Hi,

I'm an engineer starting a new engineering job to be based in Kunming, initially at least. Previously I was working in Vietnam and prior to that I was a Chinese language student in Kunming.

I still have a valid Chinese resident permit for study purposes, valid only until the 10th of September. My understanding is that I will need to apply for a work "Z" visa outside of China and then re-enter China using that new visa rather than being able to convert my existing student visa into a work visa inside China. Is this correct?

Alternatively, would it be possible to enter China using a tourist or business visa and then get that converted inside China at the Kunming PSB office on Beijing Lu into a "Z" visa or not? I ask this because I originally entered China in late 2010 on a tourist visa and then it was converted to a student visa inside the country.

If not, I would rather get all the paperwork done for a work visa, which I would be applying for in either Bangkok (most likely) or alternatively Chiang Mai or Vientiane, Laos. I have read the visa instructions on the Chinese Embassy, Bangkok website and although it's lengthy, I will endeavor to meet those requirements.

My understanding is that my company will need to send all the documents required (and I will ask them to specify on the letterhead that I will apply in Bangkok, or alternatively one of those other two consulates though Bangkok is my most preferred option) and I will thus hopefully be able to get my paperwork completed in the next couple of weeks.

Does anyone know what the validity of the visa I seek to obtain is (I believe 1-year and multiple entry) and any special or other requirements that I need to know about?

In terms of the health requirements, I've recently had a check-up after a bit of a health scare last month but I'm back to good health now. I remember having to get a blood test for HIV and sexually transmitted diseases done in Kunming when I enrolled as a student back in 2010 but since I already had one done back in January at home as part of a routine check-up could that be used for this visa? My health is in perfect shape and the last thing I want is to get another needle stuck in my arm, especially when my HIV results are negative and thus a further test would become redundant.

To be honest, I think someone wanting to be in a class with no other "westerners" has some serious self-esteem, hatred of one's own background or westerners in general (if not a westerner themselves) or other issues. Even if he/she is a westerner themselves, this is a strange question.

Incidentally, there are far more students from regional countries studying in Kunming than westerners. If you don't want to see many westerners, Kunming is the place to be although there are more and more foreigners in Kunming these days.

But because they come in such large numbers, for example there might be 100 Thais studying at Minzu Daxue at any one time compared to say, the 2 Swiss people you might find studying at Yunnan University and the 10 Americans, you'll find the Thais (and Laotians) etc. are able to hang around each other, making no (or very few) Chinese friends, speaking only Thai or Lao with each other and thus not really benefiting from their experience in Kunming. Many of them keep going on and on about how they would rather be back at home because Kunming is cold, the people are not as friendly as back home, the food isn't that great, blah, blah, blah...you get my drift. I've asked tons of Thai and Lao students about their experiences in Kunming and this is what they tell me.

From personal experience, it's the western students who are more likely to speak up in class due to being more confident than students from other Asian countries and when they do, they ask questions in Chinese rather than English (except during the first few weeks of a beginner's class).

I agree with The Dudeson's that Kunming may have water management issues as it can't be a problem with no rainfall. Although January-February this year were very sunny with weeks of beautiful sunshine and no rain, that's normal for Kunming given the climatic zone it lies in. Kunming also always receives plenty of rain during the summer monsoon, which is now. Regions of India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and northern Australia (amongst others) all have similar wet-dry climate cycles with almost daily sunshine during the dry season (with lower temperatures as well) and almost daily rain during the rainy season and Kunming, being just north of some of these regions is no exception. While there may be differences year-to-year, the chance of any of these regions subject to a monsoonal season with absolutely no rain is virtually zero.

Personally, I don't see what's wrong with flying on a photocopy of your passport and visa along with a note from the Chinese PSB as many posters here seem to have done at least in the latter case. I would say at least have a photocopy of your passport with you and you should be fine.

When it comes to travelling overland, by car or bus/train (except some HSR services where they do want to see your passport) and then staying at hotels along the way, my experience has been that most hotels don't care about your passport.

In fact, on a trip back in December to Dali none of the 6 people in my group (4 foreigners and 2 Chinese) had any documents of identity with them at all, except me. I had my Chinese driver's license, which was happily accepted even though the hotel we stayed originally asked for a passport (and ID card for the 2 Chinese people in my party). They also happily accepted for all of my friends to write down their details in lieu of a passport.

Same thing in Zhaotong. I travelled with 2 Chinese and 1 Vietnamese person. My Vietnamese friend did have his passport with him and showed it; I didn't - no problem. On other trips most hotels didn't even want to sight my passport so the police being called when you attempt to check-in without one is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard - even knowing that China is a totalitarian state but really, such an action would be considered highly offensive in my book and I pity you for having experienced that @Spartans.

@tigertiger, western union has plenty of offices in Kunming, however, the reason for going to make a wire transfer through a Bank of China branch outweigh the reasons for using western union in my opinion simply because western union charges much higher fees.

Even though the Bank of China charges RMB 200 (or about US$32) per transfer, compared to only AUD 20 (about US$ 21) from an Australian account to any other country or CHF 20 (about US $22) from a Swiss account to any other country, I'm pretty sure that the Bank of China fee is lower than the western union transfer fee, which depends on the amount of money sent.

Whereas a bank's wire (or telegraphic) transfer fee is always fixed at a certain amount for transfers up to the daily limit (usually US$ 10,000 or up to US$ 50,000 depending on the origin bank and country).