Planning for a Trip to China

This is a map of the world from 1911. I know, not current, but it's still cool to look at. Primarily, I wanted to put some context to just how far away China is from us...

The distance from the continental United States to China is about 7000 miles. Hawaii is about 6075.  That's pretty far!

From this map, it might be hard to tell but China is roughly the same size as the US but has quite a few more souls than we do.  An estimate on April 2, 2012 showed that the US population was estimated at 313,315,000 people. 

Just to demonstrate a comparative: 1/5 of the world's population. In other words, 1 out of 5 people in the world lives in China. That is about 1.3 billion people, so if my 2nd grade math does me justice, that is about 4 times as many people sharing the same amount of space than we have here. 

My first trip to China will take me from Minnesota to Tokyo, from Tokyo to Hong Kong and a driver will pick me up to drive me across the Chinese border to Shenzhen, where I will be working for 3 weeks.

Apparently, I need a visa to travel to China and visas for work related purposes, such as the one I need, are only granted if you are extended an invitation.

I am doing work on behalf of a well-known consulting firm so they sent me a formal letter inviting me to work in China for three weeks.  Part of this letter is my host's commitment to the Chinese government that my well being is provided for during my stay and that I will not become a burden to the Chinese people during my visit.

In addition to the invitation letter, there is a visa application that is also filled out with information about your passport and upcoming visit, including emergency contact information, health insurance information, passport details, the location of where I will be staying and also, where I will be working. 

Obviously, if you leave the country, you need an American passport, which I do have, but you also need to provide a picture along with your visa application. To get the visa application expedited with the Chinese Consulate in Chicago, I had to pay a pretty penny but because this is a work trip, the $300 dollars will be reimbursed to me by my client.

Once you do the paperwork for the visa, you also need to pay a visit to your local Travel Clinic to seek medical advice regarding the shots and immunizations you will need to travel overseas.  Not exactly the most amusing visit as it turned out I needed 4 immunizations to be on the safe side, which also included my annual flu shot. Best be on the safe side. You do not want to be ill or sick when traveling that far from home so I didn't mind making the effort to stay safe and well on my visit.

Now that the details are out of the way it is time to start planning for my flights above as my trip now rests on final contract signatures (in process) and of course, getting my visa next week allowing me entry into China.

I'm almost ready to wok... LOL!