It better happen this time.............

[Jason B]

Well folks the tickets are booked and may the countdown begin........in 22 days I will be back in Shenzhen via Hong Kong. I will be in China from 12FEB-25MAR.  It is a direct flight and my mother is coming with me to attend Xia and my wedding and celebration dinner so all I can say is it had better happen this time.  Mum is only staying for the week 12-19FEB and then we plan to travel around China for the remainder of my time here as a sort of honeymoon and to get the last bits of paper required to submit her application for permanent residency visa.

I have the form in at the moment to get a Single Certificate and pick it up on Monday and then I will take it straight to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to get notarised and whilst I am there I will hand in the paper for our No Impediment to Marriage form to get done at the same time.  Once these are both completed it is off to the Chinese Consulate in Camperdown to get Authenticated by the Chinese Consulate.  Then I will copy the Single Certificate and email it to Xia to take to get translated into Chinese and take the original with me to China.  Then once in China on Monday 14th we will go to Guangzhou to hand in the application for Xia's tourist visa and get another piece of paper about being divorced and am single to marry.

I know it sounds like a lot of running around and it is but after the last trip we are leaving nothing to chance.

[RobertBfrom aust]

We will be waiting with baited breath this time Jason , so as you have left nothing to chance Sujuan and I wish the 2 of you have a very happy day and a lovely honeymoon , and nothing can prepare your Mum for the hustle and bustle of Shenzen .
 I bet she will be welcomed with open arms and wonder in years gone past where she was told all the misinformation about China , regards Sujuan and Robert .

[Rhonald]

Aussie Aussie rules
Glad to hear you finally putting your Footy down and I hope to see more pictures of you carrying your girl "a la specky"

[shaun]

Jason, well it's about time.  Good luck and I hope to hear good reports and stories.

[Jason B]

Well the bag is packed, only thing left to do now is check to make sure I have ALL the papers packed in my carry on luggage (taking no chances) for completing Xia's permanent residency visa and tourist visa and marriage papers.  I will have no time to do it before Friday as I am working up till then, when I will go straight to mums from work and my brother will bring over my bags.  Then on Saturday we will go to the airport to go to Hong Kong.  I can not wait.  The usual anticipation is starting to build up.  I would have thought that after three previous trips that this would have diminished by now, but no and I can not wait to go.

[David E]

Jason
I think Xia would remove some important parts of your anatomy if you did not have every piece of paper necessary to "complete the deal" this time !!
Hope all goes well and you can report mission accomplished sometime in the near future.
My plane will be right behind yours I think...but about half way to China, I will turn left for Phuket  .....and wont get frozen to death in Chengdu !!
I'm at the moment on a mission to buy bikinis for Ming...what a bloody rave...worse than buying lingerie...but at least I get to have some fun with the shop assistants !!!

Good luck...David

[Paul Todd]

Fourth time lucky! Best wishes to Xia and yourself on your upcoming trip..........Little red books on the way!

[RobertBfrom aust]

Have a safe and enjoyable trip this time Jason and we hope to read MISSION ACCOMPLISHED in the near future , and do not forget the photos ha ha , regards Sujuan and Robert.

[shaun]

Have a great trip and a successful mission.

[Bee964]

Jason,

Best of luck to you and Xia! I hope all goes well for you on this journey for you two.

Dave C

[JOHN1964]

good for you Jason,,hope everything goes well for you and xia,
wish it was me going to China again,,Best of luck,,regards from MinYing and John.

[joeswuhandream]

Good luck Jason think you have left no stone untouched
those precious little red books are on there way
happy days regards joey and Sophia

[Jason B]

Thanks guys, the waiting is nearly over  .  Speaking of the red books here is the picture that we had taken last trip and is going to be used for our books.

I will try and update as I can but we will be moving around a fair bit seeing some of China so the access to the internet maybe a bit hit and miss but I will keep a running diary and fill in all the missing chapters (those fit to print in a G rated website anyway ) when I return home.

[Bee964]

Jason,

Update us as you can, when you can. I sincerely hope to get a chance to meet up with you, and anybody else travelling with you, when you come to GZ, if you have the time. I hope you have great success this trip! Good luck and safe and happy journeys!

Dave C

[Jason B]

Hi guys, just a quick update to let you know that I am still alive and enjoying every minute with my LAO PO in China.  I know that I have been very slack updating this trip, but I am sorry to say that she far out weighs anyone on here.  So I will provide a brief update of the trip to this point.

Left Sydney and the weather was warm about 28-30 degrees Celsius.  Just nice and comfortable and upon arrival in Hong Kong it felt like the temp was about -30 although it was about 12-15.  Very cold for me anyway.  Off on the mini van to Shenzhen and to the Holiday Inn Hotel with mum to meet Xia.

After they met it was almost like I was the 3rd wheel.  Insuperable, mum and Xia did everything together and I was the bag holder, picture taker and general hand for them both whilst they did some shopping and looked around.

Then after a day or two we went to Guangzhou and got the final piece of the puzzle a Stat Declaration saying I was free to marry and then to Huizhou and we finally got married on the 16 February 2011.

Then we went back to Hong Kong for the weekend with mum before she flew out to return to Australia.  What a first week this was and a happy man at the end.

Back to Shenzhen after another day in HK and Xia and I started going through the mountain of paperwork required to be able to put in for her permanent residency visa and tourist visa.  Thank God for Starbucks Coffee and their free wi-fi we were able to complete the whole lot of paperwork minus her passport details.  Still awaiting them to get back to us with the new passport, hopefully tomorrow or Monday.  Once this is received off to Guangzhou and the embassy to submit every thing and every piece of paper we have.  They can decide if they want it or not, but they can never say we did not give them anything about our relationship!

After all of this was completed we decided we needed a holiday so off to Beijing for 5 days, Xian (where I am writing this) for 3 days and then to Xia's home town of Cheng Gu for the weekend and then back to Shenzhen with my new mother in law in tow, she is a little over bearing but we get on fine enough.  I will give a complete update on all of Beijing and Xian when I get back home in 15 days time.  Boy where did the time go?  I have been here over a month already and it still feels like I have only been away a week!

I have so much to add about the trip, but the most important thing to come out of it is IT DID HAPPEN THIS TIME.....

Take care everyone I will post pictures and a more comprehensive story when I return to Sydney in about 15 days time........hopefully Xia will be with me with her tourist visa so we can start to establish our family home.

Cheers Jason in Xian.