SHANGHIA THREE NIGHT STAY

You are right about the London Chinese embassy not knowing anything about the 144 hour transit visa. They said exactly the same to me which I found ridiculous. The woman at the counter told me the 144 hour transit visa doesn’t exist. She took offence when I told her I knew she was wrong. I know for definite she was wrong as my daughter was in Shanghai 3 weeks ago and entered on the 144 hours visa. Unbelievable that the Chinese application office in London didn’t know this. OR it has a policy of denial/misleading tourists so that it makes more money from tourists applying for entry permits.
Barbara I think you are covered by the 144 hour transit visa as you are arriving from Hong Kong but going home via another country.

No, Lucy, you are wrong and the embassy is correct. There is no such thing as a 144 hour transit visa, and the embassy were totally right to tell you that it doesn't exist. What you are talking about is a "transit WITHOUT visa". "Without visa" obviously means that it is not an entry permit, and hence there is nothing to apply for and it's nothing that the embassy can provide you with. The embassy can issue a transit G, but that is legally something totally different. So your rant against the embassy is completely unjustified, because you obviously don't know what you're talking about.

Edmund, you are absolutely right and I stand corrected. I am a mere tourist and happily admit I know absolutely nothing about Chinese entry permits, probably like the vast majority of tourists applying for a first entry permit. The embassy however should be experienced in dealing with idiots like me and should have known what I was referring to. When I asked about a 144 hour transit visa in Shanghai it should have been obvious I meant 144 hours free transit. I can’t be the only person that’s asked about it at their London processing center........

Asking the embassies about immigration rules is really no better than asking a donkey. These staff are trained to issue visas and care about little else because embassies are not responsible for entry rules. To make things worse, immigration control in China is a provincial responsibility and most don't even offer English websites. The most reliable way (even in 2017) is still to call the responsible immigration inspection station for confirmation.