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So my wife is Chinese and from Shantou, a pretty big city in the South. First time I went, of course we stay at her parents house and I tell them that it's requ

So my wife is Chinese and from Shantou, a pretty big city in the South. First time I went, of course we stay at her parents house and I tell them that it's required we get registered at the police station. Her uncle, my wife, and I went to four police stations. All refused to register my stay and told me to go the next place. The final one told me that they require to see our marriage certificate (which we didn't have as I never read once that it was needed), so we gave up. I've been many times now, and I've never had a problem although it's a city that foreigners probably do not travel to as much as say Shanghai or Beijing.

klik99 6y ago
I was going to say that was strange as I've stayed in Nanjing and my wifes small town (of several million people) outside of Nanjing and didn't get denied, but then realized that you didn't have the marriage certificate with you. I do believe that's required everywhere. For native Chinese it's becoming easier to visit other places because the registration system is becoming more digital. That unfortunately has the side effect of making it increasingly more difficult for foreigners since the manual method is becoming less common and therefore more confusing for local police. It is interesting in the context of AirBnB - with the registration system they can't use the same "it's better to ask forgiveness than permission" approach they used in US. I have seen very successful foreign run businesses, for example a friend who imported steel in China, do really well for many years because the government wasn't interested in their industry, and then all of sudden find himself against several competitors and be completely out of business in the space of 6-12 months. I'm bullish on AirBnB but depending on success in China is a risky strategy.
- mcntsh 6y ago
  This is kind of off topic of AirBnB but can you share a little bit more about the registration system in China? By the way you describe it, it sounds like not only foreigners must register with the police when they visit other cities.
  - klik99 6y ago
    No, only foreign nationals must register when visiting places. Chinese citizens only must register at the police station when moving - though as if often the case, many people ignore such rules. I just meant that the state is tracking where people visit thanks to digital means - facial recognition and cell records. But foreigners can't really skirt those rules, both because they aren't as easily tracked and because they stand out.
    - powerapple 6y ago
      As Chinese you don't need to register when you move. There is Hukou system which determine which city/province you belong to (mostly used for welfare system), the system basically require you to have a permit to stay and work in a different province. It was quite strict 30 years ago because of the imbalance between provinces, many migrate workers. Residence address is not important as in western countries (where your bank account links to your residence address). That said, hotels (and netcafes) do need to register customers' ID.
      - klik99 6y ago
        Hukou is what I was referring to. It's not just welfare, but distribution of state money (like USAs census) and in some places required to purchase property in that area. Most ignore the requirement (like they do many rules), so I understand why you say they "don't need to register", but technically it is required. This is where it gets fuzzy when you say something in China is "required" - technically it might be so but in practice it's not enforced, unless the government has a particular reason to enforce it, and even then it's usually temporary. It ends up being a weird situation where technically there's more restrictions in China but in practice there's a lot less red tape to deal with than living in the US. What that means in practice is if Beijing doesn't like you, they will find a laundry list of requirements you violated. Bringing it back to AirBnB IPO that concerns me.
ximeng 6y ago
They have a copy of the registrations for previous stays in a centralised computer system used at the border. They don’t necessarily flag up a lack of registration but they do keep the information and nothing to stop them raising it up as an issue in future. You also don’t need to be married to stay in a private home. Fine up to 2,000 RMB, more info: https://en.tripadvisor.com.hk/ShowTopic-g294211-i642-k12347811-Police_registration-China.html https://en.tripadvisor.com.hk/ShowTopic-g294211-i642-k123478...

klik99 6y ago

I was going to say that was strange as I've stayed in Nanjing and my wifes small town (of several million people) outside of Nanjing and didn't get denied, but then realized that you didn't have the marriage certificate with you. I do believe that's required everywhere. For native Chinese it's becoming easier to visit other places because the registration system is becoming more digital. That unfortunately has the side effect of making it increasingly more difficult for foreigners since the manual method is becoming less common and therefore more confusing for local police. It is interesting in the context of AirBnB - with the registration system they can't use the same "it's better to ask forgiveness than permission" approach they used in US. I have seen very successful foreign run businesses, for example a friend who imported steel in China, do really well for many years because the government wasn't interested in their industry, and then all of sudden find himself against several competitors and be completely out of business in the space of 6-12 months. I'm bullish on AirBnB but depending on success in China is a risky strategy.

mcntsh 6y ago
This is kind of off topic of AirBnB but can you share a little bit more about the registration system in China? By the way you describe it, it sounds like not only foreigners must register with the police when they visit other cities.
- klik99 6y ago
  No, only foreign nationals must register when visiting places. Chinese citizens only must register at the police station when moving - though as if often the case, many people ignore such rules. I just meant that the state is tracking where people visit thanks to digital means - facial recognition and cell records. But foreigners can't really skirt those rules, both because they aren't as easily tracked and because they stand out.
  - powerapple 6y ago
    As Chinese you don't need to register when you move. There is Hukou system which determine which city/province you belong to (mostly used for welfare system), the system basically require you to have a permit to stay and work in a different province. It was quite strict 30 years ago because of the imbalance between provinces, many migrate workers. Residence address is not important as in western countries (where your bank account links to your residence address). That said, hotels (and netcafes) do need to register customers' ID.
    - klik99 6y ago
      Hukou is what I was referring to. It's not just welfare, but distribution of state money (like USAs census) and in some places required to purchase property in that area. Most ignore the requirement (like they do many rules), so I understand why you say they "don't need to register", but technically it is required. This is where it gets fuzzy when you say something in China is "required" - technically it might be so but in practice it's not enforced, unless the government has a particular reason to enforce it, and even then it's usually temporary. It ends up being a weird situation where technically there's more restrictions in China but in practice there's a lot less red tape to deal with than living in the US. What that means in practice is if Beijing doesn't like you, they will find a laundry list of requirements you violated. Bringing it back to AirBnB IPO that concerns me.

ximeng 6y ago

They have a copy of the registrations for previous stays in a centralised computer system used at the border. They don’t necessarily flag up a lack of registration but they do keep the information and nothing to stop them raising it up as an issue in future. You also don’t need to be married to stay in a private home. Fine up to 2,000 RMB, more info: https://en.tripadvisor.com.hk/ShowTopic-g294211-i642-k12347811-Police_registration-China.html https://en.tripadvisor.com.hk/ShowTopic-g294211-i642-k123478...