Visa free entry to China for six countries

[my friend I]

BEIJING, March 7 (Reuters) - China will offer visa-free travel to nationals from Switzerland, Ireland, Hungary, Australia, Belgium and Luxemborg from March 14, foreign minister Wang Yi said on Thursday.

Reporting by Ethan Wang and Bernard Orr; Editing by Kim Coghill

[mfd101]

Switzerland!  Gosh they're brave.

 

Mmmm, and wonder whether Oz will be reciprocating. (I guess Yes - China doesn't give away anything for free.)

[Polaky]

Hmmm, might actually get to see the great wall.

[jippytum]

Woudn't go if they paid me

[Captain Monday]

11 minutes ago, jippytum said:

Woudn't go if they paid me

I rarely have reason to leave the layover hotel, at all.

[sandyf]

1 hour ago, jippytum said:

Woudn't go if they paid me

A lot better than many places I have been. Went to Schenzhen twice, nice city and vastly different to what gets portrayed in the western media.

We had a run up into the mountains, quite spectacular, a  bit like Halong Bay on land.

Downside is the language problem and a virtual cashless society, we were fortunate my niece was at uni and could speak Chinese, also had the local bank acount to pay for most things. You could pay in cash but they didn't like it and unlikely to get any change.

[Toby1947]

1 hour ago, jippytum said:

Woudn't go if they paid me

You beat me to it, absolute sh*thole.

[mfd101]

I travelled through northern China by train in 2010 - Beijing, then Xian, then on to Xinjiang/Urumchi before heading on to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan & Russia.

 

A magnificent trip. Wonderful to watch a great nation lifting itself up by the bootstraps.

 

Pull in to a huge railway station in the middle of a small (by Chinese standards) town. "This looks like it's built for a million people!" "No worries, they'll be here in 10 years."

 

Western end of the Great Wall; windmills everywhere throughout the western deserts (Taklakmakan); ancient watering systems from distant mountains (Turpan); men riding on donkeys while women tilled the fields by hand. In Urumchi at the museum a Tocharian woman from c300 BCE with ginger hair - one of our cousins; beside her a Chinese general from C1st or 2nd CE wearing white robes with blue bumble bee motifs (Greek! the influence of the Indo-Greek kingdoms of what is now Pakistan & Afghanistan, following on from Alexander the Great).

 

Then in to Kazakhstan, which was like going back to the 1950s ...

[paul1804]

5 hours ago, Polaky said:

Hmmm, might actually get to see the great wall.

Chose your weather, very cold in December - February, very hot July, hot & wet in August. I was there in December 2000, not my favourite destination by any means. The Great Wall is impressive in a sense but it is just a wall which has been rebuilt in many parts due to deterioration. Like Thailand with double pricing, queue's for foreigners at several times the price of locals at the wall but they do give you a small book on the history of the wall, not sure if the local queue gets the same. 

[GypsyT]

13 hours ago, Toby1947 said:

14 hours ago, jippytum said:

Woudn't go if they paid me

You beat me to it, absolute sh*thole.

Two International "Bar stool warriors from Pattaya...."

 

[couchpotato]

15 hours ago, jippytum said:

Woudn't go if they paid me

@jippytum @Toby1947 Silly statements. China is huge with thousands of years of history, and if you get out of the big cities (Beijing/Shanghai etc) there are some amazing things to see. Transport is easy (trains/planes) and guides/translators are available to travel with you during your travels. Very good hotels, excellent food and entertainment if you require it.

[sandyf]

On 3/8/2024 at 9:01 AM, Toby1947 said:

You beat me to it, absolute sh*thole.

Generalisation is favoured by the ignorant.

[sandyf]

On 3/8/2024 at 10:04 PM, GypsyT said:

Two International "Bar stool warriors from Pattaya...."

 

Indeed, the ghost of McCarthy lives on.

[Paiman]

Most likely Australia was ment to be Austria. This would be the same group of countries. Had massive problems to get a work visa for china on my Aussie PP about 2 years ago. Was much easier on my other PP.

[itsari]

On 3/7/2024 at 2:01 PM, mfd101 said:

Switzerland!  Gosh they're brave.

 

Mmmm, and wonder whether Oz will be reciprocating. (I guess Yes - China doesn't give away anything for free.)

Australia does not give anything away even if you have paid for it. 

Just to help the confused , i am refering to the portability rules on pension points earned in Australia.

[Highlandman]

On 3/8/2024 at 12:24 PM, paul1804 said:

Chose your weather, very cold in December - February, very hot July, hot & wet in August. I was there in December 2000, not my favourite destination by any means. The Great Wall is impressive in a sense but it is just a wall which has been rebuilt in many parts due to deterioration. Like Thailand with double pricing, queue's for foreigners at several times the price of locals at the wall but they do give you a small book on the history of the wall, not sure if the local queue gets the same. 

 

China eliminated dual pricing for foreigners years ago. 

[paul1804]

20 hours ago, Highlandman said:

 

China eliminated dual pricing for foreigners years ago. 

Oh really, that surprises me!!!!

[Highlandman]

2 hours ago, paul1804 said:

Oh really, that surprises me!!!!

 

Not at all, don't be surprised. China is very different to Thailand. Vietnam also eliminated the vast majority of dual pricing against foreigners too. Communist countries are quite different to their military, democratic and/or constitutional monarchy counterparts such as Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia, as well as Malaysia, all of which practice widescale dual pricing.

Edited March 22 by Highlandman

[paul1804]

18 hours ago, Highlandman said:

 

Not at all, don't be surprised. China is very different to Thailand. Vietnam also eliminated the vast majority of dual pricing against foreigners too. Communist countries are quite different to their military, democratic and/or constitutional monarchy counterparts such as Myanmar, Thailand and Cambodia, as well as Malaysia, all of which practice widescale dual pricing.

That's refreshing if thats the case! I didnt notice any dual pricing when I was last in Vietnam but its certainly still very apparent here in Thailand from street markets to haircuts!

[Highlandman]

On 3/7/2024 at 2:01 PM, mfd101 said:

Switzerland!  Gosh they're brave.

 

Mmmm, and wonder whether Oz will be reciprocating. (I guess Yes - China doesn't give away anything for free.)

 

I think it's probably Austria not Australia. 

[Highlandman]

On 3/23/2024 at 1:14 PM, paul1804 said:

That's refreshing if thats the case! I didnt notice any dual pricing when I was last in Vietnam but its certainly still very apparent here in Thailand from street markets to haircuts!

 

Officially, haircuts and street markets aren't supposed to have dual pricing and you can refuse to pay the higher price. Any attempt to charge foreigners more depends on how gullible the foreign customers are. 

 

Vietnam has unofficial dual pricing at many tourist restaurants and tour programs as well. However, officially, dual pricing is limited to a small number of tourist sites. The only one I can think of right now which still charges foreigners more than locals is the Hue imperial palace. Elsewhere, it's what the locals think they can get away with (experienced this once at a Phu Quoc seafood restaurant, where ironically, I was present with a group of Thais as well as my father, a Chinese lady and a Vietnamese friend). Thanks to him, the restaurant didn't succeed in ripping us off, but probably would have if he hadn't been present.

 

I was referring more to "official" dual pricing, which mainly applies at tourist sites including national parks (for 2.5 months beginning in mid December and ending February 29 this year, foreigners could actually enter a select number of national parks for free (once only for each park), while Thais paid the normal entrance fee). Perhaps later this year, they'll do the promotion again. Museums, temples and even marathon entrance fees are higher for foreigners. 

 

Malaysia does the same at many tourist attractions.

 

China used to practice dual pricing until 20 or 25 years ago, but now the only possible exemptions to the uniform pricing policy would be for locals who live in the town/city/district where the attraction is located. Otherwise, Chinese people from anywhere else in the country and foreigners pay the same.

[Highlandman]

On 3/8/2024 at 12:24 PM, paul1804 said:

Chose your weather, very cold in December - February, very hot July, hot & wet in August. I was there in December 2000, not my favourite destination by any means. The Great Wall is impressive in a sense but it is just a wall which has been rebuilt in many parts due to deterioration. Like Thailand with double pricing, queue's for foreigners at several times the price of locals at the wall but they do give you a small book on the history of the wall, not sure if the local queue gets the same. 

Back then they still did dual pricing. Not anymore now.