Pay to Stay

When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money. -Susan Heller

It was unfortunate that I didn’t realize my visa needed an extension until after I was settled in Beijing. My situation is as follows: I went back to China during the previous summer and had gotten a visa with a duration of one year. This means I can enter China anytime before June 4^th, which is exactly one year from when I entered the country last summer. What I didn’t know is that I am only allowed to stay for 60 days after the date of entrance. It was a good thing that the ACC office asked for my visa information, or else, I would have never actually looked at the burdensome document. Now, considering my arrival date of May 15^th and my departure date of August 7^th, it didn’t take a lot of math for me to grasp the fact that I was going to get seriously fined and/or kicked out of the country if I didn’t get that extension for my visa. Luckily, I had plenty of time to do so before the beginning of my summer program.

To extend my visa, I had to go to the Exit & Entry Administration Service Center, Public Security Bureau of Beijing. Unfortunately for me, I had to travel across the vast reaches of Beijing to get there. On that day, I left home at 9:00 AM and returned at around 2:00 PM. This includes bus and subway times. Taking public buses during times when people are heading to work in the morning is unwise. The traffic is horrendous to say the least. Once I arrived at the place, it became evident that there were many others like me, seeking to get visa extensions. I waited in line for about an hour before getting to a visa officer. The process was pretty straightforward. I presented my documents and it took about 30 seconds for the person to review them and then approve my application. So yes, it took about 5 hours of time to be eligible for a minute’s worth of official review. And apparently, it takes them a week’s time to put the little visa sticker into a passport. So one week later, I made the same trip out there and picked up my passport. It cost about 940 RMB for the visa extension. That’s enough money for a month’s worth of delicious eatables on a conservative budget, aka mine. I was pretty disappointed to be separated with the cash.

Otherwise known as "the visa place"

I originally thought that this was "the visa place"

Yep, the flag makes it official

10:30 AM is a busy time here

After 40 minutes waiting, I'm almost there! It's surprising how exciting trivial things can be when you've been standing in the same posture for prolonged periods of time.

And now, here are some obvious observations about what kind of clothing to bring to Beijing during summer. As you may have guessed, t-shirts and shorts are ideal. I left my common sense somewhere else when I decided to bring long-sleeve shirts and a jacket. What a waste of luggage space! Some other remarks. Apparently, Chinese people don’t like using dryers after washing their clothes, as such technology is largely nonexistent. Instead, the clothes must be hung up to dry. Talk about a waste of space and extra hassle. It’s not pleasant when doing laundry becomes a two-day effort. Also, powder detergent seems to be pretty popular. Its use is exactly the same as liquid detergent, which also readily available. I don’t really understand why people use powder detergent since, to me, liquid detergent is so much easier to pour homogeneously.