2015 China

26 March, Shanghai to Suzhou
Water Town Hostel 190CNY

For the first time in China, we this morning boarded a fast train for the 50 minute journey to Suzhou west of Shanghai. Now this is the way to travel. Fast, efficient, smooth; the kilometres whizzing by, our destination quickly reached. The Water Town Hostel is charming, located in an old house built around a couple of courtyards offering privacy and peace. The youngsters managing the hostel were very helpful, walking us to a nearby photographer for visa head-n-shoulder shots, and providing us with separate receipts, which is what we thought we needed to “prove” our accommodation in China. This turned out not to be the case, however. We were thrilled to find an English-speaker manning the Public Security Bureau Entry and Exit Administration desk. She was friendly, but explained that while all our other documentation was in order, (a) our hotel had to formally register us on some or other computerised system and (b) we needed a form from a police station near our hotel confirming that this had been done. Luckily we have discovered that taxis in China are pretty good value for money, so we caught another cab “home” and spent another hour or so finalising our paperwork. Tomorrow we will find out whether or not we will be granted 30 days in addition to our original 30-day visa ie 60 days in total, or a new visa dated from our application date, which would give us just over 50 days in total.