Can I enter China before my university course begins?

[hutudekongfuzi]

I have not yet applied for a visa, but my course starts on 20th of Feb 2013 and runs until 15th July 2013. I will be applying for a six month F visa once I receive the admission notice.

Can I book my plane tickets to arrive in China on/around 28th Jan? I would like to find housing and get setup before the course begins, and before spring festival.

[fanglu]

You can enter any time you like, but your six months will start running from when you enter, so don't go too early.

[Angelina]

Six months start running the day the visa is issued. You can book the ticket for January 28 now and go to the embassy a little bit later, around the middle of January. You can call them to make sure the embassy will be working.

[fanglu]

Six months start running the day the visa is issued

This is a bit misleading. Your visa will have validity period, as well as a stay period. The six months you are talking about is the stay period. It runs from when you enter China. The validity period runs from when the visa is issued, and you must enter China before it expires. I don't know what your validity period is, but for single entry visas issued in Australia the validity period is usually three months.

[hutudekongfuzi]

That clears it up nicely for me, thank you.