Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
My Path Leads to Tibet: The Inspiring Story of How One Young Blind Woman Brought
Hope to the Blind Children of Tibet
, and stars alongside blind climber Erik Weihenmayer in
the moving documentary film
Blindsight
.
Navyo Nepal
( 01-691 6359;
www.navyonepal.com
; Kathmandu, Nepal)
This Nepal-based company has some experience in running tours for the disabled to
Tibet and Nepal.
TOURIST INFORMATION
Visas
Visa regulations for China are subject to change so treat the following as general
guidelines. In 2013, the visa system had a major overhaul and there are now 13 categories
of visas.
Apart from citizens of Brunei, Japan and Singapore, all visitors to Tibet require a valid
China visa. Visas for individual travel in China are usually easy to get from most Chinese
embassies, or their associated visa centres.
Most visa offices will issue a standard 30-day (sometimes 60- or 90-day) single-entry
tourist (an 'L' category) visa in three to five working days. The 'L' means
lüxing
(travel).
Fees vary: UK citizens pay £30 for a single entry L visa, Americans US$140 (Americans al-
ways pay dramatically more for China visas), while most other countries' citizens pay
US$30. In many countries the visa service has been outsourced to a
China Visa Applica-
tion Service Centre
(
www.visaforchina.org
) which levies additional charges that can effect-
ively double the price.
The visa application form asks you a lot of questions (your entry and exit points, travel it-
inerary, means of transport etc), but once in China you can deviate from this as much as
you like. When listing your itinerary, pick the obvious contenders: Běijīng, Shànghǎi and so
on. Don't mention Tibet and don't list your occupation as 'journalist'. You may need to show
proof of a return air ticket, hotel bookings and photocopies of previous Chinese visas. You
must also have one entire blank page in your passport for the visa, as well as a passport
valid for at least six months.
Note that you must be physically present in the country you apply in (ie. you cannot send
your passport back to your home country if you are staying somewhere else).
Some embassies offer a postal service (for an additional fee), which takes around three
weeks. In the US and Canada mailed visa applications have to go via a visa agent, at extra
cost. In the US many people use
China Visa Service Center
(
www.mychinavisa.com
)
. Ex-
press services are available for a premium.
