1

For your visa look at the Chinese embassy website in the US.
You can spend about 5 days in Beijing and 2 in Shanghai. So you need to add more places. Look into Yangshuo. A good place for people your age.
for internal travel in China check ctrip.com for flights (but do not book early) and http://www.seat61.com/China.htm for trains.
For international flight check on kayak.

2

For specific info on Thailand, you'd best post the questions on the Southeast Asia branch.

US citizens do not need visas to get into Hong Kong (or Macau), nor into Thailand.

For flights from HK to Thailand, you have the option of first going to Bangkok, or alternatively flying HK direct to Phuket (or Samui, if you want to go to that side of Thailand.) Check out Zuji for tickets on full-service airlines: www.zuji.com.hk . And check out Air Asia's own website, as they are the dominant budget carrier on the HK-Thailand routes: www.airasia.com

3

For US passport holders you are best off getting a one year multiple entry Chinese visa. Best way to get this is to use a visa service such as mychinavisa.com. While it will cost you more, you can be sure of getting what you want (one year multiple entry with 90 days stays) and you won't need to show flights, hotel accommodations, etc.

Ruth

4

@everbrite. Maybe your information is not up to date but an itinerary IS required.

5

#3, also wondering if you're working with last year's info... what I was told by several companies is:

1) Multiple-entries are now out of the question for first-time foreigners; the only thing you can get is a 2-entry.
2) You will definitely need to show both flight in and out of the country as well as hotel accommodations. Whether that means some fake booking on Booking.com is up for debate, and the frustrating nature of the requirement for spontaneous people is pretty unpleasant.

Would love to hear from anyone who has had a different experience in the last 30-60 days.

6

#5 The situation is different for different nationalities. Because of a US-China bilateral visa agreement, the multiple entry visa has been available more easily to US citizens applying in the USA than to some other nationalities. (Not sure what yours is.) That's what Ruth (#3) was describing.

You can't ask for opinions/anecdotes from "anyone who has had a different experience" without also asking what their nationality is. Otherwise the question produces no useful information.

Also, with regard to what documents need to be shown (e.g. reservations for flights and accommodations), the requirements vary depending on where one is applying and whether one is applying through an agency or not. Some agencies have a demonstrated ability to.....um....short-cut some of the PRC's otherwise "ironclad" requirements.

7

#6... huh? We've been talking about US nationality applying within the US all this time. See posts 1-5. You know... of the thread.

the multiple entry visa has been available more easily to US citizens applying in the USA than to some other nationalities. (Not sure what yours is.) That's what Ruth (#3) was describing.

Exactly my point... this is no longer the case. Call around to US agencies and I'd love (no, sincerely!) to hear if you get a different answer: within the last week, three have told me that for US citizens applying in the US (still, the best way to do it I suppose) ***first-time*** visitors were not being offered 1-year multiple entry anymore, as of August, 2012.

Still very curious about anyone who is a bit more up to date on this...