Brisbane to HK, then Shanghai to Brisbane - Visa?

[tooironic]

Hi. My friend and I have booked a flight from Brisbane to Hong Kong in mid-Feb 2011. We are both Aussies and are planning to spend a month touring South China, the goal being to end up at Shanghai by the end of it, and fly home from there (though we have yet to book that flight yet).

I'd like to ask: what kind of visa will we need to apply for? And what extra steps will be involved in going from HK to mainland China?

Cheers!

[roddy]

Should be no problem, apply for a tourist visa wherever is most convenient / cheapest. You'll not need a visa for HK, when you enter the mainland the clock on your tourist visa will start clicking.

[baixue_vasiliki]

If you plan to enter South East asia through HK, its better to get a double entry tourist visa because you might go overland to Vietnam or Laos through China (one entry) and then re-enter to go to Shanghai when you're done (second entry). If however you fly from HK to somewhere else and travel towards the north then one entry shoud be enough for you and it can be issued in any country along the way, at the appropriate chinese embassy! Tourist visa with maximum stay of 30 days should be more than enough for you!

Have fun!!

[tooironic]

What factors determine when is most convenient / cheapest?

And do you really mean that you need no visa at all to enter HK?

Sorry for the newbie questions, this is the first time I'm travelling these places on my own accord.

Thanks.

[roddy]

Eg, if you're just sitting in Australia now not going anywhere, you can just send your passports off for the visa and not be in any great rush to get them back. If you only have one day in Hong Kong you might need to pay for a rush service. But if you're currently in deepest Siberia and are constantly being asked for your papers, you might want to wait till you get to Hong Kong before giving your passport to anyone else. Charges will vary, in Hong Kong you can probably turn up at the actual visa office but have to queue for hours, I think in Australia you now need to do a postal application via an agency. Etc, etc.

Should be easy to double check online if Australians need a visa for HK, but generally speaking holders of passports from developed countries don't - a UK passport gets you a six month stay automatically, even if you say you are just staying for a week.

[rob07]

Are you actually staying a while in Hong Kong or just passing through? If you are staying in Hong Kong, you will need to clear Hong Kong customs when you leave the airport. I am Australian as well and I can confirm you don't need a Hong Kong visa for short term stays. You will then need to clear mainland customs when you take a train or bus or ferry out of Hong Kong to the mainland - it is here you will need your Chinese visa. The procedure is largely the same as what happens at the airport and everyone else on the bus or whatever will be going through customs at the same time so it is pretty difficult to get it wrong.

If you are just passing through you can take a ferry from Hong Kong airport directly to Shenzhen, and clear mainland customs at the Shenzhen ferry terminal. If you do this, you won't even need to enter Hong Kong/clear Hong Kong customs, let alone get a visa for Hong Kong. This will save you having to change money into HK dollars and internal flights from Shenzhen airport to other parts of China are generally much cheaper than from Hong Kong, if they are available from Hong Kong at all. If you are interested in doing this check out the Hong Kong Airport's website for the details.

[tooironic]

Thanks for all your replies.

@rob07 I'm not sure yet as we are still working out the best places to go in South China (though we will be definitely go to Yunnan province as we've heard it's fantastic). But yeah, we will probably spend a couple of days in HK for some fun, though not too long as it can get quite expensive by all accounts. If you have any suggestions for interesting places to check out please let me know. Cheers!

[jbradfor]

Personally, I think HK is one of the best cities in the world, and you'll be doing yourself a disservice not to go.

Start a new thread (if there isn't one already) on what to do in HK, and I'm sure you'll have tons of suggestions.

As to the cost, well, that depends on what you compare it to. Our recent trips have been to Europe, Japan, and Hong Kong; given the current USD-Euro exchange rate (we almost had to take out a second mortgage :o ), and Japan is always expensive, Hong Kong was a downright bargain....