How to Apply for Chinese Visas for Your Family

Applying for a Chinese visa can be tricky. Add in your kid's application and it gets even trickier. By all accounts, the Chinese Embassy scrutinizes application forms very closely, and anything from filling out the form by hand to having an occupation that's even vaguely eyebrow-raising (I got called out for being a copy editor) can get you brought in for an interview or even rejected. What's more, the online instructions can be confusing, particularly when it comes out to applying for children under 18.

After going through the process, here's my advice on how to go about applying for Chinese visas for your family. Note that these instructions are only for American citizens with American passports.

What to Know Before You Begin

Chinese visa applications can't be submitted online or by mail. You or someone on your behalf (either a friend or visa agent) must apply in person. Here's a list of all the Chinese embassies and consulates in the United States.

Consider using a visa agent. I'm all about DIY and would've applied for the visas at the embassy myself, but a friend advised that I use a visa agent who can navigate the system better, and I'm glad I took her advice. The visa agent looked over my application, pointed out a couple of things that needed to be changed (like how my application should be typed in all caps), noted some things that I was missing, and saved me tons of time and headache. Plus, I didn't have to wait on the line at the embassy.

Apply for your visa one to two months before your departure date. If you apply too early, your visa may be invalid by the time your trip starts (it must be used within 90 days of issue). If you apply too late, you run the risk of not receiving the visa in time. While most visa applications are turned around within a week, there's always the possibility that your application will raise a red flag (for example, if you work in the media or for the government) and require longer to process.

Requirements for Applying

Here's what you'll need for the application:

* A valid passport for the next six months

* Two consecutive blank pages in your passport (one for them to apply the visa, one for the entry and re-entry stamps)

* A photo taken in the past six months that's 48mm x 33mm in size (can't be the same as your passport photo)

* A Chinese visa application, filled out on the computer and printed

* Proof of travel: Flight and hotel confirmation OR a letter of invitation from the person you'll be visiting in China (here's a sample letter)

* $140 application fee (note that cash, personal checks, and credit cards other than Visa or MasterCard are not accepted)

If your kids are applying, they'll need in addition:

* A color copy of both parents' passports (or driver's licenses)

* A color copy of their birth certificate, showing both parents' names

* If only one parent is bringing the kid on the trip, you'll need to supply an authenticated letter of authorization from the parent not going, declaring that he or she consents to the visa application and for the other parent to travel with the minor.

Filling Out the Application

Here is the application and below are the rules. Don't take them lightly!

* The form must be completed on a computer and printed. No handwritten applications will be accepted. Type in all caps.

* The photo can be glued, stapled, or taped onto the application. Make sure the size is correct (it's different from the passport photo size). The rules for how the photo looks are very strict — you can be rejected for having the wrong color background or tilting your head the wrong way. Here's more on how to get the photo exactly right.

* Any time you encounter a field on the form that doesn't apply to you, enter "N/A" instead of leaving it blank.

* Clip the pages of the application together using a paper clip; don't staple.

* Here's a sample pre-filled application.

Tricky Things to Watch Out For

1.9 - This line asks for your local ID or citizenship number. It's NOT asking for your social security number. You can enter your driver's license number here or write in N/A if you don't have one.

1.17 - For children, fill in N/A. For adults, be careful about how you list your occupation. I originally filled in "copy editor," but was told by my visa agent that the consulate is concerned about anyone who works in media or publishing, particularly journalists. Also, anyone who works for the government or a religious organization may get flagged. She advised me to fill in "housewife" instead, which is technically also true! Also, if you checked off "self-employed" in section 1.15, don't leave this section blank even though you don't have a full-time employer. The embassy wants to know all about the line of work you're in.

2.1 - Check off "tourism" as the major purpose of your visit, unless you are going for work, in which case, check off "Business & Trade."

2.2 - For the intended number of entries, here's a pro-tip. Check off the last box for "Other" and fill in "10-Year Visa." This will get you a visa that's valid for the maximum amount of time of 10 years. It doesn't cost you anything extra and the application process is exactly the same. You might as well get your money's worth!

2.6 - The information here should match the proof of travel that you're providing.

2.8 - Only complete this section if you're staying with someone who lives in China for your visit. Otherwise, fill in N/A.

Part 5: Fill in this section if the application is for your child.

You may also like:
Tips for Traveling to Shanghai, China
Shanghai, China, with Kids: What to Do, Where to Eat and What's Nearby

Tips for Traveling to Shanghai, China

It's always tricky to travel to a foreign city, especially one that not many people you know go to, like Shanghai. It's hard to know what to expect. Do the locals speak English? Should you bring the local currency? What should you pack? Here's what we learned from our recent trip to China.

Do the locals speak English?
While the locals can be incredibly curious about foreigners, even striking up a conversation with you if you appear to be from somewhere else, not everyone speaks English well. Then again, many others do, so you may just have to approach a few different people to ask your questions.

Ironically, cab drivers seem to know the least English. Most hotels, however, will provide you with a printout or card that contains directions in Chinese if you ask. Be sure to also obtain directions back to the hotel before you leave. It'll probably help to learn a few basic words in Mandarin before you go on your trip; here's a short list of phrases that'll come in handy.

By the way, personal space is practically non-existent in China. There are so many people in the country that perhaps it’s not reasonable to expect it. If you’re in a crowded space, there will be people bumping into you or standing right up against you all the time. As I mentioned, people may approach you to ask you where you're from. It may seem rude or offensive at first, but this is simply a part of the culture and it’s really up to you to adapt!

What kind of clothing should I pack?
The temperature in Shanghai ranges from 47 degrees Fahrenheit in January to 90 degrees in July (with added humidity), so you should pack according to the season. Bring an umbrella during the warmer months, which you can use when it rains, but also to beat the heat; the locals regularly use them as parasols when it's sunny.

I thought the air quality in Shanghai would be terrible, and briefly considered buying face masks to bring on the trip. To our surprise when we arrived, though, it seemed no different from the air back at home, and the sky was a bright, clear blue on our first day. (It got cloudier and rainier as the week progressed.) I think we got lucky during our visit, though, and some days do bring more smog and air pollution. I'd wait on purchasing any face masks, just in case they're not necessary.

Will I have access to the internet while in Shanghai?
Many of the browsers and internet services that we use every day are censored in China, completely blocked off by the "Great Firewall." This includes services like Google (Gmail, Maps, Search) and Facebook. So no, don't count on having internet, even though some sites (like Yahoo) do work.

There's a way to get around this, and that's to download a VPN for a nominal fee before you arrive in China (you won't be able to download it after you're there). Here's more on what VPN is exactly. There are many VPN providers, and I used ExpressVPN during my trip. It worked about 60 percent of the time.

Should I be tipping?
Tipping is not expected for cab drivers and at restaurants, and can even lead to some awkward interactions because the locals won't know why you're handing them money. So don't worry about not doing it. Also, never bus your own table at a restaurant, even at self-serve places.

Do I need to bring the local currency? 
Yes, bring lots of Chinese cash, or yuan, with you. About half the places we visited wouldn’t take foreign credit cards. Most Chinese establishments, even the street stalls and cabs, take payment in the form of a local app that scans the shop’s QR code, but unfortunately this option isn't available to the casual tourist, so cash will be your best friend. By the way, the exchange rate is about 1 RMB = 0.15 USD, so divide all the prices you see by 6, and you'll get the rough equivalent in dollars.

Haggling is a sport in China, and it’s one that I never got good at. My only advice is to always ask for the price of an item before agreeing to buy it, and if it sounds unreasonable, don’t be afraid to walk away. You’ll see the price drop dramatically (like up to 75 percent) when you do.

I also never quite got the hang of pricing in China. Some things were extremely inexpensive — an hour-long cab ride is about $15, and an hour-long massage at one of the ubiquitous parlors is about $30. Other things were downright exorbitant — a scoop of Häagen Daaz ice cream in a mall is $6, and a bottle of soda at the top of the Great Wall is almost $8. Just never assume you know the price of something until the seller confirms it for you, and always ask before you buy!

What's the deal with squat toilets?!
Using a public restroom can be a bit of an adventure. Most places in Shanghai offer Western-style toilets, but you may encounter squat toilets here and there. Here’s how to use one. Bring a pack of tissues everywhere you go, as some bathrooms won’t provide them.

How should I get around?
Since we were traveling with young children, we mostly took cabs everywhere, although I hear that the subway system is very easy to use. Here's a pretty clear guide on how to tackle the metro.

Cabs are definitely not a bad way to go, though, as they are extremely inexpensive, unless you're traveling from one side of the Bund to the other. The longest distance we traveled in a cab (without crossing the Bund) was one hour, and that only cost $15 total.

We went on a couple of local tours, which is a great way to get around, as you'll have someone guiding you and explaining what you're seeing and doing. Some tours provide transportation, like the one we took to the water town of Zhujiajiao, while others simply take you around the city on foot, like the delicious street food breakfast tour we went on with Unfood Tour. You can read more about our experiences here.

What is the food like? 
The city offers a hodgepodge of chain restaurants (where you can expect to pay Western prices) and mom-and-pop eateries that will sell you freshly made bowls of rice or noodles for next to nothing. We ate at both types of places. More on our favorites here. Interestingly, we were told by several people to sample the KFC in Shanghai, as it's supposed to offer a very different menu and is beloved by locals, but unfortunately we never got a chance to try it.

Shanghai is where soup dumplings were invented, so you'll have to have a taste while you're visiting. Better yet, go on a food tour with a local, who'll teach you how to enjoy them properly and expose you to a few different preparations. You can even make your own on some tours.

One thing to mention is that the tap water in China is not safe for Americans to drink, and I would avoid salads as well. Always carry around bottled water, as you shouldn't drink the tap water at restaurants, or be prepared to consume a lot of soft drinks, which is what we ended up doing for lack of better options.

What should I do and see while in Shanghai?
Three not-to-be missed activities in Shanghai are strolling through Yu Yuan garden and bazaar, a boat ride on the Bund, and a walk through the French Concession. You can read more about our experiences here.

I also highly recommend getting a massage while in Shanghai. There are massage parlors everywhere, and your hotel can probably recommend one that's near you. Massages in Shanghai cost next to nothing ($30 for an hour, no tip required) and are a real treat.

You may also like:
Shanghai, China, with Kids: What to Do, Where to Eat and What's Nearby
How to Apply for Chinese Visas for Your Family

Shanghai, China

For the average traveler, Shanghai may seem like an intimidating city to visit. And if you add in kids, the trip may seem downright impossible. I speak some rudimentary Mandarin, and I was still nervous about this week-long vacation, which we took because my husband was going to Shanghai on business. But when we finally got to the city after a 13-hour plane ride, I was surprised to find that it’s actually very similar to most major U.S. cities.

I was expecting squat toilets, streets with strange smells and sights, language barriers, and disorderly traffic, but only the latter turned out to be accurate — definitely look both ways before crossing the street! In a thousand different ways, Shanghai is shaping up to be a completely modernized city. It’s clean and organized, with tons of familiar foods and shopping, and many people speak English. Of course, many people also don’t, but chances are that you’ll be able to find someone to help you out.

As for visiting this city with kids, the Shanghainese don’t just tolerate children, they genuinely love to accommodate them. In most restaurants, for example, you’ll be asked if your kids would like child-size place settings. And don’t be surprised if they get a pat on the head and a big smile everywhere they go.

Where to Stay

We stayed at the Sheraton Shanghai in the Hongkou area of the city because it was near my husband's meetings. It's an extremely luxurious hotel with impeccable service (and it’s not all that expensive), but it's primarily a business hotel. There was a lovely children's park called Aisi a block away and plenty of little malls in which to find good food within walking distance.

If I were to pick an area in which to stay with young kids, however, I'd choose the French Concession, which is walkable, scenic, and lined with tons of restaurants and shops. Many expats live in that neighborhood, making it easy to get around with limited English.

What to Do

Most visitors to Shanghai at some point end up at Yu Yuan Garden, a labyrinth of shops, food stalls, tea houses, and gardens. This is where you go to shop for souvenirs and sample street foods.

The kids got cotton candy shaped like an elaborate flower, and we filed across the zigzag bridge, peeking down at the koi in the pond below, along with a throng of other tourists. The area, with its ancient buildings and historic gardens, is both authentic and touristy at once, and it’s best to go on a weekday morning, when it’s not so crowded.

Right near Yu Yuan is The Bund and the Huangpu River. Here you can find river tours of all kinds, but we decided to simply travel across the river in a ferry (15 cents per adult, kids were free) and take in the skyline that way.

The kids and I spent one morning at Eday Town, a kid-centric attraction that lets children try their hand at various occupations. They earn money along the way, which they can spend on snacks and certain activities. We’ve been to similar attractions in other countries, such as Kidzania in London and Baby Boss in Taiwan. Eday Town is not as well done, but had some cute features, such as the dumpling shop (the kids made dumplings out of dough, then got to eat some pre-made ones). All of the activities were conducted in Mandarin, which intimidated my son (I had to sit by his side and translate for him the whole time), but I saw plenty of other foreign kids happily participating despite the language barrier.

We spent another morning braving Shanghai Disneyland, which was somehow an even more harrowing experience than Disney World in Orlando. The sheer number of people, combined with a somewhat useless FastPass system (all the Fastpasses for the day were distributed within 30 minutes of the park's opening, so after that you basically had to wait on the crazy lines) made this experience less enjoyable than I expected.

I will say that the park is extremely clean and brand new, and the revamped, immersive Pirates of the Caribbean ride alone was pretty spectacular and worth the price of admission (which is relatively inexpensive, compared with other Disneys). It was also fun to eat Disney's Chinese version of American food, for example the Mickey-shaped pizza topped with tiny chunks of char-siu.

I booked a couple of tours for our visit, and they both turned out to be great. We really appreciated the insights and history that our guides provided us, and we learned so much about everyday Chinese life and the history and symbolism behind the sights we were seeing. The guides were always careful about including the kids and customizing our tours so they were interesting for them as well.

We spent one morning with Christina from Untour Food Tours, who took us around to sample Shanghai breakfast street food (there are tours for lunch and dinner as well, including a dumpling tour that includes a dumpling-making class!). My husband and I really wanted to try the street food, but didn’t know where to start, so this was a great way to go. Our guide took us to several stands and shops to enjoy freshly made dough sticks, soy milk, potstickers, jian bing (a Chinese crepe), tea, hand-pulled noodles, soup dumplings, and mochi. It was really more of a huge brunch tour than a breakfast tour!

While walking from stand to stand, we strolled through the bustling Xiang Yang park in the French Concession area (where retired locals were doing tai chi everywhere we looked), a residential alleyway, and a wet market, learning about each location along the way. As a bonus, our guide knew where all the good bathrooms were. We had such a delicious and informative time!

On another morning, we toured the water town of Zhujiajiao, about an hour west of Shanghai. We wanted a taste of old China, which is impossible to find in the city. Zhujiajiao, dubbed the “Venice of Shanghai,” is a fishing village built on a canal 400 years ago that remains largely preserved today (except that now the residents are more likely to operate B&B’s than make a living as fishermen!).

Tom of Shanghai Driver Guide picked us up from our hotel for our private tour and drove us there, then brought us into a wealthy family’s former estate, across ancient stone bridges, through immaculately maintained gardens with koi ponds and rice paddies, and to visit sites that look like movie sets, including a 200-year-old post office and an equally old pharmacy, both still operational yet open as tourist attractions.

The kids had fun feeding the koi and clambering over all the stone steps and bridges. After the walking portion of the tour, we took a gondola ride up the Grand Canal and had lunch at a no-frills restaurant on the river, where we feasted on braised pork shank, noodles, and some local vegetables for just $24 total!

Where to Eat

Shanghai offers a hodgepodge of chain restaurants (where you can expect to pay Western prices) and mom-and-pop eateries that will sell you freshly made bowls of rice or noodles for next to nothing. We ate at both types of places.

In terms of the chains, we found Haidilao to be a hoot. It’s a hotpot restaurant that’s perpetually packed, so they offer all sorts of free services while you wait for a table, from hand massages to trays of snacks to a kids’ play room. Once seated, the entertainment continues, with the wait staff bringing you everything from blankets if you’re feeling chilly to trinkets for the kids. We ordered the hand-pulled noodles for our hotpot, and a “noodle artist” in a fedora came to our table, stretching and flinging a hunk of dough into strands of noodles right before our eyes while spinning theatrically.

Another favorite restaurant of mine is Din Tai Fung, which is really a Taiwanese chain that’s taken over the world. The specialty here is soup dumplings, which were invented in Shanghai, then made popular around the world by Taiwan. We ate at the Pudong location for dinner, which has a panoramic view of the Shanghai skyline.

Our UnTour Food Tour brought us to several hole-in-the-wall eats around the French Concession. My favorites were Henan Pulled Noodles on Changle Lu for the scallion noodles (which you can watch being pulled downstairs), and Soup Dumplings on Nanchang Lu.

What's Nearby

Our China travels took us to Beijing for a mere day and a half, as my husband was having a meeting there as well, but that was just enough time for me and the kids to visit the Great Wall by ourselves. I booked a private driver called Mr. Ma through Viator, who turned out to be super kind and helpful, as there were certain things I couldn't do myself, like take both kids down the mountain coaster (Mr. Ma went with my son, while I went with my daughter). And yes, there is a mountain coaster that you can zip down from the Great Wall! There’s also an open-air chair lift and an enclosed gondola to take you up. The Mongolian invaders must be spinning in their graves!

Anyway, we visited a section of the Great Wall called Mutianyu, which I chose because it's supposed to be easy to hike, and because of the aforementioned mountain coaster. I was concerned that the kids would quickly get bored of walking along the wall, but it turns out that this section consists entirely of ascending and descending stairs, so there was no opportunity to get bored. It was quite strenuous to climb up all those steps, and rather intimidating to climb down, but we managed without incident and took in truly amazing views the whole time.

You might also like:

Tips for Traveling to Shanghai, China

How to Apply for Chinese Visas for Your Family