Before I get into China's visa application process, I want to begin with the same process but for a different country, Tanzania. I believe this story is a necessary precursor to my Chinese adventure.
Last year, as I was again assembling all of my necessary documentation for a trip, I had to apply for a Tanzanian visa. After filling out a series of extraordinarily complex and dated forms (they looked as if they had been made into copies of copies so many times that the writing was nearly illegible), I FedEx-ed a money order and my passport to New York.
After waiting the prescribed two weeks, I still had no visa and no tracking number for my passport. A another week passed before I finally dialed my friends at the Tanzanian Mission to the United Nations, where a telephone operator walked me through how they had lost the tracking number for my passport, but "don't worry, it's definitely on its way."
With another phone call and some definitive language, my tracking number was magically found, and I successfully received my passport some 4 weeks after sending it to the office.
Flash forward to this past week. Again, I am left to bring together the visas of the passport world, so that I may be granted multiple entries into the Chinese mainland over the next 12 months.
I feared for my passport. I could never let my poor identification bookelet go for another run around the Fed-Ex abyss -- it would prove to be too painful.
Melodrama aside, I did want my visa in a more timely fashion this time. After all, this is China - if they can take care of more than $830 trillion in American debt, then they surely could take care of my passport, no?
Much to my satisfaction, the Consulate General lived up to expectations. The system was well thought out, well executed and easy to complete. Filling out a simple two-page form, available for download from a easy-to-navigate Web site, took no more than 10 minutes. I arrived to find a waiting room where I was greeted by an über-number-taker machine, with three buttons, each for different Consulate General-related tasks. I pressed the visa button a received a printout of a letter and number combination: "A136."
We were at A100 when I walked in, and my immediate first thought was: "36 numbers? That takes 45 minutes at In-n-out." I had an hour to spend, and was pleasantly surprised when the numbers began flying by. Twenty-two minutes later, it was my turn, as I was called to "Window #4" by the automated female voice that will forever be engrained in my memory, for it never ceased to be blaring over the waiting room loudspeaker. Just in case I had gone deaf from the previous 21 minutes of called numbers, a large ticker showed me the numbers being currently served.
A short glance-over of my paperwork by the attendant and one pink receipt for my passport later, I was done. My passport will be ready for pickup this week, I'll pay upon receipt of the visa.
Everything was organized, it was wonderful. There is truly something to be said for solid organization, and I'm looking forward to more first hand experience with China's attempts next semester.
My run-in with the Cinese embassy also led me to a different realization on the broader meaning of organizational unity: it permeates society - and more specifically - Chinese society. All too often, Americans are off arguing over which party they are a part of, instead of finding unified policies. Yes, it's easy to call for, but unity (while at the cost of some of their Government's reputation) has allowed China to announce scores of new development projects and policies ranging from massive investments in industry and infrastructure, to hosting Olympic competition, to simply holding a steady 10% GDP growth rate for an absurd number of years.
My run-in with the Cinese embassy also led me to a different realization on the broader meaning of organizational unity: it permeates society - and more specifically - Chinese society. All too often, Americans are off arguing over which party they are a part of, instead of finding unified policies. Yes, it's easy to call for, but unity (while at the cost of some of their Government's reputation) has allowed China to announce scores of new development projects and policies ranging from massive investments in industry and infrastructure, to hosting Olympic competition, to simply holding a steady 10% GDP growth rate for an absurd number of years.
I'm not suggesting the American political system attempt to be China's political system, nor that of Tanzania, as that is both impossible and unwise. All I'm asking is that we see the value of organization and unity, and begin to give it priority over our trivialities.
Staples said it best: "That was easy."
I'm glad to hear that you had a great experience with the Chinese consulate and found that, at least with the LA Consulate General's office. I agree that sometimes there are aspects of the American political system that could stand to gain from increased organization and unification.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with China is that while some units are well-organized and functional, many, many, MANY, are not. I wish I could tell you that in your time abroad in China that every bureaucratic office functioned with such efficiency, but this is so far from the truth. While there are problems abound within governmental units (my mom had to transfer a property deed in Beijing last summer and it was a nightmare), it is even more common that in private enterprise, the way that things are done.. can be infuriating.
Anyway, nonetheless, I am sure you will enjoy your time in China, especially in Hong Kong!
Thanks for the thoughtful response! I'm sure I'll have to confront my fair share of inefficiencies. Every country has them. It seems that they have figured out the easy tasks, according to your in-the-field report, which will probably lead to some interesting interactions next semester. I'll just have to see what happens, but for now, my fleeting sense of American inferiority has been at least diminished a little.
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