Since the visa application process can vary from country to country one of the most useful resources will be the Chinese embassy or consulate nearest you.

Below are listings of both Chinese embassies and consulates abroad as well as foreign embassies and consulates within China.

If you’re country isn’t listed try the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs to find Chinese embassies and consulates in your country.

China - Ministry of Foreign Affairs-中国外交部

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has lots of information on China’s foreign policies and international relationships.

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs 中国外交部

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs list of Missions Overseas 中国外交部驻外机构名单 - If your country’s  embassy isn’t listed on our site then check this list to find a Chinese embassy near you.

Australia-澳大利亚

Chinese Embassy in Australia 中国跓澳大使馆

Australian Embassy in China 澳大利亚跓中国大使馆

Australian Consulate in Hong Kong 澳大利亚跓香港领事馆

Australian Consulate in Shanghai, China 澳大利亚跓中国上海领事馆

Australian Consulate in Guangzhou, China  澳大利亚跓中国广州领事馆

Canada-加拿大

Chinese Embassy in Canada  中国跓加大使馆

Chinese Consulates in Canada 　中国跓加领事馆 - There are consulates in Calgary, Vancouver and Toronto

Canadian Embassy in China 加拿大跓中国大使馆          

UK-英国

Chinese Embassy in the United Kingdom 中国跓英大使馆

British Embassy and Consulates in China 英国跓中国大使馆和领事馆

USA-美国

Chinese Embassy in USA 中国跓美国大使馆

Chinese Consulates in USA 中国驻美国领事馆

Chicago 芝加哥
New York 纽约
Houston 休斯顿
San Francisco 旧金山
Los Angeles 洛杉矶

United States Embassy and Consulates in China 美国驻中国大使馆和领事馆

New Zealand-新西兰

Chinese Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand 中国跓新西兰惠灵顿大使馆

Chinese Consulate in Auckland, New Zealand 中国跓新西兰奥克兰领事馆

New Zealand Embassy in China  新西兰跓中国大使馆

The pictures below illustrate a typical formal meal for six from start to finish.  These dishes were served in a Hunan-style restaurant in Nanjing Celebrity City Hotel on Chinese New Years, 2007.  The meal took place in a private room at a round table.
 
A meal starts with a toast given by the host.  Toasts continue throughout the meal with individuals, couples or families toasting other individuals, couples or families.  This meal was a family meal so only one bottle of red wine was consumed.  A business meal would almost certainly involve much more alcohol.
 
Appetizers are always served first. Ideally there should be a variety of flavors represented such as sweet, salty, bitter and/or spicy.  At the beginning of this feast there was spicy tripe with peanuts, cucumber with garlic, spicy jelly, the famous Nanjing Salty Duck, red dates and preserved duck eggs.

 
One or two soups should be served during a meal. A soup is often the largest most elaborate dish, but in this case it was not.  The soup on the top right of the photo below contains fish, eggs, carrot and bamboo.

 
The server’s job is to stand nearby and wait for some of the existing dishes to be at least partially eaten before bringing out the next round.

 
A typical meal will contain one or more signature dishes.  This restaurant featured a dish of duck's foot and abalone all covered in abalone sauce.  Dishes are usually placed in the middle of the table for all to share, but this specific dish was served on a plate - one for each guest.

 
New dishes are served as the ones already on the table are eaten. The new dishes in the picture are beef with spicy green peppers (bottom-left), spicy goose with garlic (top-left) and beans mixed with peppers and pork (top-right).

 
Several minutes later fish (左口鱼, zuǒkǒuyú ) and lobsters cut lengthwise were served. 

 
The 10-inch long lobsters are covered in garlic and onion.


After most of the main dishes are served it is common to have some snacks, noodles, or rice. In this case we enjoyed some small snacks and green vegetables.

 
Soup featuring pork and corn was the final dish of the evening.

 
Watermelon or other fruits are very commonly served for dessert.

 
In a feast like this not everything is eaten. In fact it can be quite a challenge to finish all of the dishes at a typical Chinese meal. Chinese hosts often order too many dishes with little reason other than to offer their guests a wide variety of choices and ensure an excellent meal. Guests may choose to bring the leftovers home with them.