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 »

Migrating to a new server

Hi all,

The whole of lonelyplanet.com, including Thorn Tree, is changing hosting providers in the following days. While this change takes place, Thorn Tree and the Lonely Planet website will be unavailable for a short period of time. We will communicate the exact time nearer the date. This migration will hopefully be a matter of hours but we have a lot of Thorntree content to move! We will do everything we can to cause minimal disruption to users. You will be able to chart the progress of the work while the site is down through our Twitter account.

Thanks,

Zabba

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 »

Conditions on Mount Fuji

Anyone know the state of the snow pack this year on Mount Fuji? I'm planning to climb it pre-season on June 15th and was curious if there is likely to be too much snow to reach the summit.

Also, is one route better than another in early season? Does the snow melt more quickly on one route than another?

4 Week Trip to Japan - Money Concern

Hey Lonely Planet,

This is my first trip to Japan and Im going for 4 weeks this August. I have more than enough money, im just wondering how much liquid cash I should bring with me. I've already converted $3,100 CAD into Yen, but I do not know if its enough...Ive already payed for my flights and Hotels no problem. Its just spending money im concerned with. Im going to use the shinkansen for fast transportation between cities. I know tickets are expensive, but Ill be using my international debit or Credit card for that.

My itinerary is as follows

Week 1: Tokyo. Aug 1-8

• Visiting landmarks such as Shibuya Crossing, the Hachiko Statue, Yoyogi park, Temples around Ueno, Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Sky Tree etc.
• One very nice dining experience.
• shopping for small souvenirs
• Lots of subway use
• Restaurants...but mostly a lot of the mom and pop shops, cafes, street food.

Chinese visa

Hey folks.

My friend and I are travelling around Asia this summer, and we're looking into the best way to get from Vietnam to Hong Kong. Flight prices from Ho Chi Minh (in Vietnam) are working out at around £150 (and more from Ha Noi), so I looked into travelling overland. It seems it's doable, but takes around 3 days, and takes you right into China and you go to Hong Kong from there. So, I was wondering if, since we're only gonna be passing through China, we could perhaps get a different visa to the normal (expensive) tourist visa?

Thanks for any help you can give.

Mark.

Shanghai accomodation with good atmosphere

Hello,

We are looking for a verry nice hotel/ B&B/ hostel in Shanghai.
What we are after is:

• a good atmosphere
• rooftopbar
• rooftop swimming pool
• in or near the centre (the bund)
• welness/spa

Guangzhou - Beijing transit visa

Hi all,

I have a flight booked from Sydney to Istanbul, via Guangzhou and Beijing (PEK)
I have looked at the chinese embassy page and have seen that if I have a connecting flight and don't leave the airport then I dont need a transit visa, however I am concerned about the Guangzhou-Beijing as it will be a domestic flight which would require me to leave the international section of the airport.

I have emailed the embassy and always the airways ( china southern) but was wondering if anyone has experienced anything similair to this and could help me out?

Cheers

'only in china' memorable experiences : any recommandations?

Hello,
I'm planning to travel this summer through China. I don't travel with a settled plan and do not feel compelled either to visit the main touristic sights but look for an interesting experience. So far, I've planned to have a camel riding trek in the taklimakan desert and a horse trek (maybe in Sichuan).
I'm also looking for: a place where I could possibly share the lives of the locals, a monastery where I could stay overnight or have a retreat for a couple of days, places which are stuck in time (either with colonial or traditional chinese atmosphere/architecture) and any other great experience I could have in china that I may have not even heard about.

I may have to add that I will enter china by bus from Kazakhstan so I will start with the Western part of china and then follow my whims. All kind of recommendations on these would be much appreciated, thanks. more »

Yangtze River for 3 days?

Hi,

we are looking to travel from Beijing to Chengdu in order to spend 2 or 3 days around the Yangtze river. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to see the most beautiful areas of it, without doing a long cruise?

Thanks!