Mom's recommeded planning list for a trip to China

Here's a list of recommendations from my mother, for a 3-months trip to south-west China (Translated from Hebrew with Google Translate):

1. Elongated current passport
2. Visa to China - check if required
3. Vaccines - check if need for the area
4. Vaccination
5. Phone Book
6. Small log book
7. Stationery
8. Pens
9. Rope five meters for strengthening
10. Water resistant plastic bags
11. Raincoat
12. Brass coat
13. Spare shoes
14. Good water sandals
15. Disposable utensils
16. Spare credit card
17. Small vent for the face
18. Money belt
19. Unbreakable mirror
20. Travel Book
21. Maps
22. Magnifying glass
23. Marker
24. Camera
25. Batteries
26. Coffee, tea, sugar
27. Mineral water
28. Cell Phone
29. Luggage
30. Reserve Sunglasses
31. Suntan lotion
32. Water Purification
33. Toilet paper
34. Tissues
35. Wipes
36. Money belt
37. Pouch
38. Waterproof backpack
39. Flashlights
40. Sewing Tools
41. Wide-brimmed hat
42. Knife
43. Snacks: crackers, candy, chewing gum
44. Drugs - a special case: paracetamol, antibiotics, Stoapid for diarrhea, Edxmul colds, Faarmin nausea, Ahiston Allergy, plasters, bandages, iodine, a paste Aniviotit, pressure bandage
Lip dryness, mosquito remedy, Aloe Vera, drops, eye drops. Penisstil
45. Chinese Money
46. Chinese dictionary
47. mp3


Bag Organization
Money belt: money, extra credit, photocopy of passport, air tickets and the hotel
Pouch: lipstick, gum, candy, passport, cell phone, vaccination, mosquito balls, phone book identification., Individual wipes to wipe hands

Backpack "water, tissues, toilet paper, spare glasses, a hat, Stoapid Lshilshul (Diahrreah stopper), iodine, bandages, bandage pressure, charger for mobile,
Camera, batteries, disposable utensils, matches, flashlight, mosquito medicine, sunscreen, Paramin against nausea (In short - First Aid Bag)
Maps, travel-book or take a photocopy of a few pages to keep light, magnifying glass, Marker, a small fan, batteries, hair brush, folding umbrella, waterproof windbreaker.

Briefcase:
Toiletries: shampoo, soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, mirror, shaving, Aftershave, Deodorant.
Small scissors. Short T-shirts, long shirts, sweater, two pair of jeans, a pair of light sweatpants, fleece coat, Underwear, hat for the mountains, spare shoes, flipflops, scarf
Warm socks - a pair of
Socks and sneakers
Short pants
Coffee, tea, sugar bags, milk powder, more spare umbrella.
Can opener
Pretzels.

Additions I:
Swimsuit
GPS
Talcum powder
Hand Cream dryness

Heading to China

Yes!
It's been long time coming, and it is finally happening. I'll be taking a full three months' worth of time to experience some of south-west China.

I have to start with saying - you've gotta love Google!
Google is quite famous for perks and food, but really - letting me take a 3-months off to do my thing and come back - that's the real deal. So thank you!

And yes, Google is hiring massively.  Check it out.

And now that we've got that out of the way - there is quite a lot to prepare. Over the next two months or so, I'll be sharing some of that enjoyable part of preparation, Travel planning, etc. Just to get everybody into the right spirit and to prepare you for the proper stories ahead.

The blog seems more or less set, some basic monetization is in place (we call it dogfooding), so we're more or less ready to get going.


It's gonna rock!


Visa For China - what is the maximum stay possible

This seemed all along quite straightforward to me. 90 days is kind of a standard tourist visa length, which seemed to be fully in line with my plans anyway. Alas, as I was booking my flight, and had about 24 hours to confirm-pay, I realized that my plans were to be in China for what might be closely calculated as 91 days.

So, as I was trying to run around figuring out how to calculate properly the maximum length of stay on a tourist Visa, I quickly learned on the internet, that there are no really clear rules about the length of Visa you can actually get (never mind how you count). It seems that in the US, for example, one can get a maximum stay of 30, 60 or 90 days - depending on the state in which you apply.

Very commendable!  Since it was already late in the afternoon, I sent an email to the chinese embassy at around 18:00, hoping to get some sort of hint the next day about the length of time I can expect to be allowed on the Visa. You see, it's a chicken-and-egg thing, as you're officially supposed to have your ticket booked when you apply for the Visa.
I received an answer at 21:00 the same evening! Wow!

Unfortunately, the answer was not highly revealing, mainly quoting their general online docs/ hints, and consular section opening hours. However, they did add to that: "usually tourist visa is only grnated for short terms", and "please note it is not recommended to book your flights before applying for Visa".
Hah ...

To make the long story short - in Dublin, you are allowed to apply for a Tourist visa for up to 60 days.
However, while getting a 61-day visa is virtually impossible, it is very straight forward to to just get a double-entry visa with the same length.
This actually means an overall stay of up to 120 days. So they won't let you stay for 90 days, but if you cross the border once, you can actually stay easily for 120.


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