Leaving China

As I may have mentioned before, one issue I have here is that my multiple entry visa only allows me to stay in China for a maximum of 30 days. This essentially means every time I enter the country, I need to already plan for my next exit. Sure, I could apply for a longer visa, perhaps 60 days or 90 days, but being forced to go every 30 days does have a benefit (besides avoiding the extra costs and hassles of reapplying for a visa), namely, it forces me to go out and see other places in Asia (HK/Macau, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Korea, India, and Mongolia are all on my list of potential places to visit).

Unfortunately, leaving the country every 30 days does put pressure on my itinerary, especially on the last 10 days of the stay. It means I am not as free to drift from place to place as I would naturally be otherwise, having to worry about the logistics of traveling to better connected cities and scouring cheaper fares across a range of departure dates. Furthermore, perhaps because of my own personality and propensity to squeeze out every last bit of my time, it seems every time I actually leave, it is the very last day, and I am racing against the clock to make it out before midnight (i.e. my flight out to Shenzhen to go to HK on 9/14, my mad rush out of Hangzhou down to Jinmen thru Xiamen on 10/18).


Perhaps next year, I'll consider applying for a 60 day multiple entry visa instead - after all, I can still leave every 30 days if I want to visit more countries, though there is no longer an external impetus driving me to do so. But there shouldn't be anyways - after all, this trip is also for me to learn more self-discipline and self-motivation.