What would happen if you're caught in Beijing with a 144-hour visa exemption for the Shanghai area?

8/8/2016 7:17:33 PM

If you are going to central Beijing, this area is quite different to the rest of China. Security around Tiananmen Square is very tight, and all pedestrians in the area are searched airport-style in large white tents that block the pavement. Here you will be required to present identification (in the form of either a Chinese ID card or a valid passport) before you can get into the main tourist parts. Museums and major places also demand passports to gain entry; as I recall the National Museum of China took my passport away for several minutes of inspection before they allowed me entry.

Most of this work is undertaken by surprisingly young members of the People’s Liberation Army rather than by police, and usually they are not interested in your visas, but just want to confirm your picture. Still I am sure they would refer any irregularities to their superiors.

Personally I would strongly discourage you from breaking the rules; a Chinese visa is cheap and easy to obtain. The consequences for breaking the visa conditions may be expulsion from China via the nearest airport, at your expense (after a brief period of detention) and a five year ban. It is, in my opinion, a mistake to think of China as a westernised place where minor infractions of the law by foreigners will be tolerated.

8/8/2016 6:25:00 PM

Something to keep in mind here: Foreigners must register where they are staying in China. Normally the hotel does this for you–but note that this means the government computers have everything they need to catch you if they have thus programmed them. Whether they have nor not I do not know.

Being caught on the street is a trivial risk compared to this. Over the last 20 years I’ve spent a total of well over a year in China and the closest thing to a contact with the authorities that we did not initiate was a cop shooing away a persistent merchant who thought my wife was a good sale walking away. However, in all that time there have only been about half a dozen nights where the government didn’t know where we were staying and that was only because we had checked into small hotels in the company of Chinese citizens and only their ID was presented. (A matter of negotiation, not trying to hide from the government. They would give locals a better rate than they would give foreigners.) Since you’re doing a TWOV I very much doubt you have relatives to do the checking in and I would expect that wouldn’t work in a big place anyway.

Note, also, that you say about going to the hotel to check the passport–technically you’re always supposed to have it with you. In practice, though, this is widely violated.

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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