Does anyone have any experience with getting a visa for China in Indonesia for EU citizens? The consulate is in Surabaya. I live in Kunming now and would like to come back after one month and get a visa for China for 3 months, like the 1st time.
Thanks

In January this year I was was able to get a 30 day tourist visa from the consulate in Jakarta as a UK citizen. There were some posts on other forums saying it wasn't possible and that you could only get the visa if you were a resident in Indonesia. Thankfully this was incorrect!

As with most countries they've tightened up the rules in Indonesia and you need to supply proof of entry/exit (flight bookings) and a letter of invitation OR hotel booking.

Usually you can only get a 90 day tourist visa if you apply in your country of citizenship but it can't hurt trying for a 60.

It's easy enough to get an extension of stay once you're in China, for at least 30 more days beyond your original visa at any PSB office. However, I agree that a longer period than just 30 days is what should be requested given that China is a large country and 30 days (or even 60 in some cases) isn't enough time to explore the country in depth. In western countries 1 year Chinese visas are possible, but usually there is a requirement to exit the country every 60 or 90 days. I do agree however that it shouldn't be necessary to go back to Europe, the US or Australia just to get a longer validity Chinese visa.

Although it's not a big deal (in terms of the requirements to show hotel bookings etc.), but is the tightening of regulations a reason why so few foreigners visit China compared to SE Asia? For example, in Jinghong, we were the only visible foreigners visiting a particular temple complex in the south of town, although there were plenty of foreigners on the backpacker street (Menglong Lu) at night, but not a single foreigner was visible walking the nearby gem market or any other part of town other than that one street.

However, it should be pointed out that in western countries such as Australia, it is still easy to get a Chinese visa except that the visa application form is now quite lengthy. Individuals may be required to submit additional documents, but probably it's just a case of paying the fee, filling out the application form, providing a photograph and submiting the application like before. In SE Asia, this will vary but I'd say use an agent who will smooth things over even if they charge a bit more than the consulate directly.