How do I ensure I do not pay out money for tickets that are not usable for other reasons?

9/27/2011 2:59:40 PM

Chinese tourist visas are normally for 30 days but they can issue longer if you have a reason for needing longer or you have been to China before. You shouldn’t have any problem getting a visa unless you know of some impediment.

You can renew a tourist visa for another 30 days and then again for another 30 days giving you a total of 90 days if you need it. All that is required is a trip to a Public Security Bureau (PSB) aka large police station.

There are PSB offices that can extend your visa in almost any prefecture level city in China. I think it is unlikely that you will be more than a few hours travel from one unless you are hiking out in the deserts of Xinjiang or Inner Mongolia. I can give better advice if you tell me exactly where you plan to go that you think will be 4 days travel from a PSB office.

I’m guessing you are are British, if so, a short trip to Hong Kong can see you get another tourist visa to come back into China again. I’ve also herd of people getting visas in Korea though not as fast as HK.

For your trip to Tibet, you should apply for the special permit when you get to China via a tourist agency. You will be limited in what places you can travel to within the TAR. Also keep your fingers crossed that the are is open at the time. If the TAR is closed off to tourists during your visit, there is plenty other things to go and see in China so pencil in plans for alternative trips.

9/2/2011 7:25:03 AM

I can’t say for all train companies (as I don’t know what your route will be), but I can make a guess for the main part of your journey (you will definitely travel using russian trains):

  1. Train tickets for the Trans-Mongolian train are available up to 60 days from departure day. So you can buy the tickets far before documents will be returned to you from embassy.
  2. Train tickets are refundable all the time before departure (but if you refund them in less than 24 hours before departure, you will get some fees for that), and refund cost only 5 EURO (in russian rubles).

So there is no need to worry about lost money – you can get russian and China visas in time. Good luck with your journey.

Update: @Gagravarr’s comment about some travel agency is right – you can leave the tech details for the pro.

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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