Suck It, China!!

I have been SOOOOOO looking forward to visiting China. Not Shanghai, not even Beijing. I don't want to go to the cities. (Though I was planning on spending a day or two in Beijing, but only because my flight home leaves from there.) I just wanted to go to Yunnan.

Yunnan!! Lijiang, Dali, Tiger Leaping Gorge, Shangri-la ... it was for peace of mind, really. A week or two for me to get out in the mountains and do ... well, nothing. Not-do. Just relax. Enjoy the scenery. Clear my mind. Meditate.

I was planning to spend a day or two here, another day there, and leave elsewhere when I felt like it. No reservations, no plans, no day-to-day itinerary. That would completely defeat the purpose of relaxation and my not-doing. And though I had read that flight and hotel confirmations were needed for visas, from what I read it seemed it was only for extensions, multiple entries, and more complicated visa situations. So this morning I went to the consulate with my passport, my 30 day single entry tourist visa application, and my flight confirmation home from Beijing.

And they wouldn't give me a visa!! I told them I was going from Hanoi to Kunming via train, but didn't know when I would get to Hanoi so I didn't have anything booked. She said too bad. She also asked for my hotel reservations, and I told her I'm too cheap for hotels and the places I stay in don't take reservations, though I did give her the information of some places I found in my guidebook. She said too bad. She said do it in Hanoi.

So I said fine, I'll do it Hanoi. No big deal, I guess, though it'd be a bit scary leaving Singapore and not being certain I can get into China to catch my flight home. But then I started reading travel forums and read that Americans can't get visas outside of the United States or their country of residence. So now I basically can't get in unless I book everything in advance in Singapore, which is impossible for my budget and impractical for my travel plans. Plus that defeats the whole purpose of my visit to Yunnan.

So now China has gotten its panties all in a twist cause of Tibet and cause, well, it's China, and they've gone and f-ed up my plans. I suppose they are quite justified in many of these new regulations, and have every right to deny someone entry into their country. Though they are being a bit too anal about it -- i.e. not letting a single person with any trace of a criminal record in. And stopping expats on the street, demanding to see their passports. Now having flight confirmations is a pain but is reasonable -- to an extent -- but hotel reservations?? How is anybody supposed to travel like that? Backpacker-style, I mean.

Whatever, I'll figure something out, I just wanted to rant for a bit. Naptime! :)