Hello everyone,

I am traveling from Bangkok to San Francisco on Chinese Southern Airlines, departing February 18th.

As some of you know, Chinese New Years is celebrated on February 19th! The ticket I'm going to buy has a layover for 23 hours in Guangzhou. However, I then must fly to another smaller Chinese city (Wuhan - 2 hour flight) with an additional 2 hour layover there before finally flying directly to San Francisco.

Since my total time in China is 27 hours would I qualify for a Direct Visa? Of course if I left the airport in Guengzhou I would not be visiting the country properly for more than 23 hours, but does the Chinese immigration usually count transit time (other connecting flights/layovers) when deciding whether to grant visitors a direct visa?

I have to buy the ticket within the next day before prices surge again, so absolutely any sound advice would be greatly appreciated! (Also is Guengzhou a good place to visit for New Years or is it a madhouse?) Thank you!

Every place in China will be a madhouse for Chinese New Year. Guangzhou is not a place I'd recommend for a stop over.

I'd try to find a different flight, not transiting though China at that time.

Agree with Kathie. Even if the ticket were free I wouldn't sign up for that madness.

Time is not an issue. CAN is 72-hour Transit WithOut Visa. Problem is that you're not leaving directly from CAN. Even though CZ659 is same-aircraft CAN-WUH-SFO, according to letter of the word for transit without visa, this flight DOES NOT qualify.

You need a visa.

China visa will cost you US$140, i believe. The one merit in stopping in China even for one day at CNY would be for you to experience the incredible crush of humanity that China brings to every conversation. You will find first hand what all the talk is about when big western companies try to penetrate the chinese market, get rebuffed and try again. SOOOOOO many people.

If you don't want this experience i suggest EVA air to Taipei, and SFO. But even in Taipei you will get the Chinese Lunar New Year delicious meals and snacks. Yummy those.

Guangzhou is a madhouse at any time of year. The airport will likely be very busy indeed, but the city a little quieter as the number of residents already departed should be significantly greater than the number arriving. A night in a hotel on Shamian Island would give you somewhere quiet to stroll, and some decent restaurants.

I'm prepared to be corrected, but it seems to me that a visa should not be required: you're allowed 72 hours in Guangzhou sans visa, and you'll only be in transit at Wuhan.

If you fleight though China at this time,You will be regret.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/china...er-thread.html

Pay attention to the part "Other Important Considerations":

"Travelers making intermediate stops within China are not eligible for 72-hour TWOV (the 24-hour TWOV rule is still valid). All major Chinese airlines have flights of this nature (e.g. CA via DLC/XMN/PVG/CTU, CZ via CAN/XMN, MU via KMG/PVG), so be sure to examine them before booking"

Even though a page on Flyertalk is not official, but these people did spend time to research on the subject. Anyone trying to do this transit WITHOUT a visa should really really look through all the sources UNTIL he/she is 100% sure it is allowed.

To add further information, CZ does sell flight 659 CAN-WUH for just the domestic portion, on this Boeing 787 flight. I have no idea how and if CZ and the authorities segregate the domestic and international passengers, but with almost 2 hours on the ground, it is NOT IMPOSSIBLE that you will go through exit immigration in WUH and not CAN. Which is why the TWOV rules may not apply.

I have no first hand information about this flight, but again, my point is that you have to investigate thoroughly.

> Even though a page on Flyertalk is not official

No kidding.

And amid all the mays and mights, nothing new added.

The obvious requirement is to ask the airline itself, which won't permit boarding if visa rules are to be breached.

Everyone, an enormous thank you for the extensive responses. @rkkwan I think you're right that due to my time in China being over 24 hours altogether, I have a weak chance of getting in without a visa. I have no idea how airlines substantiate 36 hour layovers in China knowing non-Chinese passengers don't have a chance to leave the airports! The flight was offered with Orbitz. Anyway I found something else with 2-hour layover in Guangzhou. I'll sample the madness for that time alone and from the safety of an airport terminal.

Much thanks again