2014
Apparently they put new restrictions into effect that I wasn’t aware of, because they’re different from what’s on the official website:
Guangdong Province – note: we will update this section after we get a chance to review the new sections in TIMATIC, which are a bit confusing, but the gist of it is that you can enter China in Guangdong by air (only CAN, SWA, and SZX), travel throughout the province during the course of 144 hours, and depart from a much longer list of airports and land borders, but you can’t depart for HK or Macau if you arrive at SZX.
So basically, had I landed at CAN or SWA, I would have been good to go but since I landed at Shenzhen, I’m kind of screwed.
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Yea, I’d believe that. On a side note visa runs to HK are also disallowed to get a SZ work visa, (but the same visa run is allowed for every other local government in China).
Quite Puzzling because even Local Chinese news reports that you can leave from ANY of the 32 ports, even if you enter at SZX:
http://www.sznews.com/news/content/2019-05/02/content_21711858.htm
过境外国人可选择从深圳宝安机场等三个空港口岸中的任一口岸入境，从广东省具备客运功能的32个对外开放口岸中的任一口岸出境，实现空港、陆空、海空口岸联动。
(Foreigners who are transiting can choose to enter from any of the three airports including Shenzhen Bao’an International and depart from any of the 32 ports open to the public in Guangdong Province.
Maybe it’s due to all the unrest going on in HK at the moment. Who knows.
This is normal their visa policy changes so much, that even the people who work there don’t have a clue. But when you leave China, nobody really cares where you go, as long as you leave.
In my experience the flight check in staff sometimes make up regulations on the spot, so if the ‘they’ in your earlier posts are the flight check in staff then no major surprise. And of course that is a very real problem when you have paid for the flight but they wont hand over the ticket.
As for the border guards, highly unlikely that you would be turned back, but perhaps could be sent on your way with a note on the record.
If they give you some problem when leaving, just stay calm and show them the website, which clearly state you are allowed to leave any of the 32 ports.
As for the border guards, highly unlikely that you would be turned back, but perhaps could be sent on your way with a note on the record.
“They” in Taiwan did refer to the flight check-in staff. But when I arrived in SZX, the immigration officer said the same thing but didn’t really elaborate and just said that I wasn’t allowed to go to Hong Kong.
I would like to avoid getting a note on my record,since I will likely need to be be back in 6 to 8 months time. Of course by then, I will hopefully be able to apply for a proper Visa. This whole thing was a bureaucratic clusterfuck because I was applying for my 台灣地區居留證 at the time, so I didn’t have a proper Foreigner ARC like I did a few months ago; hence travel agencies wouldn’t prepare my documents.
In my experience in Taiwan, every time I’ve always been hassled about a return ticket even if the country I’m going to allows in Americans visa-free (Hong Kong, Macau, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia). If I fly China Airlines back to Taiwan, I will get hassled and they’ll try and get me to buy an onward flight even if I have a valid work permit and ARC.
Strange, that you wouldn’t be allowed to go back to HK. I always arrive at Guangzhou airport, never heard about that.
I feel your pain. Been there.
As for airlines China airlines, no complaints actually surprisingly lax in my experience.
Eva gave us a wind up once, and another time made me buy an onward ticket. It wasn’t Taiwanese check in staff both times. On a positive note the refund did arrive when I cancelled the flight later
I think the problem is going from SZX and then taking the ferry to HKG. According to some sources, the rules have changed for transiting in the manner.
I’ve done Taiwan Shanghai Hong Kong before.
They actually pulled me over in Shanghai , checked it for twenty minutes but was good to go.
HK and Macau and Taiwan are third destinations.
It always has to be three separate cuStoms destinations.
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I don’t think it would be a problem to go back to Hong Kong even if you land in Shenzhen. Maybe they just give you the wrong information. Otherwise every website explaining the 144 visa exemption would be wrong. Maybe you are not allowed to take the ferry szx to hkg, because you are not in transit, when you want to take it?
if you consider your-shelf to be ‘goods’ yes 
According to the Guangdong Provincial Police department, leaving through Shekou is permitted, I posted the link up there somewhere, so for the sake of not clogging things up I won’t post the same thing twice.
Even on China Southern Airline’s own website (the carrier I flew with), they say that leaving through the Shekou Port is allowed. It’s the fourth one on that site.
https://www.csair.com/en/tourguide/transit_flow/flightsTwo_hub/72_hour_stay/
problem resolved then?
Supposedly the rules have changed since they wrote that, and it was just never updated. Or so I was told in both Taipei and Shenzhen airports. Now they claim that while landing at Shenzhen, you may not proceed onward to Hong Kong no matter what. This sounds awfully specific.
I looked it up on United’s TIMATIC and it says this:
Nationals of USA with a confirmed onward air, cruise or train ticket to a third country within 144 hours, starting from 00:01 on the day following the day of entry. They must:
- arrive at one of the following airports: Guangzhou (CAN), Shantou (SWA) or Shenzhen (SZX); and
- depart from one of the following locations: Guangzhou (CAN), Meixian (MXZ), Shantou (SWA), Shenzhen (SZX), Zhanjiang (ZHA), Dongguan Humen Sea Port, Dongguan Railway Port, Doumen Sea Port, Foshan Gaoming Sea Port, Foshan Railway Port, Guangzhou Sea Port, Guangzhou Tianhe Railway Port, Heshan Sea Port, Jiuzhou Sea Port, Jiangmen Sea Port, Lianhuashan Sea Port, Nansha Sea Port, Rongqi Sea Port, Shekou Sea Port, Shenzhen Airport Support Sea Port, Shenzhen Bay Port, Shenzhen Futian Port, Shenzhen Huanggang Port, Shenzhen Luohu Port, Shenzhen Shatoujiao Port, Shenzhen Wenjindu Port, Wanchai Sea Port, Wanshan Sea Port, Zhaoqing Railway Port, Zhongshan Sea Port, Zhuhai Gongbei Port or Zhuhai Hengqin Port; and
- have documents required for the next destination.
But on flyer talk they also seem to confirm that in Shenzhen, they don’t consider Hong Kong as a proper onward destination for whatever reason. The best I can do is to try and board, I suppose. But I don’t necessarily want to be barred if I need to be back for work or business.
Probably, I recon you will be ok
You are much better off discussing how this works over at flyertalk as there is a much larger pool of folks who handle this situation posting on that site.
If you can, come back and let us know how things work.
Guy
We should probably note that any train to or from (or within) HK might be canceled on short notice, these days.