“We have been waiting for China to open for a long time. We have passed the stage where they only granted visas for group visits. Now it has been decided to open opportunities for the entry of all tourists and issue individual visas,” said Natalya Osipova, executive director of the Alliance of Travel Agencies.
According to the visa center, individual tourist visas are issued under the same rules as before the pandemic. The package of documents is the same, the time for issuance is up to seven calendar days. First, an online application form is filled. It is available on the Chinese Embassy website. After that, you can register for document submission.
The single tourist entry “L” is issued up to 30 days of stay, you must enter within three months. You can apply for a double-entry tourist visa.
< p class="">To apply for a tourist visa, you will need a passport valid for more than 180 days, a copy of the national (Russian) passport (the main page with a photo and registration address), a one-way ticket reservation- return and a hotel reservation that covers the period of travel or travel through the territory of China. You can enter China without a visa. Visa-free entry is only valid for tourist groups of five people, explains Osipova. As reported by the consular department of China's Foreign Ministry, tour groups can enter Hainan Island without a visa on tours purchased from tour operators. Cruise ship passengers enter Shanghai visa-free, as well as Guangdong from Hong Kong and Macau. However, whether China remains a popular tourist destination will depend on airfares. In the package tour, the main price falls on the flight, notes Osipova. “China has never been cheap. But nevertheless, we are counting on charter flights which will be included in the package, and this will reduce the cost of the tours,” she adds. Before the pandemic, according to aggregators, a flight to Beijing and back cost around 20-25 thousand rubles. Now the plane ticket is about 50,000 both ways. These are scheduled flights, direct and with transfers. But for mass group tours, charters are needed.
