Back to China for Visa Interview

[Capstone]

I just found out this morning from the Department of State information line that the consulate in Guangzhou has finally scheduled my fiancee's K-1 interview for June 2. I was expecting it to take place in mid June so now I am scurrying to book a plane ticket and get my vacation scheduled.

I will be leaving either on the 27th or 28th of this month and it looks like my best bet for this trip will be to fly into Hong Kong and then just take the KCR train from Kowloon straight to Guangzhou. This route looks to be much less expensive than flying directly into Guangzhou. Finally after nearly 9 months of waiting we are going to find out if she gets her visa or not. If she gets denied then we already have made plans to get married in China during this trip - but hopefully that will not be necessary.

[Capstone]

Well I have been in China for the last several days and am having a great time. I flew out of Atlanta on the 28th and arrived in Hong Kong the night of the 29th. The swine flu precautions were not too strict arriving into Hong Kong - you had fill out a questionare about your health and were you have been in the last 7 days plus they have thermal scanners setup throughout the airport to catch anyone with an internal temperature which is greater than 100 degrees.

My fiancee met me at the airport in Hong Kong - her flight from Xiamen arrived about 15 minutes after my flight did so it was real convenient. We spent the night in HK and then the next day we took the KCR through train straight into Guangzhou. Now the swine flu precautions are much stricter when entering China than they were for Hong Kong. We had to fill out a questionair on the train plus they came by and took everyone's temperature during the 2 hour trip. Once we arrived in Guangzhou we had to go through immigration at the train station where they again took our temperature and I got grilled about where all I have been for the past week and for how long etc - they questioned me for about 15 minutes.

Well after getting through customs the trip has been nothing but good times since. On Tuesday the 2nd my fiancee had her K-1 interview and was approved - she was only asked 6 questons. We were able to pick up her passport with her visa in it at the China Post office here in Guangzhou yesterday so we are heading to Xiamen in a couple of hours so that I can spend a few days with her parents before I head back to the states. My fiancee is a high school teacher and has to finish up the school year before she can join me in the US - she will be flying to the US in about 3 weeks from now.

I have been pleasantly surprised with how much that I have liked Guangzhou. When I first arrived I figured that it was just another big dirty Chinese city that I would not like but that has not been the case at all. The food has been great and there are some great high end shopping malls here as well. We made a day trip back to Hong Kong on Wednesday to do some shopping and let me tell you it was really hot & humid there - we were actually glad to get back to Guangzhou where it is not nearly as humid.

All in all I am having a great time and can't wait to get to Xiamen today as that is my favorite city in China and am looking forward to spending the next couple of days there.

[jm21-2]

Sounds great. Good to hear things are going smoothly.

[michaelb]

On Tuesday the 2nd my fiancee had her K-1 interview and was approved

Great.

[evoltnvii]

congrats!!

[Jeff S]

Congrats Capstone. Yes, some Chinese cities have a real charm. The fascinating thing about East Asia is how different it is from the rest of the world.

[TurboSS]

Congratulations!  Will you put up some pics from your trip?  I enjoy reading these stories alot and the pictures just make it seem more real.