Road to Shanghai

Visiting China has always been a dream of mine. My 外公 or wai gong (mother's father) was born there. It contains a piece of my history. A part of my prologue can be found there.

When my younger cousin, J, was accepted into a study abroad program through his university (NYU) to Shanghai, I was extremely excited for him. I wanted to go for a visit but was unsure about finances. Then the greatest thing happened. Continental airlines began running specials between Boston and Shanghai. My stars suddenly aligned. Was it faith or purely coincidental? I didn’t care. I had a place to stay for free and enough money for airfare. I booked my ticket right away.

After purchasing my ticket the next step was getting a visa. Unfortunately, the closest Chinese Consulate was in New York and they did not accept mail-in applications. That meant this pass weekend I had to travel to the Big Apple.

*Side note
If you are ever traveling between Boston and New York, I recommend taking the Chinatown buses. They are Fung Wah or Lucky Star. At $15 each way, it is not only cheaper than flying but you miss out on all the hassle of the airport. I have traveled with both on numerous occasions and have not had a problem. Most people choose Fung Wah since it's more widely known, but if you are purchasing your ticket in advance on the website you should go with Lucky Star. If you're "lucky" you can actually buy a ticket for $1.

I arrived at the Consulate at about 11am on Friday and stood/sat in line for about 2 hours. When I finally got to the front it took about 3 minutes for the woman to look at my application and passport, and then tell me to come pick it up on the following Monday. (One important thing to remember is have the address of the place you will be staying in China. I saw quite a few people being turned away because they didn't have it on their application.) I have another cousin who lives in the city so I was able to spend the weekend at her house. On Monday I picked up my passport with my visa inside and paid the fee. The next day I was on my way back to Boston. Mission completed.

Expenses:
Roundtrip airfare to Shanghai: $801
Roundtrip bus ticket to New York: $40 (The 2am bus is $10 more)
Double entry visa for 6 months: $45
Next day rush for visa application: $20

Total expense so far: $906
This is actually less than the normal price of a roundtrip ticket to China.
Maybe it is kismet.

OH! In case you were wondering, I leave for Shanghai on April 2 for 20 days.