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There's not a lot of info about the Shenzhen SEZ Visa on arrival, but I can say that if you use the Luohu/Lo Wu port, aim to get there as they open because they

There's not a lot of info about the Shenzhen SEZ Visa on arrival, but I can say that if you use the Luohu/Lo Wu port, aim to get there as they open because they don't get through many before they stop for lunch.

juujian 3y ago
I got over half a dozen of those. Never remember there being much traffic anyways at the office where they issue those. Time period is ~2016--2019.
- jonatron 3y ago
  My single data point is October 2023. I don't know if they're slower than they used to be.
autocanopener 3y ago
[flagged]
- Grimburger 3y ago
  That article is paywalled, looking at the numbers I got this: > the first half of 2023 witnessed a total of 168 million inbound and outbound individuals passing through China’s immigration https://www.china-briefing.com/news/chinas-tourism-in-2023-outlook-trends-and-opportunities/ https://www.china-briefing.com/news/chinas-tourism-in-2023-o... Seems fairly decent.
  - autocanopener 3y ago
    That number is counted whenever citizens travel to/from Hong Kong and Macau. There are people making day trips to/from Hong Kong every day.
    - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
      I still don’t understand why HK is still considered a foreign destination in China.
      - zhivota 3y ago
        Why would an authoritarian government give up a preassembled internal border checkpoint? Makes sense for them to keep it.
        seanmcdirmid 3y ago
        Maybe they do it so they can count all tourism between the SAR as international tourism. Results in lots of gained face.
      - nerdbert 3y ago
        People from many countries can enter Hong Kong without a visa. It draws tourists and helps with many export businesses. For this reason people in Hong Kong have not passed the stricter scrutiny applied to people who visit the mainland, so they have to be re-checked at the border.
      - zztop44 3y ago
        It (still) has different laws, different visa rules and a different passport.
  - mbajkowski 3y ago
    Don't have any numbers myself, but per persons who recently attended KubeCon China earlier this year they have not seen Shanghai this empty of tourists in years. Also, supported by a friend of mine who was head of accounting for a cosumer goods firm over there until recently.
    - nojs 3y ago
      Yeah, I was in Shanghai recently and it felt like there were an order of magnitude less tourists than a few years ago.
woutr_be 3y ago
I’ve gotten that visa countless times at the Lok Ma Chau border crossing, never had to wait more than 15-30 minutes really. There’s now also 15-day visa free travel if you’re one of 6 countries: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-67516777 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-67516777
dewey 3y ago
If you are coming from HK then Shekou port on arrival visa is also fast and painless (If you don’t show up in the lunch break like I did).

juujian 3y ago

I got over half a dozen of those. Never remember there being much traffic anyways at the office where they issue those. Time period is ~2016--2019.

jonatron 3y ago
My single data point is October 2023. I don't know if they're slower than they used to be.

autocanopener 3y ago

[flagged]

Grimburger 3y ago
That article is paywalled, looking at the numbers I got this: > the first half of 2023 witnessed a total of 168 million inbound and outbound individuals passing through China’s immigration https://www.china-briefing.com/news/chinas-tourism-in-2023-outlook-trends-and-opportunities/ https://www.china-briefing.com/news/chinas-tourism-in-2023-o... Seems fairly decent.
- autocanopener 3y ago
  That number is counted whenever citizens travel to/from Hong Kong and Macau. There are people making day trips to/from Hong Kong every day.
  - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
    I still don’t understand why HK is still considered a foreign destination in China.
    - zhivota 3y ago
      Why would an authoritarian government give up a preassembled internal border checkpoint? Makes sense for them to keep it.
      - seanmcdirmid 3y ago
        Maybe they do it so they can count all tourism between the SAR as international tourism. Results in lots of gained face.
    - nerdbert 3y ago
      People from many countries can enter Hong Kong without a visa. It draws tourists and helps with many export businesses. For this reason people in Hong Kong have not passed the stricter scrutiny applied to people who visit the mainland, so they have to be re-checked at the border.
    - zztop44 3y ago
      It (still) has different laws, different visa rules and a different passport.
- mbajkowski 3y ago
  Don't have any numbers myself, but per persons who recently attended KubeCon China earlier this year they have not seen Shanghai this empty of tourists in years. Also, supported by a friend of mine who was head of accounting for a cosumer goods firm over there until recently.
  - nojs 3y ago
    Yeah, I was in Shanghai recently and it felt like there were an order of magnitude less tourists than a few years ago.

woutr_be 3y ago

I’ve gotten that visa countless times at the Lok Ma Chau border crossing, never had to wait more than 15-30 minutes really. There’s now also 15-day visa free travel if you’re one of 6 countries: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-67516777 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-67516777

dewey 3y ago

If you are coming from HK then Shekou port on arrival visa is also fast and painless (If you don’t show up in the lunch break like I did).