Indonesian having 11 hours of transit before proceeding to the 3rd country

In case that I have understood properly, you plan to travel the route Indonesia - China - Indonesia. If I am right, you have to obtain Chinese visa before your travel because this is not a travel to the third country, but just a return ticket or better to say a visit to China.

Here you have just described your travel starting in Shanghai in China via Guangzhou, the same in China on your way to Jakarta. Here we have just two countries, hence no transit and no transit TWOV.

Please, I would suggest you to provide a bit more details in order to get some reasonable answers.

hi, thanks for your quick response.

Yes, i will be traveling as a tourist to China. Flight is from Jakarta - Shanghai (direct flight) ,

but as for returning back to Jakarta from Shanghai, the airlines will do the transit in Guangzhou first , it becomes Shanghai - Guangzhou (transit for 10 hours) - Jakarta.

Hence since i am holding a chinese visa, am i eligible to come out from Guangzhou airport for a while during my transit (before my departure back to Jakarta) to visit Canton tower & try local eateries there?

Is your flight between Shanghai and Guangzhou a domestic one, so you are flying on separate tickets from Shanghai and Guangzhou and from Guangzhou to Jakarta or are you flying on through ticket. To make it short, could you present the details of your flight Shanghai - Guangzhou - Jakarta, please with times and flight numbers, for example CZ9306 or similar... This is essential to supply you with relevant answer.

Could you supply us with the details of your Shanghai to Jakarta flight via Guangzhou. I somewhat assume that you will be flying with China Southern. Also, if I'm right, you first flight is probably a domestic one although they will allow you to check your luggage all the way to Jakarta. Please, just present these details (like flight codes CZ3524 or something) and I hope the answer will be a definite one.

Hi, you are right! i will be traveling with China Southern Airlines.

As of now, my plan is to return from Shanghai to Jakarta via Guangzhou by CZ3585 (Shanghai-Guangzhou, arriving to Guangzhou at 9.40PM), and will be having 11 hours of transit in Guangzhou, then continue again with CZ3037 from Guangzhou to Jakarta in the early morning the next day.

Hence,
- may i know what time does the canton tower lights will be off?
- is there any street food or restaurant still open in the midnight?
- how about the subway/metro operation hours there?

Thanks!

Nathania, the website obviously does not allow me to post my answer as one post because it is probably too long, so I will break it in two parts.

Part one:

To conclude... Your first flight is domestic one by every definition, although, I suppose, but cannot guarantee that China Southern will check your luggage until Jakarta. You have to check this detail at the check-in in Shanghai to be sure whether they will check your luggage for the entire trip or you will have to collect your luggage once you arrive in Guangzhou and make a check-in again for the second part of your journey. Both your arrival and your departing flights use Guangzhou terminal number 2.

Regardless of the fact whether your luggage will be checked all the way to Jakarta and regardless of the fact whether you will receive both boarding passes or not, you will be able to exit the airport in Guangzhou. So, you will not cross the country border in Shanghai because you will be traveling domestic flight that begins and terminates within the mainland China. Your final and irreversible exit (border crossing) from China will happen in Guangzhou just before your flight from Guangzhou to Jakarta.

Part two:

Now, keep the following detail in mind. After the landing in Guangzhou, just head toward the exit and don't even try to follow signs that show transit, transfer or whatever might be written. Look for exit and exit only. Like this, you will exit the airport without bothering yourself about passport or any other control because you came from mainland China and you have arrived in mainland China. In case that you have to collect your luggage, you will do that and immediately try to make a check-in. In better case, that your luggage is checked for the entire trip, just catch the first metro, line 3 that will bring you directly to Canton Tower metro station.

Basically, your journey is not exactly a transit type that we are talking about on this website because you will depart from China, have a layover in China and leave China in Guangzhou. So, your visa is valid until your border crossing at Guangzhou airport.

Hi Zupan.

Thanks so much for your super kind explanation towards my questions, now i understand clearly if doing the layover in Guangzhou is allowing me to exit the Guangzhou airport during my layover since i have hold a chinese visa prior. Have a good day there!