Cruising China

[ozskipper]

Just curious to know if anyone here has cruised the chinese coast. Lets face it, they cant be as bad as our govt make out It would be such and amazing country to see.

[rusky]

You know what , I agree - sounds a great place. Trouble is - all the dramas between here and there. Have you got a few places in mind? - pics/google etc

[ozskipper]

No, I haven't really. The thought has stemmed from the idea of cruising sth east asia, then continuing up the coast of Vietnam and across to Haikou, then upward from there. Obviously Hong Kong will be easy enough as it runs its own system. I sailed on hong kong harbour years ago. Busy place.

But the thought of the culture in the less developed coastal towns has opened my curiousness.

I think we in the west are as much to blame for the saber rattling between the west and China. Hopefully, nothing will ever come of it and the country continues to grow and modernize.

Its not on the cruising map per-say. And that makes it more interesting. Everyone does the bahamas or QLD or the Med etc. Its somewhere totally different.

[Seahunter]

Hong Kong southward has a lot of history, but is tough to do without local friends. Speaking some form of Chinese is almost an absolute. But there's a lot to cover the least, visa issues. There's already a thread here; http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ina-63770.html
and good info here: Noonsite: China

[ozskipper]

Hey thanks for those links. Great reading- appreciated

[Randal Johnson]

China does not have, or did not have, a designation for pleasure boats, only commercial boats. My wife and I had a Diesel Duck 462 built at Seahorse Marine in Zhuhai, China from 2005 to 2007. I tried desperately to get permission to take the boat up the Yangtze River when it was completed. I sent emails to every Chinese Marine website I could find that was in English. One day I got a call from a man in New York who said he was an American citizen of Chinese descent that spent about 75% of his time in Shanghai. He was in the process of trying to open a yacht marina there. He said he could help me. All I needed to do was register the boat in China. I learned later that would have cost 17% of the build price.
Someone gave me the idea of getting my congressman involved so I called his office. His office actually took an interest in helping me and contacted the Chinese Embassy in Washington. The embassy replied and wanted me to write a short biography and say why I wanted to do this. I laid it on hot heavy about how much I admired the Chinese workers, which I did, and how much I wanted to help the government develop the cruising industry in their country. I offered to hire a Chinese captain familiar with the river and write the basis for a river guide for the Yangtze.
It took them a year to reply but they said no. Their excuse was the river was not setup for yachting traffic.
My wife and I did do a seven day, 1600 mile, Yangtze River cruise on a 5,000 ton cruise ship from Chongqing to Shanghai which we thoroughly enjoyed.
Randal Johnson
randal462@msn.com

[ozskipper]

wow 17% thats a little hefty. What a shame. I guess it may be another decade or so before they get their act together. I am not a fan of paper work and formalities. Its like nails down a blackboard. I would have given up months before. But thats just me.

Cruising the Yangtze would be an awesome experience.

[Seahunter]

While China is governed by a totalitarian regime, the country and it's people are steadfast socialists with capitalistic hearts. While your average Chinese citizen is really only out for number one, the Chinese people understand their collective soul better than those that live in the west. Now, even as the regime changes guard to a more liberal view of outsiders, the government bureaucracy remains the same; being, there's a fee for everything. With restricted travel zones almost eliminated travel on all the major rivers in China is quite doable. Since foreigners are allowed to own real property, IE apartment, homes, land, cars or boats, one can join the droves of Chinese "yachtsmen" who traverse the rivers and coastal regions.
First, you need to be a consistently reliable Chinese traveler with papers in order. This will take about 4 years. During this time, you could buy a smallish apartment in a coastal town for about $15,000US.
Secondly, once you have purchased and registered your first "real" property; you apply for an open yearly "L" visa (about 200US), or a "Red" D Visa, resident card that allows you as a resident of China to come and go at will.
You can now purchase a boat and nobody will send up the red flag so to speak. The best way is to purchase a boat that's already been built and commissioned and all that needs to be done, is to agree on a price and register your agreement at the local government house (same way you registered your apartment purchase). You are now the proud owner of a Chinese Dhow (or whatever). Even with a "D" Visa, with unrestricted travel in China (except restricted zones), traveling in Chinese waters can be spooky. Navigation rules are different and mixed (with some rules over 3000 years old on some rivers) so it's best to have a local crew member of with more than a little local some knowledge.
9 years in China/Tibet