Preparations for China

There are so many different stories to tell from the recent trip to China, that I almost don’t know where to begin. I would be writing for days and still would leave things out. So, I will instead be posting a log of the daily events--based on the travel journal that I kept throughout the trip. These won’t be posted all at once--it would take several days of writing without interruption just to get through my notes.

Preparations for the trip

According to Kazakh law, foreigners living in the country are required to register with the local immigration police. Normally, this registration occurs within five days of arrival. For individuals traveling under the aegis of a diplomatic mission, though, permanent registration is done within 90 days of arrival. I arrived in Almaty on 29 August--which meant that I needed to arrange for my permanent registration by the end of November. The consular office forwards our passports to USAID, and they take care of the paperwork. Normally, it takes about a week. I had hoped to complete these arrangements before Thanksgiving, but with the trip to Taldykorgan was unable to do so (I had to have my passport with me for the trip).

Since I didn’t have my passport back when Sarah and Amelia went to the Chinese consulate to arrange their travel visas, I had to go by myself several days later. My information stated that the consulate was open from 9:30-12:30 MWF. After getting completely lost (a not unusual occurrence in that region of the city--even the city maps are inaccurate), I arrived at 11:40 to find out that the office closed at noon. Not a problem. I picked up the needed forms, filled them out, and got back in line. Then the lights went out. It didn’t matter if you were already in line. Everyone in the office just left. As I was standing there, a man approached me to say that he could help me get the visa--I just needed a letter from the embassy stating that I was allowed to go to China. Seemed rather shady, so I declined. Just in case, though, I called the embassy and arranged for a permission letter to be picked up later the same day.

Monday morning, I met Amelia at the consulate. She was there to pick up her visa, and I needed to get my paperwork finished. Once we got to the front of the line, the official working there refused to assist us. He stated that I needed to work with the ‘tourist company representative’. His English was limited--”That is enough!” “No more!”. I ended up having to leave my passport with “Lev” in the lobby. I paid him the visa fee--plus an extra 1,000 tenge ($8) and was told to come back on Friday.

Friday morning, I headed back to the Chinese consulate to look for Lev. After seeing him, I was directed to go find the “red car out front” to pick up my passport. There was a woman sitting in the front seat of the car passing out passports. She had a huge stack of Kazakh passports--all in complete disarray. It took nearly 40 minutes of standing outside the car until I could get my passport. It was raining/snowing the entire time--and there were so many people crowded around the car that it was impossible to use an umbrella. Since my jeans were a little too long, they acted as a wick to draw the icy slush up my legs. By the time I left, my jeans were soaked to the knees, and my hair was dripping wet. And I still needed to get to the bus station to buy my ticket.

The bus ride to the station was interesting. The driver conformed with the favorite Kazakh tradition of playing bad English-language pop music LOUDLY. I say English language, because the singer clearly had no understanding of the lyrics. It was a song I hadn’t heard before “Later you can sing to me like a shining star/but I’d rather get to know you in the back seat of my car”. It was one of the funniest songs I’ve heard in a while.

Eventually I arrived at the bus station and met up with Sarah and Amelia. We were able to get tickets to Urumqi, leaving the following morning at 7am. Not much time to prepare! Then it was back home to do some grocery shopping and get ready. Not much sleep that night--it was too exciting.