Best Visa Run Options to Save You Time and Money.

Many foreigners are required to leave the country only to enter back in again every 30-90 days and get another entry stamp on their passport. If you’re legally employed in China, we cannot stress enough the importance of ensuring that your employer provides you with a fully legitimate working visa; but regardless of your professional status, this is a situation that most expats in China must face at some point.

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For those living in Shenzhen and other cities in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, a quick cross-border trip to Hong Kong may seem like the obvious choice. Even for foreigners living in more remote parts of China, Hong Kong remains one of the most sought-after “visa-run” destinations because of how easy and relatively affordable it is to get there by way of Shenzhen (including a domestic flight and a short subway trip to the border checkpoint). However, there are many other options available that may prove to be cheaper, more convenient, or simply more fun.

These suggestions are also applicable to anyone looking for a quick getaway when they have some spare vacation time to enjoy. But remember that it is not only your responsibility to avoid overstaying your Chinese visa but you must also ensure that you can enter the following locations legally with or without a visa.

Hong Kong

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Let’s get that old-time favorite out of the way first. While many expats usually get on an international flight that connects their own city in mainland China to Hong Kong, others prefer to opt for a cheaper option by booking a domestic flight to Shenzhen and taking the subway from the Chinese innovative tech city to its autonomous neighbor. And those lucky enough to live in Shenzhen can literally walk across the border if they feel inclined to do so, but if you don’t feel like visiting HK for a day or two, you can just cross the border at the Futian/Lok Ma Chau checkpoint and almost immediately re-enter the building to head straight back into mainland China. At Luohu/Lowu, you will need to catch a metro train to Sheung Shui before heading back, just like many mainland Chinese ‘daigou’ day visitors do. 

However, either of those two options would probably make for the most boring and pointless visa runs ever, so you’d better make the most of it and at least arrive early in the morning to give yourself a long day trip, or arrive late for a crazy night out in areas like Soho, Lan Kwai Fong or Wan Chai. Hotels in Hong Kong are usually much more expensive than in mainland China, although cheap and sketchy options can be found in abundance around the notorious ‘Chungking Mansions’ in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Maca

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Another convenient yet often-overlooked visa-run destination is Macau. If you’ve been to HK too many times, it’s about time you start visiting Macau. With the obvious exception of flying direct, the most convenient way to enter is by crossing over in Zhuhai although flying there could prove to be inconvenient for some due to the relative lack of available flights to the city’s local airport. You can also take the ferry directly to Macau from the Shenzhen airport where free shuttle buses take you to the Fuyong ferry terminal, or to Zhuhai or Macau from the Shekou ferry terminal.

Legal casino gambling is the most famous of Macau’s many attractions, but hotels offer many other entertaining options for you to seek your teeth into without every leaving the building such as cabaret shows, ridiculously-large restaurant buffet spreads, and family-orientated leisure activities.

Macau is a very compact place; you can easily take one of the many free shuttle buses provided by local casinos to central areas from the ferry terminal and eventually get on a bus from the ferry terminal straight to the border crossing ‘Portas do Cerco’ to enter mainland China via Zhuhai. 

On your way there, we recommend that you take a good leisurely stroll around Macau to enjoy the mix of old Portuguese colonial architecture and over the top modern casino building, such as the iconic Casino Lisboa. Like HK, hotels can be rather expensive which is why traveling expats on a tight budget usually prefer to enjoy a long day trip to Macau, followed by a couple of days spent in the neighboring  city of Zhuhai upon re-entry; another fantastic and lesser known city with more reasonably-priced hotels.

South Korea

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If you’re based in northeastern China or Shandong, this may be the best option for you. Cheap flights to Seoul and other cities in South Korea are quite abundant, but if you’re feeling adventurous about your next visa run, then you may want to consider taking the overnight ferry from either Dalian, Weihai, Yantai or Qingdao. But out of any other city in South Korea, you can surely expect Seoul to offer you an unforgettable  getaway.

If you’re in a “been there, done that” kind of mood, then Jeju Island is another, more remote option certainly worth considering. Budget airlines such as Spring Airlines regularly offer flights to the South Korean island, and while some may find it a bit too quiet with not much happening around; others might look at it as the perfect trip they’d been needing after living in their densely-populated and ever-active city in China.

Kinme

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This option is sadly neglected by most foreigners despite being an excellent alternative for those living in Shanghai, Zhejiang or Fujian. It’s a place that many have never heard of before partly due to the larger island that sits a bit further across from it. Those wanting something that isn’t a China experience will probably be disappointed for obvious reasons. However, others are more than happy to go explore this lesser-known part of the region just to get their new exit stamp on their passport.

The easiest way to get to Kinmen is to travel to Xiamen first. Upon arriving at Xiamen airport, you can get a RMB 5 bus straight to the Wutong Matou ferry terminal. Compared to other more popular visa-run options, this is arguably one of the quickest and painless alternatives out there. Queues are almost non existent, and after purchasing your ferry ticket, you will likely find yourself walking straight past immigration as if you’d been given access to some kind of first-class VIP lane. All we can hope is that you’ll be able to cope with a short trip out on the water and not get sea sick from it, because you do have to get on a boat to reach the island.

What can you expect once you arrive? Everybody still speaks Mandarin but all the signs are written in traditional characters . Do note that you should change your money in Kinmen (not Xiamen) because local businesses do not accept RMB. The island rarely sees foreigners; English skills may be lacking, but polite and friendly greetings are offered in abundance.  Imagine an island that is about the same size as Xiamen island, but with a population of about 60-100,000 people as opposed to 2 million, a strange lack of pollution and one of the world’s smallest Irish pubs. Most customers will be local though, as it is often rumored that the island’s long-term residing foreign population barely ever breaks into double figures.

Enjoy local delicacies such as oyster omelettes, dried beef and quite possibly the nicest Baijiu you’ll ever drink: Kinmen Kaoliang. A visit to the distillery is quite appealing to some visitors while others may just simply enjoy a much-faster WiFi connection than anywhere in mainland China.

The Philippines

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Many foreigners head straight to Hong Kong without realizing that a trip to the Philippines can be a much cheaper option. Even expats living close to HK can opt to book a flight that leaves from the autonomous city. Check those travel booking websites and chances are you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Manila is one of the most chosen travel destinations, but when you have more than 7,600 islands available to you, it would make just as much sense to explore the likes of Cebu or Boracay for a very reasonably-priced tropical vacation. Better yet, with a large English-speaking population, the Philippines are one of the most convenient visa run options. The only downside is that you may never want to leave!

The whole of South-East Asi

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Apparently I’m not supposed to ramble on too much for these types of articles and I’ve already crushed the suggested word limit, so I’ll keep this last part short and sweet. If you’re in an exotic mood for a warm and culture-filled vacation, why not look at some other options in Southeast Asia like Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand? Better yet, you’ll find that staying there is ridiculously cheap which can compensate for that longer journey time; just avoid going during typhoon season…

You can do so much more with your money than what you would normally spend it on back in China! Backpackers who are taking extra time off (gap year, anyone?) most often decide to stay in hostels and dorms full of other random foreign tourists and enjoy life with local beer and street food.

Other option

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We recommend you also look at flights to Japan which can sometimes be another cheap option for your next visa run depending on the season, while more adventurous souls can get on a train from Dandong in northeastern province of Liaoning to Pyongyang in North Korea. Other options include countries neighboring the western border of China which may not fall into the “cheap” category, but will nonetheless offer unforgettable memories.

What’s been your most memorable visa run? Share your experience by leaving a comment in the section below!

Source: HiTouch

Supervisor: Crystal Huang

Proofreader : Ed Bellin

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