I am off to China. On November first. Here is my Safe passport cover that holds my China two-year visa inside. Getting it was not easy. In San Francisco, I waited two hours outside the Chinese Embassy before I got inside, where I waited another two hours, only to learn that I did not have one particular document.
So I went to the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC. A much better experience. Fewer would-be China visitors. Uncrowded Visa Applications office. Happier Chinese clerks. Almost friendly they were. And I was happier, too, until I told them I was a writer. Oops! Clearly, that was a dumb thing to do.
It took a few more days to get my visa. No doubt I was investigated. As a liberal thinker, who espouses maternal health care and organic food, I probably have a record with the authorities.
I gave good evidence that all I had written about was nineteenth-century history and contraception. I received my visa to visit China. My advice to would-be China visitors: Always say you are a tourist.
