3!1d12967.359591459737!2d139.727319!3d35.656316!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x0%3A0xd58e06c8646bf144!2sEmbassy+of+the+People’s+Republic+of+China!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sjp!4v1436498015091&w=400&h=300]
After I picked up the passports from the Chinese Embassy, I headed across town to the Vietnam Embassy to apply for visas for the final leg of our journey.
You can apply for a visa-on-arrival-sorta via several websites. Basically, you’re purchasing an invitation letter from a Vietnamese company. You’ll provide this at your arrival airport in Vietnam to get the tourist visa. We preferred to get the visa in advance so we wouldn’t have to muck with any of that on arrival.
The Embassy is buried in a neighborhood about 15 minutes from Yoyogi-koen Station on the Chiyoda Line. When you approach the embassy, there’s a gold sign hanging on the stone wall. I was distracted by the shininess, but it actually has good information on it. The actual Embassy is up the hill to the left, but the visa application center is to the right of this sign.
All you need is your visa application, passport-sized photo (trimmed to 30 mm x 40 mm), your passport and a stack of cash. The embassy website has very little info about hours, price, etc. Some of the travel agency sites say it’ll take 4-5 days to process your visa, but it only took about 30 minutes! I walked out of the application center with two freshly-minted Vietnam visas in our passports!
[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d3241.1675826965006!2d139.68582130000004!3d35.67287539999998!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x6018f336091a7b21%3A0x7a5d39123c1754fb!2z44OZ44OI44OK44Og5aSn5L2_6aSo!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sjp!4v1436498103856&w=400&h=300]
Good luck and happy travels!
There’s a phenomenon in Japan—and probably other countries—known as the “Gaijin Nod.” “Gaijin” is a more casual version of the Japanese word for “foreign person” and, while it’s sometimes used with a negative connotation by some Japanese people, it’s widely embraced by many foreigners.
It’s a simple maneuver to perform. When you see a fellow Gaijin, you may choose to tilt your head down slightly, hold briefly at the bottom, then return your head to its original position. Chances are the person at whom the nod is directed will respond in kind.
“The Nod” occurs most frequently outside of the major tourist areas. It’s not uncommon to see foreigners in Tokyo or Kyoto, but outside of these areas, we’re a sight to behold. As such, an automatic connection is formed between us, one that crosses the boundaries of race and nationality.
Today I took a trip to the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo to prepare for our next adventure. Most of the embassies are grouped together in the Roppongi district, so there’s a high concentration of foreigners. Along the way, I passed embassies for Madagascar, Iran and Qatar. At each, when I made eye contact with the embassy employee manning the door, we engaged in “The Nod.”
The great thing about “The Nod” is that it also transcends language. Off the top of my head, I know I don’t speak Malagasy, Persian or Arabic, yet we still share a bond simply because we’re part of a larger community…
We are Gaijin.