North-East Asia branch Frequently Asked Questions thread

This branch covers China (inc. Hong Kong and *Macau*), Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan and Tibet. Other information about the region can be found under Lonely Planet Destinations.
Inside this thread we hope you'll find the answers to all your questions, if not, feel free to share anything you feel is missing!

SEEKING TRAVEL COMPANIONS OR TREK PARTNERS? Please post only on our Travel Companions branch, not here on the destination branches. Any such topics posted on this branch will normally be moved by the moderators to the Travel Companions branch without notice. If you also have a travel question then please post it as a separate topic on the appropriate travel branch.

*Choosing a... more »

Chinese Visa Sticky

Until recently, it was relatively easy to get a Chinese visa. The situation has changed beginning about mid March and it is expected to remain unstable until well after the Olympics.
It is now impossible to get a 6 or 12 month multiple entry business visa.
It is now impossible to get entries longer than 30 days.
In many embassies and consulates it would appear impossible to get a double entry tourist visa.
It has been reported that beginning July, it may be difficult to impossible to get extensions.

From Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, April 6:
"Beijing has stopped issuing multiple-entry visas, risking major inconvenience to foreigners who travel to the mainland regularly, especially on business. Hong Kong travel agents say the ban will stay in place until after the Olympic Games.
+Travellers are now restricted to single- or double-entry visas valid for 30 days. ... more »

Hotel Suggestions for a week in October

Looking for a clean and safe place in an energetic part of the city for October. I will stay a few days then travel a bit and then a few days at the end. This is my preliminary search so please be patient.

Tattooed Caucasian woman in onsen? Plus Hakone advice please.

Hi guys! I've been reading the tattoo posts and wanted to follow up with my own specific questions.

I'm travelling to Japan alone in mid-November for my 4th time and thinking about finally going to Hakone. What the heck - looks beautiful (is it?) and I've yet to visit an onsen. In past trips I have been to Tokyo, Nikko, Kamakura, Kyoto, Nara, Takayama, and Shirakawa-go.

A few questions:

1) I am a very friendly, modest, extremely un-intimidating-looking 40+ year old woman with 2 full sleeve tattoos (that's 2 full arms of flowers and Buddha, plus a full calf of flowers and trees). I'd like to visit an onsen and could not in a bazillion years be mistaken for yakuza or even a "cheap" woman. The argument that tattoos in Japan are still strongly or exclusively associated with yakuza seems so outdated given the huge popularity of tattoos with Japanese youth; I know of no other count... more »

Hiking in Japan for 4 days, need advice

Hi there,

A friend and I are going to be in Japan for 16 days in August and want to do a 4- ish day hiking trip. We were hoping for something slightly remote/not busy with people. I currently have the lonely planet hiking guide to Japan but can't find something like this.

At the moment we start our trip in Tokyo, work our way to Kyoto then Hiroshima and end in Osaka (Yes I know this is right by Kyoto but our flight goes from there).

We looked at possibly doing part of the 88-Temple pilgrimage in Shikoku or the Japan Alps, however both these options seem very busy with people. We would prefer the Shikoku or the area around Hiroshima/Kyoto/Osaka but are open to the Alps as well. We are considering Kumano-Kodo pilgrimage but not sure this wont be packed either...

Both of us are relatively experienced hikers, looking for an adventure and to experience a bit of rural Japan (T... more »

Hirayu Onsen Area

We are planning a three day hike in Kamikochi, with a return travel to Matsumoto at the end of the hike. If we finish early enough, we were thinking to go to HIrayu Onsen for a detour stop back to Matsumoto. As it is not on the way, looking for recommendations if the public spas are worth it? I looked for a place to stay, but everywhere was sky high, so any budget accommodations would be appreciated too.
Cheers!

Visa for China - Air ticket 'problem'.

I'm hoping to spend some time in China. In fact, I did last year. I got a 1 month tourist Visa from the UK. The Chines consulate require you to have a return flight booked which was a problem because I wanted to possibly stay longer than 1 month. I had arranged with a school to study with them (not a language school) and that once out there they would get my Visa changed which they did and I stayed there for almost 5 months in total. So, I purchased a ticket with a set return date but one which was possible to change the return date. The ticket was more expensive and I had to pay an additional £100 admin cost to change the date. It was also very difficult to get through to the ticketing office and the waiting cost quite a bit too. What I would like to know is.....how could I get around this? I would like to go for a month again and might stay longer but the problem is with th... more »

money

What is the best thing to do concerning costs and exchange rate?

• Do we take cash euro’s with us and change them in Japan?
• Do we purchase Japanese yen in Belgium?
• Do we withdraw cash with visa at domestic ATMs?

Travel pictures

Hi Ladies and Gentleman,

I'm japanese and currently i'm living my life in South east asia.
I'm doing frequent travelling across the region right now,
and i hope my pictures can inspire people out there to travel and see the world!
if anyone is interested,
please do visit my instagram : Hawkerbernadette

I just started out using instagram,i'll post more world travel pictures in the near future!
Dont let the travel bug bites!

South Korea in Winter

Hey everyone,

Just wondering if anyone can recommend some really interesting things to do/places to see in South Korea during Winter?
My friend, sister and I will be there from the 1st-15th of January next year and while half of my friends have told me they still had an awesome time in Winter there, the other half have said I will get bored easily and it's hard to find things to do.

Is the winter in South Korea really this limiting?
We were hoping to go to the snow as well so if anyone could suggest some good places that would also be super helpful.

We are already meant to be in Seoul, Jeonju and Busan as we have friends there but they won't be able to entertain us constantly!

Thanks for your help!