Bad News from China

(T'blisi 20080708 KT)

by Kambiz

Today, in T’blisi Georgia,  we got the news that China had cancelled and was rejecting all applications for foreign cars entering China!

After years of planning, spending lots of time and money obtaining visas and permits, shipping our car to Europe, and driving so far, this was a devastating news.

The news came through our Chinese travel agency.

Although we already have our one-year multiple-entry Chinese visas, nevertheless we can no longer enter China with our cars.

A short time ago, one of the provinces of China had rejected our application to drive in that province.   In China, one must obtain various permits from many departments of each Province to drive through that Province.

So, in order to reach Beijing Olympics, we had to change our plans and rush to get Russian visas to drive from Kazakhstan to Siberia, then Cross Mongolia; in order to be able to enter China at a Province which had allowed us to enter.

Now the entire Country of China was closing its doors to foreigners entering the country with their own cars.    All this after years of advertising and inviting foreigners to come to the Olympic games!

Apparently many hotels and tourist facilities are suffering because of the government’s hasty decision.

It seems to be for fear of security during Olympic games, we think.  

In one City, Urumqi, the government was so scared of bad publicity, that prior to the passing of the Olympic torch, the police and security personnel visited every house along the proposed route of the torch and forbade the occupants from looking out of their own windows.   If you wanted to see the Olympic torch pass through your street, you had to watch it on TV!

Later, we met an Australian family who, while driving in China, had been told by the Chinese to cut their vacation short by two weeks and leave the country due to ban on foreigners driving their own cars in China.

We have decided to continue to Azerbaijan while looking for an alternate way of getting our cars shipped back to the U.S.   Unfortunately there are no ports with access to open seas in front of us.  Caspian Sea is in front of us, but it is a lake, the largest lake in the World.  So, that won’t help.