travelling to hong kong from guangzhou

Question

Hello! My boyfriend (a Spanish boy) and I (a Bulgarian girl) have a return ticket from Seoul with a layover in Guangzhou on 29th of April. Since they made a change on the next flight (Guangzhou-Amsterdam) we were thinking of changing it (free of charge because of the change the airline made) for 2 days later so we have 2 days and a half in China. I was wondering if as European citizens we need to apply for the visa free transit and if yes can we have a day trip to Hong Kong and return to Guangzhou for our return flight?

Borut · Answer

You do not need any kind of visa because your itinerary is eligible for 144 hour visa free transit that is valid for entire Guangdong province. However, you as Bulgarian citizens are not allowed to make a day trip to Hong Kong because when you exit to Hong Kong you cannot return back to Guangzhou because Hong Kong has different immigration rules compared to the mainland China. It is true that your Spanish boyfriend can do that because Spanish citizens are allowed to enter and to stay in mainland China for 15 days visa free. Unfortunately, this detail is not valid for Bulgarian citizen. So, you as Bulgarian citizen can enjoy 144 hour visa free transit, but you cannot exit and return to Guangzhou under this option, You simply have to stay within the borders of Guangdong province. Since your time in Guangzhou is short, I recommend you to find interesting details there and to forget about Hong Kong during your 2 days.

Travelling to Hong Kong from Guangzhou

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