I want to get a tourist visum for China, but my alien registration card is valid until 31-03-2012.

Hello, I am a Dutch student currently studying in Seoul, Korea. I have plans to travel to China after my exchange period in South-Korea and therefore will need to obtain a tourist visum here in Korea. However, my alien registration card is only valid until 31-03-2012 (from 02-09-2011) and this would mean I couldn't get a visum, right? What options do I have? The flight has already been booked for very long, since I will be visiting family of my girlfriend (who will meet me there). I will not be returning to Korea afterwards, I will fly from Seoul to Shanghai on the 17th and then I'd fly back to the Netherlands (my home country) from Shanghai on January 7. I was not able to get a visum back home in the Netherlands, due to the fact that the visum would only be valid for three months and my stay in Korea alone was more than three months. If required, I can present a detailed travel schedule and contact information for the people we will be staying at.

What are my options? Is it possible to prolong my foreign registration card?