Already have residence permit - still need hotel registration if in different city?

[joshuawbb]

Hi everyone, I know I've done this before so sorry for suddenly jumping in with a topic. I've a fairly urgent question to ask.

My girlfriend and I are going to Sanya, Hainan on the 20th to the 26th. I'm a student in Xiamen, on a student residence permit. Something that has been bugging me is - if I am going to stay in Hainan at a hotel, am I required to go through PSB registration at that hotel (the automatic computer registration, etc), even though I already have a residence permit and live in a rented apartment in Xiamen?

I know most hotels will do this regardless, but I'm asking because the hotel we're planning to stay at is suddenly insisting that they either don't know how to do it, or don't have the 'technology'. I find this strange, but understandable if a hotel doesn't often deal with foreigners. Choosing a different hotel is a possibility but we'd rather stay at this lovely place.

Am I required to make the hotel register me, or since I have a residence permit, can I just stay anywhere without restriction?

Many thanks!

[889]

Generally, staying where you want these days is not a big problem; the days of 涉外宾馆 shewai binguan seem to be ending.

But not on otherwise wide-open Hainan Island, perhaps. I tried to stay in a large, perfectly fine place in Haikou not too long ago only to be refused at the front desk because they hadn't gone through the 涉外 shewai formalities, and thus their online registraton form with the PSB was locked and could only accept Chinese ID numbers, not foreign passport numbers.

Well, that's what they told me.

(And to answer your main question, yes, so far as I know all foreigners have to register at a hotel/PSB as they travel about China no matter their status.)

[joshuawbb]

Thanks for your reply and help - I too thought nowadays hotels which were unable to accomodate foreigners were few and far between; if they existed, I thought they would be the smallest or least well-known. The hotel haven't made it fully clear whether or not it's their technology, they seem to be persuading us just to register my girlfriend there (she is Chinese), and suggest that the procedure for registering me would be mafan to them.

It does sound a bit unusual to me. I'm not sure whether or not it's best to try another hotel - if this hotel is giving grief, I can imagine it might be a bit difficult to get things done when we arrive. Or not, I'm not sure really.

Thanks for the confirmation, the question had me wondering for a while; typical of me to wait until the last minute to ask about it ;)

[roddy]

Not being registered for a few days is no major issue - if the hotel is happy to register your girlfriend and not you, and you really want to stay there, I'd go ahead and do it. Hell, if it worries you just check in to the cheapest hotel you can find and don't sleep there - go join your girlfriend in the nice place.

Some years ago I think they removed the restrictions on which hotels can take foreigners. However, that doesn't mean it's automatic, and there may be formalities and hassle for the hotels to go through - so they might not bother. Plus blah blah blah local differences blah blah blah.

[889]

The restrictions have been removed in Beijing and many other areas, but not everywhere.

[yonglin]

I travelled quite a bit with a friend (both on foreign passports) a few years ago, and it was actually extremely rare that a hotel would require both of our passports. I had no idea they were even supposed to register both. So, from my experience, I would say that registering only one traveller sharing a room is actually very common.

[dumdumdum]

if TS girlfriend is a local then 'usually' register with her documents would solve most problem. unless the hotel wanted both to register, no exception. in this case a simple trick would do. you just stay around the lobby and let your girlfriend do the registration as single person. the rest you should know...

the initial reason for registering both was to prevent prostitution (yeah right). in earlier days a male and a female staying together in a hotel had to produce marriage cert too. and what if they dont? the hotel staff will tip off local police for a reward. the police on the other hand will barge into the room in the middle of the night, and take the poor couple to the station. get them ready to pay a sizable fine. of cos, obvious westerners and VIPs (mayors, officials) will not be harassed. but sometimes asians and overseas chinese do get the unlucky knock at the door.

[xiaoxiaocao]

Here in Shijiazhuang the restrictions are still in full effect. Even the nationwide chain hotels (home inn etc)won't accept foreigners and the staff will ''helpfully'' recommend the flashy 4 or 5 star hotel down the road that costs 400-500 kuai/night.

My father was visiting a couple of months back and we wanted to find a mid priced room (around 200/night), went to around ten hotels but none of them would accept us. I ended up losing my cool and trying out some Chinese swear words on the hotel staff. Dear old dad ended up back at my apartment for another couple of nights.

I'm guessing most of the '2nd tier' cities in China would have a similar situation.

[roddy]

Beidaihe over Duanwujie was a bit similar. One place just said 'no foreigners', another said 'no foreigners' and then 'are you Russian' as if Russians aren't foreigners, and another had no problem. Some hotels there still have great big 涉外 signs up (plus what I assume is the Russian translation, although no English - it's a popular spot for Russian tourists, not so much the English-speakers).

Even in Beijing you might get turned away either as they haven't gone through whatever necessary procedures, or they just suspect foreign guests will be some form of trouble.

[abcdefg]

I've run into this more than a few times. Shouldn't be a problem to just let your girlfriend do the registration when you arrive. You just hang back in the lobby and let her handle things. If they give her grief, go to another hotel. Make a "back up plan" now of what that second-choice lodging would be so you don't have to get all bothered if it comes down to that.

Glad you will now have a little rest after your busy school semester. Hope Sanya is lots of fun.

[889]

With paper registration, it was pretty easy for hotels to ignore the no-foreigner restrictions. But it's not so easy to ignore them with online registration that automatically rejects passport numbers. So finding a place to stay may in fact become more difficult in future years unless the shewai restrictions are more widely relaxed.

Here's a story on the elimination of the shewai restrictions in Beijing which points out how its timing was related to updating the PSB's computer registration system.

http://topic.xywy.com/wenzhang/20060614/423556.html

[roddy]

Something that has been bugging me is - if I am going to stay in Hainan at a hotel, am I required to go through PSB registration at that hotel (the automatic computer registration, etc), even though I already have a residence permit and live in a rented apartment in Xiamen?

And also, although I think this has been answered above - yes. The registration with the local police is basically telling them where you are sleeping any given night. I suspect you may be getting your permits and registrations mixed up - I wrote this up way back in the dawn of time, shouldn't be too out of date . . .

And from the linked article:

所有有能力的饭店都可以接待境外人士居住...外国人来京除了可以任意选择宾馆饭店外...

So although we're meant to be able to choose at will, it still depends on the '能力' of the hotel.

[889]

I take that 能力 to refer to computerisation. To quote the article at more length:

"以前，境外人士来京都要去住公安部门指定的饭店。为适应加入WTO和与国际接轨，今年这个规定将被废止。有关部门正在对北京的宾馆、饭店进行计算机联网，计算机网络可提供所有房客包括境外人士在宾馆住宿的情况。张家旺说，网络系统建成之时，就是涉外饭店取消之日."

[dumdumdum]

it's more than that... security reasons too. not all hotels are in the safer or 'desirable' area of the town, just like for trains they try to pack foreigners in one or two cabins, easy to handle. but of cos you wont hear chinese media saying any part of their towns/cities is not safe. in official terms mafias and prostitution never existed.

[roddy]

, just like for trains they try to pack foreigners in one or two cabins, easy to handle.

Except they don't. When were you last on a Chinese train?

[joshuawbb]

Thanks everyone for all your replies and help. I'm really amazed at what I'm reading here - in my year in China so far, I actually didn't realise there was still an old no-foreigners (until hotel is PSB-approved) policy still in effect in many places. In my previous research before I came to China, I had just read that "most" hotels or hostels will automatically process your PSB registration, and that has always been my experience so far. Thanks for all your new insights.

When I first arrived here in Xiamen (end of June 09) and got let out of quarantine, things were rushed. I had to find an apartment quickly, get my university registration finished before the summer term ended, and on top of that my girlfriend was going to graduate in Fuzhou in a few days time, so we needed to get things done before then (my girlfriend was an amazing help to me). On the first day in Xiamen we stayed in a budget hotel for two nights - my girlfriend had already rented it so I didn't register, and simply stayed in the room. I was concerned about the 24-hour PSB police rule, and after some confusion we decided to simply get the apartment as soon as possible.

I don't remember exactly what happened too well; my memory is hazy. I remember on the 3rd day or so, we changed hotels to a Home Inn. This was painless - they processed my passport and PSB registration right there in 30 seconds. I was registered and fine. After doing so, I believe we got my apartment sorted and then did the full police station registration. After that, we quickly went to Fuzhou together for her graduation. We stayed in a non-chain, 3 star hotel (about 180 per night) and again, the registration was painless. They were as open as Home Inn, and simply put my passport through. We stayed there for two nights before returning to Xiamen, for me to finalise my university registration, get the residence permit, etc.

As mentioned above, I had no problems and am glad to finally realise that there really are some restrictions still in place. I had assumed for every hotel it was a simple database-filling affair and you're done. The only times I have not been registered in a hotel were once on a short holiday on Gulangyu Island - for 3 days, and Gulangyu is in Xiamen anyway, so I thought, why bother? The other time was when I visited my girlfriend in Shenzhen for a month - she was working there previously - and we checked in to a hotel for one month, living there in a similar way to living in a small serviced apartment. This was registered in my girlfriend's name. Now for this, back in Xiamen we both waltzed into the PSB office and asked them if this was legal. They told me straight that no police registration was required if I stayed in Shenzhen for a month, because I already had my residence permit (the passport permit, not the paper sheet). I'm still not certain if in actuality this was legal or not.

Yes, sorry about that - to clear things up, I have both my passport residence permit, and also the paper residence permit which is obtained after registering at the police station. Both correspond to my apartment address in Xiamen. My question above was since I already have the full passport permit (and the paper PSB permit), would I need to register again at a hotel? I infer from all the post that the answer is yes

Thanks again!

[889]

". . . just like for trains they try to pack foreigners in one or two cabins, easy to handle."

That's simply not true.

[roddy]

If anything I suspect they spread us out equally throughout the carriages so nobody feels left out.

If you do end up bunched in with other foreigners, it's because the agent(s) you used all use the same guy to get the tickets, and they came in a block.

[mr.stinky]

"My question above was since I already have the full passport permit (and the paper PSB permit), would I need to register again at a hotel? I infer from all the post that the answer is yes "

what is the actual law concerning registering when staying with a friend?

hotel registration is a different animal, as is true in many countries.

i assume (could be wrong) that chinese must register at hotels, but not

when staying at a private residence. if true, could the same be applied

to foreigners with residency permit, and a different rule for tourists?

assuming you have the above - residency permit in your passport and

the paper registration from your local police.

[roddy]

If you're a foreigner you need to tell the local police station within 24 hours of arriving, end of story. 借住 is certainly included - I think caravans and camping are also covered, and sometimes the attendants on overnight trains will have you fill in a form (ok, only happened once).

You could argue that things get a bit fuzzy if you arrive at 8pm and leave at 8am (or arrive at 2.30am and sneak out at dawn after leaving your phone number on the bedside table) as you haven't been there for 24 hours. I suspect the police interpretation might be that you should go along in the morning and tell them you were there, although they might not thank you for the pointless paperwork.