Bureaucracy sucks in every country.

Shaking head.

China defender bullshit - take a hiker!

People who think I "hate" all Chinese are wrong. As for HK and Taiwan, I have no
problem with them, although even some HK Chinese and Taiwan people are uncultured and
rude also.

I think mainland Chinese would be a lot better off if they were not so brainwashed by their
evil government. I know some of them can see right through the bullshit, they are in the
minority however.

One thing is for sure, foreigners in China who support crappy ESL businesses or the Chinese
government certainly ARE sell-outs!

Agreed! I think you'll find the short post below, from another ESL website, rather entertaining and informative, as well as ironic. I think it is contextual to what you and I have been saying re stupid visa regs in China. The relevant link is next:

http://raoulschinasaloon.com/index.php?PHPSESSID=9o06kq8gj6c7246hjhd3d0iog5&topic=9605.msg175568#msg175568

"I was slapped with the five year rule a while back. It was right after the minions in Mordor retired the last Dark Lord and the National Council of Ring-Wraiths elected a new Dark Lord. I am sure you saw the big ceremony on CCT9. Anyway, all the minions were then terribly afraid of losing their job and thus became, for the first time in their existence, extremely effective. My university, which has been around since 1955, was suddenly told that there was a 5-year-rule and they were mildly surprised. It so happens that when a flurry of anal-rentiveness hits China, the suited kobolds in the hallowed halls of government gets it real bad. So what my uni did was get the top Beholder to sign a letter to the effect that I am a valued slave and my services are much needed. Then I had to go home and apply for a visa, with letter and such, and then I came back and the clock was reset. So I have another 5 years. The land of Mordor is not very well organized and the chief Uruk-Hai's are not all in agreement about the rules. So, in my humble opinion, if the mid-level hobgoblin in charge of renewing sputters some gibberish about rules, then it is an excuse. In Mordor this is often the case. As most of the lower level goblins, kobolds, perambulating sime molds and the occasional zombie are all taught to employ a sinister and complicated form of Orwellian double-speak it can be difficult to figure out their true motives. However, in one is not a native to Mordor, it is my experience that the "It is the rule that...blahblahblah" usually means they are lying but believe as you do not read or speak Mordorian there is no way you can possibly root out the truth."