Transit in China?

[Alex G]

I’m looking at travelling to Japan via China.

I would be using a 241 Voucher to get to China on BA, and then a redemption on to Japan on JAL.

Q1) I’m assuming that would mean separate tickets / itineraries?

Q2) Do separate tickets meet the criteria for the 72/144 hour transit visa?

Transiting in Shanghai looks straightforward, but I would like to transit in Beijing.

Q3) BA fly into PKX – Daxing. JAL fly out of PEK – Capital. Is this permitted on the Transit Visa?

Advice appreciated from anyone who has attempted this.

Any links to authoritative websites greatly appreciated!

Thanks in anticipation.

[John]

It’s called a transit *without* visa – assuming you are all British citizens or other qualifying nationalities.

Separate tickets are fine. You should have a hotel booking and printed copies of all tickets + hotel.

Different airports are fine, but most likely you will not be allowed to leave Beijing+Hebei. So no going to Shanghai etc.

The main issue may be getting BA agents to agree that you qualify for TWOV. It should be ok by now, but if there are problems BA is supposed to be able to contact China immigration to get an ok to let you board. This may take hours.

[Alex G]

Thanks John.

I don’t think I could stand the stress.

I’ll either go via Shanghai or forget China altogether and start in Manchester. Although that might be just as stressful!

[masaccio]

I’d stay a few days in China before flying on.

Shanghai is all bright lights and swanky hotels and that, and the view from the Bund is spectacular. But if you want to see some of old China, the old part of Shanghai feels over-renovated and there’s not much of it. There’s a lot more to see in Beijing (easily enough for a whole week).

I don’t think there’s much of a contest between Beijing and Shanghai as tourist destinations.

[JDB]

@Alex G – all of the above comments are very valid. If anyone is looking for info re TWOV/TV, you only want to rely upon information from official sources like the Chinese visa centres. The rules are applied to the letter; there is no benefit of the doubt/leeway. That’s quite easy but, as above, you also have to persuade BA that you are OK to travel and Shanghai/Beijing with change of airports makes no difference in this respect. BA is scared of the penalties for disembarking ineligible passengers.

@masaccio you are so right about Beijing vs Shanghai. The latter is a truly amazing place but it is cheap eye candy and most old Chineseness has been bulldozed. It is also a very expensive city. We end up spending quite a bit of time there as my wife has a very good dressmaker, but we do a few day trips from there as well! We did make a lot of new discoveries last month, partly with the help of a guide (and reading books) around Hongkou and the French Concession areas.

Beijing could almost have gone the same way but public opinion, which counts for a lot a a very local level, prevented it and huge efforts are now going into restoration of the old and improvements to the old areas. As well as being one of the great cities of the world to visit, it is also one of the cheapest.

[Alex G]

Thanks everyone.

I’ve abandoned the idea of China and found a routing out to Tokyo via Singapore where we will stay 4 nights, and home from Tokyo on Finnair via Helsinki.

Just waiting for BA to get back to me with the fees and taxes.