Accomodation, foreigners not allowed.

[Silent]

Two days ago,when I arrived in Shanhaiguan my very basic knowledge of Chinese turned into frustration as I saw signs saying Bingguan everywhere but all refused me as foreigners were not allowed and had a hard time finding a hotel that did accept me and that one charged a relatively steep rate for a room.

Off course I had heard about this before. However as I had no trouble at all during my previous trip (2008,southern China) I never thought it would be a real issue. As I had been rarely refused even a small villages where no foreigners ever come and small locals hotels recommended by locals. Now I'm in Shenyang and again I was refused twice before I found one that accepted me.

Anyone know how this works? Is this a local/regional issue? Where could I get a somewhat comprehensive list of (cheap) hotels that accept foreigners? The old lonelyplanet I carry along is no real solution for accomodation. I noticed before that elong.com has only a limited list of accomodation available on their English site compared to the Chinese site. Could I expect that all Hotels on the English site accept foreigners? If so it might be worth to invest in a pre-paid data for my phone however I've seen only a Chinese app so far. Any opinions/suggestions? Planning ahead too much is no option for me:-)

[gougou]

I had very frustrating experiences with that in Shanhaiguan as well (though my problems mostly stemmed from the fact that I didn't bring my passport, which drastically limited the amount of hotels... I actually ended up having to take a night train back to Beijing).

Apparently the strictness of the PSB, which in the end is responsible for this, varies - I remember reading somewhere that Shenyang apparently was among the stricter cities. For Hengyang, the Lonely Planet (also an old one) said something similar, and there were a few others which I can't think of anymore.

[anonymoose]

I don't know anything about official regulations, but from my experience, it seems that rules about where foreigners can stay has tightened significantly over the last couple of years.

I've travelled fairly substantially over China, and in the past, was rarely refused a room. However, over the last couple of years, I have frequently been refused rooms, regardless of whreabouts in China.

If you look at the Chinese ctrip.com website, you will notice that the vast majority of hotels, at least in the under 300 yuan per night range, do not take foreigners. It says 内宾 next to most of them, and even many of the hotels that don't say that also refuse foreigners.

[WestTexas]

Basically it depends on a few things. The most important one is which city, and you are right, Shenyang is one of the worst. I have traveled to a dozen cities throughout China and it is the most inhospitable to foreigners. In other cities, the rule seems completely unenforced. I had no trouble staying in small hotels in Xining or Changchun. Beijing seems to accommodate foreigners almost everywhere, but the hotels aren't cheap in Beijing either.

The second consideration is the type of hotel. In general, really expensive hotels will take foreigners. Also, tiny hotels that are basically someone's apartment with extra walls stuck in, where there is no shower and you have to share a bathroom, tend to take foreigners. They take me at least. These can be hard to find if you are downtown, but in some areas (Changchun, Xining), the area around the train station has plenty. Some of these places are ok. They have clean bathrooms and are cheap (50 a night or less). In some, the rooms all smell like urine and are crawling with bugs. Look before you decide to stay.

I have also had a few hotels refuse me because they didn't know how to register foreigners in the computer system. It's not that hard if you can speak, read, and input Chinese. At one place, I was just like, "Okay, let me fill in the form." And I used the computer to do it. I've since stayed there several times.

In a tourist city, you can stay in hostels for 50 yuan a night or less, but that is for a dorm room bed.

If you really get desperate, just go to the train station and look for the people carrying signs and asking passers-by if they need a place to stay. Wherever they take you will accept foreigners, or at least, it will accept you.

[gougou]

You could also try some of the chain hotels, like Home Inn （如家）. They're not in the same price range as 招待所 kind of places, but they're cheap as far as hotels go, and unless the policy regarding them too, I guess you shouldn't have a problem staying in those, either.

[liuzhou]

15-20 years ago it was government policy to restrict which hotels could accept foreign guests. It was also government policy to charge foreigners at least double, but they wizened up and realised that such brazen racism was probably not a good idea for their tourist industry, which they desperately needed and still do.

So, about 10 or more years ago, all such restrictions were abolished, first in Beijing then nationwide. Of course, as in all other matters the "law" is not what the government passes but what the local authorities decide they want to be troubled by.

Many hotels don't know how to register foreign guests or just can't or don't want to deal with the perceived hassle. The hotel has to register guests with the local PSB (police). If the police are not cooperative, what can the hotel do? Nothing.

Much easier to tell you go elsewhere.

[Silent]

In 2008 the not knowing how to register was several times solved by calling the police. Less then half an hour after check in the respective manager with the police arrived at my room to fill out the form. But even now when I arrived in Beijing the registration was a challenge. The guy was 'caligraphing' western script comparing the results with my pasport every stroke and had to consult his kids on how to write 荷兰 :-)

My Chinese is too basic to take charge by taking over the computer, or even worse, handwriting some form in Chinese. Nevertheless, considering my Chinese skills is mostly passive reading, I'm surprised what I manage to do with it and how many people understand me.

With respect to registration, the hotel can also choose not to register. I don't know how well it is checked, but I suspect in 2008 several hotels did not register me. At least two explicitly refused my passport when I gave it for registration.

[anonymoose]

You could also try some of the chain hotels, like Home Inn （如家）

Maybe it varies from city to city, but I've found those chains to be amongst the worst.

[count_zero]

I've had problems before. It's quite frustrating when the staff tell you "You are a foreigner. You can't stay here" as if that's a totally acceptable situation. In these instances, I think they either didn't have a computer registration system that had an allowance for foreigners or didn't know how to use it. Another quite likely possibility is that they didn't want to admit that they weren't sure how to use it.

Here's a lengthy article on the subject with pictures and Chinese characters to help you help hotel staff to operate the system:

http://www.lostlaowai.com/blog/china-stuff/china-travel/foreigners-allowed-hotel-registration-tutorial/

[Steingletscher]

I've travelled fairly substantially over China, and in the past, was rarely refused a room. However, over the last couple of years, I have frequently been refused rooms, regardless of whreabouts in China.

Any ideas why? If places that were once able to accommodate foreigners and put them into their computer, why switch and lose out on a market?

[anonymoose]

I don't know why. They don't tend to enter into discussion about it. Or maybe I just don't press them enough. Anyway, the people at reception at the chains just do what they are told. They probably don't even know why themselves.

The dodgy privately run places are often more likely to take foreigners, but conditions can be quite dire.

[luozhen]

I often stayed at Home Inns and never had a problem. A new one opened near a university here in Beijing and a foreign student told me they don't allow foreigners. I looked at their website recently while planning a trip, and you can see 内宾 next to half or more of the places. It's not the firm though, it's the PSB. There's probably some hassle for hotels, but most would prefer to expand their client base.

[abcdefg]

Frequently a problem at Hanting and 7 Days Inn (both are chains.)

[frankwall]

Very frustrating and not really any reason given. I've also seen the same thing in certain parts of Russia and even in Holland, there were apartments for rent banning Chinese. Seems to be a worldwide phenomenon and quite sad. They are certainly preventing any form of tourism in Shanhaiguan.

[skylee]

I've also seen the same thing in certain parts of Russia and even in Holland, there were apartments for rent banning Chinese.

I don't really have any comments / input on the subject of this thread. I just want to add that I have recently visited Russia and the Netherlands and found them to be not so friendly to tourists.

[Silent]

I'm back home, so a little update.

Apart from Liaoning and Hebei provinces where I encountered this issue regularly I had no issue's. So to me it feels like a regional issue. Though I tend to move every couple of days the number of places I've been is limited so this is not reliable statistics. A fair number of the places I stayed did not register me with the PSB. Some didn't ask for my pasport or if presented had only a quick look

and gave it back. Also, several seemed at a complete loss on how to register a foreigner, made a copy of the passport to sort it out later. However I doubt how many of those me really registered.

[Eri_CH]

I'm wondering about to read all this hotel problems in China. Travelling in all other countries in the world, countries Lao, Cambodia, Vietnam we as foreigners can stay in every hotel. In China we were in Tibet, we paid for the worst hotels and guesthouses totally overprized rates booked through a travel agent, because foreigners cannot travel in Tibet individual. But all other provinces in China will have some quality standards and will not allow foreigners to stay in every hotel? We were treated very badly when asking wonderful hotels for available rooms - this is rassist and discriminating! We changed our plans when traveling all around China. Instead of spending money for hotels, we sleep in our car-hotel! This is the only thing we do now and will do in the future and recommend totally: Travel with a rental car (SUV), fold down back seats and place your sleepy bag in the back of the car. You can choose now every location in China, avoid the traffic jam in the cities and there is no reason to register! Because sleeping only one night at one location and driving every day to another place, 24 hours later we are already in another province! Once a week stay in a 5***** hotel (Hilton, Novotel, Crown Plaza, etc.) and all the other days sleep in the car. It's like camping - but go to nice restaurants. There is the possibility for a shower at service areas if needed. I'm wondering why not more people are traveling in China with Campers? Small campers like in Island will be a big business opportunity for traveling in China in the future. Or even in a small car it's possible to sleep, which you can rent for RMB 130 per day. Avoid hotels they don't want you!

[anonymoose]

I thought China didn't recognise driving licenses from other countries. Can you rent a car without a Chinese driving license?

[Geeths]

 I had not idea about the same. But, had heard that Foreigners can stay in any hotel in China; that's the law.

 

If you are trying to book yourself into a smaller hotel that doesn't see many foreigners, you will often encounter hotel staff that don't know how to register foreigners in their system. You will also often encounter local police who either don't know the law or think it's easier to keep an eye on foreigners if they are all staying in the same hotel.

[Silent]

 

Travelling in all other countries in the world, countries Lao, Cambodia, Vietnam we as foreigners can stay in every hotel.

This is not entirely true, there are more countries with all kind of restrictions. Apart from official restrictions, there is something individuals do. People with bad experiences with certain kind of people/nationalities may refuse them. Also language barriers may be reason to refuse people. Sometimes it's hard to figure out what really is going on, but in several countries I've been refused a room while I was pretty sure there was room. The opposite is true too, Ordinarily I would have been refused, but because I'm white/traveled by bicycle/for some reason they liked me/whatever they bend the rules or make every effort to accomodate me.