The Chinese Guangdong Visa, or the 144-hour Convinient Visa to Guangdong Province, China, as it’ officially known is a good option for groups or families looking to explore the Guangdong region next to Hong Kong. It does, however, have a number of limiting restrictions that make it less useful than it should be. See below for the rules and regulations of the Chinese Gunagdong Group Visa and some explanations of the practicalities.
- Applicants should be foreigners in Hong Kong (resident of visiting) and eligible for a standard Chinese visa.
- Ed: You can only apply for the visa with Hong Kong Travel Agencies, but can, of course, apply ahead of time.
- You must travel in a group of at least 3 people, maximum of 40.
- Ed: We understand families are eligible for the visa, as are mixed nationality groups.
- All members of the group must enter and leave Guangdong together
- Entry and exit points are as follows Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, Zhaoqing, Huizhou.
- The visa is valid for 144hour, or 6 days.
- Your group must be on an organised tour from a registered Hong Kong Travel Agent.
- Ed: This last one is somewhat confusing. In theory, it means you have pay up for a full organised tour in Guangdong Province. This certainly won’t mean you need to sign up for a car and driver for six days, but may mean paying for a one day tour from your hotel once in Guangdong. This then effectively becomes the ‘fee’ for the visa.This visa was introduced in late 2009 and we’re still waiting to see how it will be used. If do manage to get hold of a Guangdong visa, drop us a note and let us know what happened and how much you had to pay. Both CTS and Grayline Tours are offering the tour and visa service.
