Easiest 1 year visa to just be in China?

[yeehi]

All that would be required would be permission to stay in China a year, to just absorb the culture. How can one get such a visa?

Enrolling at a school? They would require money and you to be in a class.

[BrandeX]

Depends on the country you are from. I just met another American who was issued a 1 year tourist visa a couple months ago.

[lordnikon]

When you say they were issued a 1 year tourist visa do you mean a 1 year multiple entry visa with 30 day duration of stay or do you mean a tourist visa with a 1 year duration of stay, because the former is easy to get but you have to leave every 30 days, I have never heard of the later ever being issued except to those visiting relatives

[kenner116]

90 day tourist visas are available through mychinavisa.com, and they should be good for one year. That means trips to Hong Kong or Mongolia or wherever is most convenient every 90 days. A round trip (bus or train) from Beijing to the Mongolian border should be about 65 USD, and a round trip from Shanghai to Hong Kong (train or flying) costs about 110 USD.

Note: Mongolia only has visa-free entry for citizens of the USA, Cuba, Malaysia, Israel, Philippines, Hong Kong and Singapore.

[BrandeX]

His duration of each stay was 90 days.

[NERICK]

I have applied for an L visa. I applied for a Double-entry.

I received the L visa good for one year for 90 days each trip, which I thought it was just for double entry.

How do I know if it is a double entry. In the ENTRIES has an M.

Does this M mean Multiple-entry? If so, why were they so generous!

[BrandeX]

Yes, Multiple. You can come and go across the border whenever you want. This seems to be the norm for L visa's issued to US citizens from inside their home country.

[LurvJenny]

When applying for my Visa, I found that you don't even need to have proof of your ticket (my trip is for Xi'An), they just asked for a rough time period of when I'd be going there.

[MissRin]

Yes, they do seem quite lax. I thought I'd have to provide flight details, but i didn't. I got a 90 day F business as I am changing to a Z work after I arrive, I will travel to HK to do this.

[LurvJenny]

90 days? awesome! I got a 60 day one but was only there for 6 weeks. All the best with work

[wedge]

I'm a US citizen in Hong Kong and recently applied for a visa to study in Beijing. My school doesn't offer the forms needed for the X-visa so I applied for a 1-year validity, 90-day duration, multiple entry F-visa. I already had an old double entry China visa in my passport. I was given a 6-month validity, 30-day duration, multiple entry L-visa.

[MissRin]

Yea, you generally get what you ask for I find, if your a 'westerner' who is not too well known to the visa offices in China!

[BrandeX]

I'm a US citizen in Hong Kong and... I was given a 6-month validity, 30-day duration, multiple entry L-visa.

Because you were in Hong Kong, not America.