Tips On Making The Most Of Your Layover/Stopover | Exploring Lama Temple In Beijng

In my last post, I shared tips on making the most of China's 72-hour visa-free transit, allowing you to explore a little bit of China without having to pay for the expensive visa. This time, I am sharing tips on making the most of your layover in China. These tips can also be used for any other country you may have a layover in. Layovers or stopovers, can be an inexpensive way  to travel to more destinations for less or getting an intro to a city without investing too much time or many. A layover/stopover allows you to stay in a connection city for greater than 24 hours but less than the duration of your planned trip. Planning in advance means that you can add an addition country or city with ease. Things like making sure you have an idea of how long the journey is from the airport to town, having a little bit of local currency will make sure you can get exploring quickly without using up your layover time queuing up for currency exchange booths.

Below are some tips on making the most of your layover in China and any other country you may have a layover in.

Tips to Make The Most of Your Layover In Beijing

1. Pick One of 2 Things/Activities

Of course, this is a city with the world famous Great Wall of China, Tiananmen Sq, Temple of Heave, Forbidden City and many more interesting places that are I am sure on many a bucket list. With a short layover, though, you cannot see everything. So pick one of those places that you can fully take in and enjoy without rushing around. You can also book tours for the Great Wall of China but I would advise you to at least be on a 10-hour Layover or more before doing this tour as the drive to and back takes a while, also factoring in the traffic in China. It would not be wise to miss your flight on the 72-hour Visa as the Chinese immigration officials will not be understanding about that. 

2. Research The Best Way To Get To The Chosen Location

On this occasion, we thought best to visit Lama Temple during our layover in Beijing. We looked at the closest station to Lama Temple. From there on we looked at what train line that station was on. How many times we needed to change trains to get to Lama Temple as well as the train from the airport into the city.

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Tips on China's 72-Hour Visa-Free Transit

China 72 Hour Visa-Free Transit

Let's face it, visas for those that don't so-called "most valuable passports for visa-free travel" can be a costly affair. When I heard about the 72 hour China Visa Policy, I thought it was the perfect way to make use  of our layover in China while my boyfriend and I were on our way to Cambodia in December last year. I still have to get a visa while my boyfriend qualifies for the new visa policy. Great that at least we don't have to blow £200 on visas, instead only pay for mine. I have been to China before so it was a great way to show my boyfriend around Beijing on his first visit to the country. At the moment, only 51 countries around the world can use the new visa policy. I would normally have to get my Chinese visa in London while he qualifies for the new 72 Hour Visa in China. Mine doesn't take very long in London. They offer a one day service or one over a couple of days for about £90. When I visited Hong Kong a couple of years ago I also managed to get a Chinese Visa from there and that was sorted out within a few hours  as well. Just note that if you use an actual visa processing place they charge a reasonable price compared to some hotels that may way charge you 3 times as much to process the visa. While I processed my visa in London, I used China's 72 Hour Visa Policy to sort out my boyfriend's visa for our visit in Beijing. Below I have tips on what to expect and what your need to arrange the Chinese visa as well as making the most on your city layover, whether that is a layover in Shanghai, Xiamen, or Guangzhou. You can also check my explorations of Guangzhou on my last visit to China.

The Cities In China Using The 72 Hour Visa Policy

At the moment, you can only utilise the new visa policy from a few of China's main airports. Currently, you can only use this new visa policy if you are from on of the 51 countries listed below or if you are arriving through one of the 18 cities that have adopted this new 72-hour visa policy.  Also bear in mind that where you are allowed to visit also depends on your port o arrival. If you arrive in Beijing, Chongqing, Harbin, Guilin, Guilin, Xiamen, Tianjin, and Kunming, you cannot live this administrative area of your transit city. In other words, if you are transiting in Beijing, you have to stay in Beijing and exit from Beijing. So if you want to Visit two cities just ensure you double check that you can move on to another city within the province. Besides not that the 72-hour visa is enough to do that anyway. Some cities like Shanghai allow you to arrive in Shanghai and exit from another city. This also means that if you arrive in Shanghai, Zhejiang or Jiangsu, your 72-hour visa becomes 144-hour visa. Note that these visa policies only apply if entering China by air and not other means like, say if you were driving from another city or country and entering China that way.  Currently, the cities allowing use of this 72-hour visa policy are: Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing, Harbin, Shenyang, Guangzhou, Dalin, Xian, Guilin, Kunming, Wuhan, Xiamen, Tianjin, Nanjing, Qingdao, Changsha and Hangzhou

Countries That Can Use China's New Visa Policy

As my boyfriend has dual nationality but also holds a British passport, so he qualifies for this new visa policy. We also found that we didn't have to contact the airline and notify them of our desire to have a layover in the city. Most posts online say you have to do this, but in fact, DO NOT have to tell your airline, especially for Beijing. If travelling to other Chinese cities, feel free to mention it at check-in but it wasn't necessary when we travelled to Beijing. If you hold a passport any of the following countries you will qualify for the 72-hour visa and therefore, do not need to get a visa before travelling to China for a layover.

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China | Food, Retail Therapy and Haggling in Guangzhou

Guangzhou, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in Southern China. Located on the Pearl river, its apparently the first city most travellers to China visit. It certainly was in my case as I visited while on a break from the hectic explorations of Hong Kong's bustling metropolis. This city is a key national transportation hub and trading port made obvious by the haze of smog that hovers over the  city.  It was originally known as Canton and is the home of Cantonese cuisine. So expect great food but a word of warning to the wise, for those in search authentic Cantonese food bring a fork! Most food spots serve food with chopsticks, which I can't hold to save my life! So I ended up eating with those little ceramic Chinese spoons, which was a cause for a few comedic moments and laughter at my expense in the little restaurants around town. Lessons for my next visit of course, but I came back with lots of chopsticks so I can put in some practice at home.

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Symphony of Lights | Things To Do In Hong Kong

Hong Kong is just like London, both cities are just as awake during the night as they are in the day. Hong Kong does not sleep at night. The city is still busy and bustling as if to prepare for the morning and with that, many things to do in Hong Kong, day or night. When morning comes, it's more bustling and when evening approaches yet more bustling - but this time with a  little bright treat! It's just so beautiful and so the exploring continues into the night for more sights to set upon the eyes. In this case the Symphony of Lights!

If you are in Hong Kong there is no double you will one to add this on your list of things to do in Hong Kong. This is Hong Kong's famous symphony of lights; a multimedia light show that comprises of five themes; Awakening, Energy, Heritage, Partnership, and Celebration. These celebrate the diversity, energy, and spirit of Hong Kong. Also named as the 'Worlds largest Permanent Light and Sound Show', while in Hong Kong you cannot miss the lights as the lasers can be seen from miles away. After mingling around the city exploring and eating my weight in food in Kowloon's food district it was time to head down to Victoria Harbor to rest my feet, let my food to settle before dessert and catch the Symphony of Lights show. These are some shots taken from Kowloon looking on Hong Kong Island's light show.

If you have seen the light show, what did you think of it?

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Visual Diary | Discover Hong Kong

Have you ever been some where that gave you an ever lasting feeling of joy each time you thing about it or when you hear someone mention the place? Well, Hong Kong gives me those goose bumps each time I think about it. My trip to Hong Kong came about at a time when things just seem to have somehow just clicked. I some how felt at peace with things, achieved some weird and wonderful life balance and abundantly joyful - it's that emotion that is evoked when I think about how I was feeling while I was there and have since attached it to this beautiful city. I had just moved back to London from a stint in Hampshire, I was climbing, happily and forever indulging in endless talks of cool and on-trend techy stuff at work. Embarking on a solo trip to Hong Kong whilst in a state of euphoria made everything I experienced in the city feel that much more special a little surreal. Racing around the airport at 2am when I arrived, next morning I woke up at the Marriott to a view of Victoria Harbour complete with emerald waters, ferries and speed boards bopping up and down the coastline as if for my own amusement.

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Travel Envy: Five places on my list

This post is part of the Travel Carnival by One Brown Girl on 5 places I have never been to but dying to catch a flight to.

Well I can finally take Rome off that list and wont add Malta, USA and Australia because they will be happening(God willing) next month, September and Christmas-New Year.

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Discovering Hong Kong: 5 Travel Tricks & Tips for Travelistas on the Go

Hong Trip Slideshow - More Pictures here

The terminal train announcement at Hong Kong International Airport, peered through Keane who together  with Emeli Sandè and The Script formed the soundtrack to my 10 day visit between Hong Kong and China. Saturday September, 22nd, it was time to head back to London...

Yes, my lovelies! I had finally set foot on the Asian continent, albeit five years late. It took a wedding invitation to get me to sign up for a 16 hour flight. A wedding I very nearly missed thinking it was one month later than the actual date. A frantic shuffling and emails suggesting the cheapest ways to save cost to our client on covering the days I would be off secured my release off my current project for 7 working days, 10 including weekends.

Arriving in Hong Kong  tired but immediately awakened by the beautifully lite skyscrapers as the hotel shuttle bus took me and 3 others from the airport to the Marriott Courtyard. I forced myself to sleep at 6.30pm UK time and 1.30am HK in an attempt to adjust my body clock to Hong Kong time. As the blinds slowly disappeared into the ceiling revealing the prettiest emerald green sea views I have ever laid eyes on, I had woken up in Hong Kong!!! Turbo Jet boats whizzed past transporting travelers to a Macau, container floats lazily passing by over a back drop of the Victoria Harbour. Twenty-one floors above the ground, I must have sat by the window for a while because it was 3pm by the time I dragged my jet-lagged behind out of my hotel room.

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