Has anyone travelled to Nepal via China (Sanghai/Kunming)? Transit in India/China is pretty lengthy but China seems to be a lot cheaper, I mean 300$ cheap. Seems like a fair deal if there's not much hassle. Could anyone share his/her experience.

Thanks in advance.

PS: Planning on going sometimes in July in case anyone has any specific suggestion.

 check www.cheapoair.com

last time i checked, they had ticket for under $1000 roundtrip to Nepal through China Eastern.

900 bhane mapani pug era aaouncho

maile priceline bata leko ho. cheapoair ma bhanda tesma sasto vetya jasto lagyo (or the same). I got it for 884$ one way (had my reasons). Cheapoair bata ekchoti flight cancel vako experience vayeko huda that was not my first preferance. Will see about booking a hotel. Thanks.

Ticket kindako process (mine not be the best)
- websites: bing (i like the price trend it has [might be just for national]), cheapoair(usually cheap), studentuniverse (as a student, and they have a table showing price variation over a range of arrival/departure), few others
- pick flexible date range (few days could save you some bucks)
- check baggage fees etc. etc. (from experience, last time i didnt and had to pay xtra)
- make sure u get confirmation email, check flight code in airlines official website

Again, this is what I usually do and might not be the best way.

Will definitely share my expericne if it is worth sharing (good/bad). Good luck to you guys as well.

Thanks again. :)

I travelled to Nepal in China Eastern Airlines last year. it is a normal airlines just like any other airlines. Transit visa is not required if the total transit time is less than 24 hours. But you do have to go through Chinese immigration process such as passport stamp in and stamp out, filling and submitting immigration cards etc. You will need to claim the baggage in Transit and then check in again. The transit times are longer than other airlines, but considering low cost, it was worth it for me. I am already planning my second trip in China Eastern Airlines. I have no complaints.

 China Eastern has the cheapest price ticket I saw so far and it is NOT for elderly passengers and people who cannot travel by themselves. The problems with China Eastern going through Kunming to Nepal are:

- Claim baggage and recheck at EVERY layover (Shanghai, Kunming)

- the website of the airlines as well as of the airport is very poorly done in limited english

- you are lucky if an agent picks up the telephone here in the US on their contact number or toll free number

- you are luckier if you can understand the agent's english and get proper, reliable information

- even google translate cannot translate the website of the airport in english which is entirely in Chinese!

- they do not have meal choices like Hindu meal and no personal screen on the back of the seat for passengers even on trans-continental flights

- need to apply for transit visa(~$40) to China for Nepali citizens if they wish to spend a night at hotel during long layover. No on-arrival transit visa

- No transit hotel at Kunming airport

- the layover at Kunming is always overnight (>12 hours) traveling in both directions.

Again their ticket price was almost half compared to other legacy carriers and it is a very good deal for students and people on tight budget but dont even think about buying it for elderly people. Just not worth the hassle!

Thanks for sharing your experience guys. I am also travelling by China Eastern on July 13th from SFO...

Hey guys,

I am back from my trip via china and my experience in one word is - HORRIBLE!!

Do not go through China unless you are prepared for days of dealy (I was stuck in the shithole for 2 days). Srevice was very poor. Nobody seemed to understand/speak english, even at the hotels/airport. Chinese airport have worst record of delays. I even witnessed a brawl (yes physical brawl) at the airport between dealyed locals and flight personals. Food was aweful. Why the hell would I need transit visa for connecting flight?? And I had to carry all my belongings while I was in transit.

Bottom line, If you do not know chinese and are not willing to bear all those hassles, pay extra 2-300$ and fly through different airline.

Good luck.

 thank you kancho for coming back here and giving us your first hand experience traveling through China. all the things that i read on different forums about traveling through China came true through your validation.

thanks again for sharing!

Guys, I am also back from Nepal and had used China Eastern. The only hassle I faced was the check out and check in luggage on every china airport ( meaning in Shanghai and in Kunming). Since I had 14 hrs transit in Kunming, I stayed in a Bangladeshi's guest house that night ( with some nepali friends met on the airport). The fare was just $20 for dinner, accommodation and breakfast the next morning including pick up and drop off from and to the airport. I will also not complain about the food that I got on the plane. On the aiport also wifi is not free but you can go to some café where wifi is free. Some of the cafe's even accept US dollars. So, overall it is not that bad. So don't be confused on the transit visa also.. If you stay more than 24 hrs then you need transit visa otherwise not.

So, is it true that if total time in chinese transit (even if its 2 transit) is less than 24 hours, we do not need to apply for transit visa?

Or do we need one? 

Anybody suggestion, please?

 You can get hassle free and cheaper tickets at www.travelvera.com

sajhafan, yes, that is true, last time I had transit in Shanghai and Kunming. The total transit in China was about 20 hours. I did not have Transit visa from Embassy. When I landed in Shanghai, the Chinese Immigration stamped 24 hour stay permit (valid until next day) on my passport. They give departure card that I had to submit back to immigration before I departed from Kunming. You are not allowed to leave airport with this 24 hour transit visa, so I suggest do not even hang out near the airport exit doors. Sometimes the officers randomly stop and ask questions and it's not easy to explain to them in English. I don't think you can even go to hotel with this visa.

Thank you Everest01 for you quick response.

I called the Chinese embassy and they said that I need transit visa. Then I called Chinese eastern airlines, and they told me I do not need visa. So I was confused.

You mind if I ask you, when did you travel last time? If the rules has been changed since.

Chinese emabssy people are so hard to deal with

Thankx

sajahfan,I travelled around October 2012. I also see the rule in following link. http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/visas/zgqz/t943855.htm

That's the problem. They are hard to deal with and they don't give a shit what you are going through. I had 2 transits - first 4 hrs which got extended to 10 hrs for which I got transit-visa stamped, and the other 12 hrs which was also extended because of delay - 2 days. They didn't tell me I needed another visa when I was sent to the hotel but at the time of departure, they were reluctant. Thankfully, I had chinese speaking nepali friend with me (whom I had met in the hotel). He explained them the story and finally let us through.

Thankx again Everest01 and Bairagikancho for the input.

I have decided to go without transit visa, lets see how it goes. I will update my information, if I got in trouble.

 Chinese airports are notorious for flight delays. Their on time performance is 30%.
Go only if you are desperate or else good priced tickets can be found through advance booking with Qatar, Singapore.

Turkish Airlines recently started their service to Nepal via Istanbul. They are offering discounted ticket for promotion. Also booking in advance with Turkish will get you some good discounts.

Shop around.

sajhafan, I got your mail. Like Everest01 said they will put a stamp on your passport which will be valid for 24 hrs but I disagree on the fact that we cannot go outside. Basically you are already out once the stamp is placed on the passport. I travelled recently ( July - August 2013). After the stamp was placed on my passport, myself with my wife and some frens went to a guest house for that night ( 14 hrs transit in Kunming) and then came to the airport the next morning. One incident I want to share was I forgot my money bag ( $2000) in rest room ( I know pretty funny) in Shanghai...But luckily I got it back ( good citizen turned it back or I don't know) from the police( took foto of handing over and stuff hehe).

Thankx Stylish,

Thats a good news that i can go to the hotel. I will update my information once I get to nepal, so others can benefit from these cheap tickets.

Help garnu bhayako ma sab saathi haru lai dhanyabad cha.

 dont forget to come back and share your experience so others can benefit.