I had noticed the "Regent Visa Package" on our invoice, but have not looked into it yet. It is $229 per person for Sydney-Beijing. We know that the cost of the Australian visa is less than $20 US pp. My understanding is that the only other visa we need is for China.

I just went to the Chinese Embassy Web site, and I gather we need to get a Chinese Tourist Visa (an L visa). See Chinese Tourist Visa . It looks like the cost for a single- or double-entry visa is $130 pp. However, it looks like it has to be done by someone in person (not by mail), so whether or not you can do this may depend on whether that is feasible. I do know that when we used the agency that Regent recommended for PANDA, it was more expensive than this--probably in the ballpark of what Regent is charging. If anyone has secured a Chinese visa on their own recently, and my assessment is not correct, please chime in.

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Eugene