VOA

You can visit and stay in Shenzhen Special Ecomonic Zone by obtaining a 5 day Shenzhen VOA. This is not a problem and is totally doable. You can take a ferry from Macau to Shenzhen Shekou port where you will be able to obtain a Shenzhen VOA. Please, just take care about the opening hours of Shenzhen VOA facility at Shekou port that is 9:00 - 13:00 & 14:30 - 17:00.

In order to reach Guangzhou, you cannot use any kind of VOA. Simply speaking, there is no VOA that could be used to reach Guangzhou. Anyway, you have two options how to see and stay in Guangzhou without obtaining a usual Chinese visa:

1. You can book one of the tours departing very often to the area of Guangzhou and if they are organized by authorized Hong Kong or Macau travel agencies, you can rely on 6 day visa exemption for tourists to Pearl River Delta. I don't know if such an option would be suitable for you because you would be required to roughly follow the tour program.

2. You can use 144 hour visa free transit. In order to do this, you would have to fly from Hong Kong to Guangzhou, stay there for up to 6 days and after that return to Macau. Your itinerary has to be:

Hong Kong - Guangzhou - Macau

In order to return to Macau you would have to book a ferry from Shenzhen Shekou to Macau in advance and bring an e-confirmation with you. This would allow you 6 days visa free in Guangzhou and the surroundings and Macau after that. From Macau you can take a ferry, as mentioned in the first place and obtain a Shenzhen VOA.

In reality, your itinerary would be as following:

Hong Kong - by air - Guangzhou - by train - Shenzhen - by ferry - Macau - by ferry - Shenzhen - by plane - Europe

Please, keep in mind that the plane from Shenzhen has to fly on direct, nonstop flight out of mainland China.

What if I fly from Europe direct to Guangzhou , get 144 hrs. free transit visa ( I can stay only 4 days right ? ) then take a ferry to Macau from Shenzhen (Shekou port , buy ticket in advance right ? ) , from Macau ferry to Shenzhen ( Shekou port ) , get 5 days VOA and from there take ferry to SkyPort in HK for a flight back to Europe . It should work right ? Thanks

Part one:

Mike, your plan is 100% eligible and doable. Anyway, just a few details:

- You are allowed to stay 6 days within Guangdong province (this is the province where Guangzhou, Shenzhen and many other cities are). In reality, the first day of your allowed 6 days starts at midnight after your arrival
- You will take a ferry from Shenzhen Shekou port to Macau and you definitely have to book this ferry at TurboJet ferry website and print out the e-confirmation that you will receive in your email. This e-confirmation is a proof that you will really transit through Guangdong province. Please, keep in mind that you really have to take exactly that ferry you have booked your ticket for.
- You should take in consideration the opening hours of Shekou port for issuing Shenzhen VOA. They are: 9:00 - 13:00 & 14:30 - 17:00. So, keep in mind this detail in mind when you will depart from Macau to Shekou
- You can definitely book a ferry from Shekou to HKIA Skypier and that is the best solution in case if you intend to fly immediately from Hong Kong after your stay in Shenzhen
- I know you have written that you will arrive in Guangzhou by direct flight from Europe, but I will once again, just for any case, tell you that you are not allowed to have any additional stop of any kind within mainland China. People sometimes think that it is fine to fly on a flight, for example, Vienna - Urumqi - Guangzhou because they consider the landing in Urumqi as a technical. This is not a case and this is not allowed. Your flight to Guangzhou should not have and kind of additional landing. I know that I'm probably boring repeating this, but this is definitely crucial.

Part two:

You should also have in mind that you will declare in Europe at check-in that you will travel to Macau via Guangzhou using 144 hour visa free transit. In case if you realize that the member of airport staff is not familiar with this details, you will just suggest them to consult Timatic where it is clearly written that both Guangzhou airport and Shenzhen Shekou port are eligible entry/exit ports for visa free transit in Guangdong province.

This is definitely well organized plan.

Thank you

Is it safe to use Hong Kong International Airport at SKYPORT for either departing or arrival only and then take the ferry ?

Of course it is safe. The only detail you should be certain about is whether your airline is among those who are eligible to use the Skypier (the ferry). There are several airlines that do not have an agreement with HKIA in this regard and consequently their passengers are not eligible to use Skypier for arrival or departure. You should be aware that in case that you plan to use the ferry from Shekou to HKIA Skypier, you will have to present your flight ticket for an eligible airline. In reality, the ferries that depart for Skypier are exclusively intended for the passengers with the flight tickets going out of HKIA to a third country. Also, by using a Skypier, you bypass Hong Kong immigration and in reality cross only mainland Chinese immigration in Shekou and after that an immigration of the country where you will arrive with your flight from HKIA.