Comments by "Peter Jacobsen" (@pjacobsen1000) on "China set to open its borders to foreign tourists for the first time since Covid-19 pandemic" video.

@billinsf88 These problems are mostly seen in smaller, budget hotels in 3rd and 4th tier cities and small towns. It's not universal, but I have experienced this, too, including in Zhejiang's Quzhou, Changshan, Huzhou. Sometimes there are tricks to deal with it, the receptionist in Quzhou used a friend's ID card to check me in. On the other hand, in Changshan, only one out of 20 hotels I tried would let me in.
1
@billinsf88 Yeah, that probably doesn't happen often. Even so, the problem does exist and it will be a huge improvement if the registration process is made simple and easy for all hotels. I'm not optimistic though, as this problem has been constant for over 15 years.
1
@billinsf88 I hope so, but I have to wonder: Why is this still a problem in China? In pretty much every other country, visitors can stay in the same hotels as locals. In most countries, you just hand over your passport and check in. I haven't heard of any other country where foreign visitors are banned or prevented from staying in certain hotels. It's bizarre, and it has been going on for decades.
1
@billinsf88 Nevertheless, this is common in small cities and towns across the country. And again, why are there even these difficulties in the first place?
1
@billinsf88 "suppose you come to the US and your ID has no English on it". Chinese passports have names written in the alphabet (A,B,C, ect.) "Does your ID has Chinese characters?" My residence permit has, including my Chinese name.
1
@billinsf88 Many times. Police answer has been 'hotel staff is not trained to receive foreigners', or 'the hotel is not approved to receive foreigners'. This despite the fact that there is no law in China requiring hotels to get special approval to receive foreign citizens.
1
@billinsf88 Many times. The answer from police/exit-entry bureau has been 'hotel staff is not trained to receive foreign guests', or 'the hotel is not approved to receive foreign guests'. This despite the fact there is no law in China requiring hotels to apply for prior approval to receive foreign guests.
1
@billinsf88 "A budget motel can’t afford to hire foreign language speakers". So what? Lots of hotels around the world don't have Chinese speakers. That doesn't mean Chinese visitors are banned from staying there. Besides, I have stayed in all sorts of hotels in Vietnam without speaking even a word of Vietnamese. It was never a problem, and it's not a problem anywhere else in the world.
1
@billinsf88 "S. Korea doesn’t revolve around me either." It's not about me, it's about the principle of this kind of apartheid. If it is indeed true that this situation exists in Japan and Korea as well, then that is just as bad and certainly no excuse for what is happening here. Additionally, in China, these hotels are quite happy to receive foreign guests, it's the local authorities that prevent them from doing it.
1
@billinsf88 "why go somewhere were you are not welcome". The hotel staff welcomes me, restaurants, shops, people all welcome me, it is the local authorities that prevent me from staying in certain hotels. "you are pretty demanding". Asking for equal treatment is 'demanding'? I'm not asking for special treatment, I'm asking for equal treatment. Look, we probably won't reach agreement on this issue. You do not see this discrimination as a problem, but I do. Let's leave it at that.
1