The Trip: Visa problems delay journey two weeks
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Some of you may be wondering what I am doing up at this hour. Perhaps you think I should be getting some rest, because, after all, I am starting a big cross-country journey of China on July 1. And, well, technically it’s July 1.
But I probably wouldn’t get very far without my passport. And some “visa consultant” named Magic has my passport right now. You see, my visa was set to expire on August 30, and I was planning on being somewhere in remote Sichuan at that point. And I’m pretty sure they don’t issue visas there.
So, I had to extend my visa before the trip began. And this process is turning out to be a time-consuming one. I have a Z visa, a working visa, issued to me because of my status as a “Foreign Expert” with Shanghai University. But I no longer work for Shanghai University (I am still coming to terms with the loss of my “expert” status) and, actually, I no longer work for anyone. Freelance writer is just a nice way of saying unemployed.
This caused a problem. No valid contract with a Chinese company equals no more Z visa. I learned this just around a week or two ago. I had figured I could get my visa extended … somehow. You know, grease the right wheels, spread some guanxi. But evidently the Z stands for “zilch” — I had zero good options. My only choices were to get another job — very quickly, and to a company that didn’t mind the fact that I would be out of town until October — or to leave the country, negate my Z visa, and apply for another kind of visa. And receiving a new visa is no sure thing these days for a US citizen. Other countries are ratcheting up the restrictions on Americans in retaliation for all the shit we’re pulling on their people.
Anyway, long story short — and I am being purposefully vague here — I do not have to leave the country, my job title is still Freelance Writer and I should have my new Z visa within 10 working days. There is a good story here, but I will likely wait until I no longer live in China to tell it.
So, the trip will definitely happen. Just hit a little snag. The first of many, I presume.
So the new tentative start date is sometime in mid-July. I will no longer set definite dates for anything. This is China, after all.
NOTE: I am still looking for contacts all over China. Click on the link for the map up above, and e-mail me if you would like to help. See you on the road! (Well, in a little while.)
07.01.2004, 2:19 AM · The Trip · Comments (1)
Never Trust Democracy
Ah yes, that tried and true rallying cry: “Never Trust Democracy!”
Ever seen that one before? I hadn’t until I walked into my local police station in Shanghai. I was sitting and waiting for my new temporary residence permit to receive its all-important red stamp, when a woman walked into the room wearing a black T-shirt that read, in big bold letters, “NEVER TRUST DEMOCRACY.”
It surprised me. It struck me as a little bit strange. Involuntarily, I read it outloud.
Nothing wrong with the shirt necessarily. You know, free speech and all that. Just not something I expected to see, especially in China, where people rarely discuss their political views, let alone broadcast them on a T-shirt. I wonder if she even knew what it said.
But you know the most surprising thing about this English-language T-shirt in China? It was grammatically correct.
Out of curiosity, I Googled the phrase “Never Trust Democracy.” You know how many hits I got? Two. Yes, two. For some reason, I thought it would be higher.
And you know what one of the Google links led to? A French guy talking about a T-shirt he saw in Shanghai.
07.01.2004, 1:21 AM · Humor · Comments (1)
