China cuts visa fees

[reader]

From Reuters

China on Friday cut visa fees by 25% for travellers from countries including Thailand, Japan, Mexico, Vietnam, and the Philippines from December 11 2023 to December 31 2024, according to statements from the Chinese foreign ministry and embassies.

The policy so far covers hundreds of millions of travellers from over a dozen countries and will make it cheaper for them to get a visa to travel to China

This is the latest in a slew of measures China has recently taken to increase inbound travel from foreign tourists and business people amid a sputtering recovery in the world's second-largest economy.

Last month, China announced to temporarily exempt citizens of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia from needing visas to visit the world’s second-largest economy to boost post-pandemic tourism.

[PeterRS]

China rightly gets a bad rap on this and other forums for a number of issues - mainly poitical and human rights. But as one who has visited the country dozens of times, may I just add that it has some extraordinary sights for inbound tourists. And I don't just mean in the main cities of Beijing and Shanghai - although a visit to the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven and the Great Wall are as memorable as any anywhere.

For those who might consider China, I would definitely suggest they try to visit Harbin in the far north east during the spectacular month-long Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival in January/February. I know there is one in Sapporo in Japan, but frankly it is not a patch on the one in Harbin. Here there are two parks: the ice park involving dozens of mega-ice scuptures which are lit from within at night (and so a daytime and nighttime visit are essential); the other the snow park where smaller but also some huge snow scultures can be viewed. Near the snow park is the famous Siberian Tiger Sanctuary.

Harbin itself is a fascinating city. After the Russian Revolution, many white Russians fled to Harbin thanks to the trans Siberian Railway and a spur down to Harbin. For a while it was more Russian than Chinese. In its centre there is a now decommissioned Russian Cathedral and all major streets are named in Chinese, English and Russian. Russian restaurants abound - and there is also a gay bar! The one problem during the Festival is hotel accommodation. I was lucky in that even though I booked at relatively short notice I got a room at the Hoiiday Inn which was in an ideal location. The parks and the Sanctuary are on the other side of the frozen river, but there are virtually no hotels there. So you need to take a tour or one of the plentiful taxis which will wait for your return after your visit. With evening temperatures in the region of -25 celsius, the last thing you want is to be stuck with no transport!

Another area hugely worth visiting is Yunnan Province in the south west not far from Tibet. Getting from Bangkok is relatively easy as there are flights from Bangkok to the capital Kunming. Keeping this travelogue simple, I will mention only two of its many towns and other attractions - the old cty of Lijiang and the amazing Ganden Sumsteling monastery which is reputed to be the finest Tibetan monastery outside Lhasa. The city close to the monastery has been renamed Shangri-La - but it is just another Chinese city and the main reason for visiting is the stunning road between Lijiang and Shangri La and various monasteries. I stayed in a lodge just behind the monastery. Watching the sun set over the golden rooftops while sipping ginger tea on my little patio was quite magnificent.

[hojacat]

Yes, especially now that https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-67516777

[PeterRS]

I could bore readers with endless photos of from China visits. Let me just say that Chengdu is a great city for gay visitors. Apart from its obvious sights, including the amazing huge panda reserve just outside the city and the Giant Buddha at Leshan, it has a few gay bars. When I was there the apps were absolutely humming. In fact, I couldn't keep up. One cute guy just would not give up and I had to squeee him in (or I squeezed into him 😵) on my last morning before I had to check out at midday. Not one wanted even transport money. Perhaps one reason is Chengdu is the 5th largest city in China with the metropolitan area having nearly 10 million citizens and a catchment area of around 14 million. It also has well over 20 major universities - that's a lot of sexy, hungry, cute young guys!

[Marc in Calif]

On 12/8/2023 at 10:34 PM, PeterRS said:

Harbin itself is a fascinating city. After the Russian Revolution, many white Russians fled to Harbin thanks to the trans Siberian Railway and a spur down to Harbin. For a while it was more Russian than Chinese. In its centre there is a now decommissioned Russian Cathedral and all major streets are named in Chinese, English and Russian. Russian restaurants abound - and there is also a gay bar!

 

Peter, the caricatures of Russians are marvelous! Is this restaurant still Rusian-owned and managed? I somehow doubt it. 

Perhaps Moses can tell us if these are accurate depictions of Russians from the 1920s. 🥰

[PeterRS]

52 minutes ago, Marc in Calif said:

Peter, the caricatures of Russians are marvelous! Is this restaurant still Rusian-owned and managed? I somehow doubt it. 

Perhaps Moses can tell us if these are accurate depictions of Russians from the 1920s. 🥰

I took that photo in 2012. GIven the popularity of Russian cuisine, I expect the sign is probably still there. I have found on the internet a photo that includes it dating from 2020, so I can see no reason it would have been taken down. This is an entrance to the restaurant with the title in three languages but clearly from the figure in the doorway it is Russian and dressed for winter! Apparently it was the first Caucasian restaurant in China. I am wondering if the sign is a crude portrayal of Russian Muslems!  Most Russians had left the city by the md-1960s but from that 2020 review the staff are still Russian.

The Ice and Snow Sculpture Parks also have a lot of Russian influence, even with a ballerina in one of the massive snow scuptures. Incidentally, thanks to the flood of Russian immigrants following the Revolution, many were musicians and Harbin developed what remains the oldest music Conservatoire in China.

[hojacat]

2 hours ago, PeterRS said:

I could bore readers with endless photos of from China visits. Let me just say that Chengdu is a great city for gay visitors. Apart from its obvious sights, including the amazing huge panda reserve just outside the city and the Giant Buddha at Leshan, it has a few gay bars. When I was there the apps were absolutely humming. In fact, I couldn't keep up. One cute guy just would not give up and I had to squeee him in (or I squeezed into him 😵) on my last morning before I had to check out at midday. Not one wanted even transport money. Perhaps one reason is Chengdu is the 5th largest city in China with the metropolitan area having nearly 10 million citizens and a catchment area of around 14 million. It also has well over 20 major universities - that's a lot of sexy, hungry, cute young guys!

Chengdu is actually known in China as a very gay city, much more than other cities of similar size. Plus, there is a joke among Chinese that everyone coming from Chengdu has to be a bottom.

[PeterRS]

1 hour ago, hojacat said:

Chengdu is actually known in China as a very gay city, much more than other cities of similar size. Plus, there is a joke among Chinese that everyone coming from Chengdu has to be a bottom.

Now if only someone had told me this, I would have booked a longer trip! As it was, I really wanted two days at the astonishingly beautiful and hugely memorable Jiuzhaigou National Park which covers three large valleys and which I reached by short flights up to its airport 3,500 meters at the top of a mountain. But I could easily have added a few more days at the end to enjoy more of the beautiful scenery (oops guys) in Chengdu!

[Moses]

5 hours ago, Marc in Calif said:

Perhaps Moses can tell us if these are accurate depictions of Russians from the 1920s.

It is Russian restaurant with caricature on famous in Russia Armenian film actors on the picture :))))) Name "Tatos" is Armenian name.

 

As per reviews on Tripadvisor, it is excellent promoted as "Russian restaurant" in Harbin, but Russian visitors leave reviews like "nice interior" and "meals have Russian names, but are very far from to be real classical Russian meals".

Russians love Armenian cuisine. Therefore, we can assume that it was originally an Armenian restaurant serving local Russians, and then it became simply a “Russian restaurant”.