Holy Crap how did the time fly by so fast? I leave in a month?!? I am NOWHERE near ready to go.
On Friday, I went to get my visa. What fun that was. Way back when I started planning this trip, I knew nothing about China visas. Because you know, why would I? So I decided to ask my friend Google for help. I dove right in and asked him about applying for a China visa in New York City. I came across the Yelp page for the China Embassy in Manhattan and I knew I was doomed. It seems the Manhattan Embassy is well known for being the toughest one to get a visa at.
Allow me to copy and paste:
- Do not go to China. It’s not worth it. Plan to go to the Consulate at least 5 times. They are rude and are scamming.
- They make you type your application and will make fun of you if you did not.
- Power hungry little men.
- Seriously awful human beings. Security guards harass and condescend you, the people behind the counter are automatons without a shred of human sensibilities or dignity and with all the senseless bureaucracy, it’s woefully inefficient. China is a large and complex country with many merits but this place is a conglomeration of all the bad points concentrated in one building.
- This place makes me want to drown puppies. The website has an expired form and useless/incorrect instructions, the office doesn’t carry any forms, the hours are inconvenient and the location is terrible.
- It’s a sad, sad day for US-Chinese relations when grown Chinese men with US passports walk away from the visa application window fist pumping in joy, having had their visa applications accepted.
- I was there today. I waited in line and watched a clearly frustrated Caucasian man storm away, muttering, “I’ve been here three f*cking times already.