The city of Shanghai, on the central coast in eastern China, increased the period of its visa-free stays from 72 hours to 144 hours on Jan. 30, 2016. This extension applies to travelers entering at an airport or cruise port and includes the outlying cities of Hangzhou and Nanjing. In Shanghai, specifically, though a traveler’s visit begins upon his arrival, the 144-hour time limit doesn’t start counting down until 12 midnight following his arrival.
Departing every half hour for the 30-mile trip from Edinburgh to Tweedbank along Scotland’s southeastern border with England, the Borders Railway, operated by ScotRail (phone +44 0 344 811 01 41, www.scotrail.co.uk), started service in September 2015.
The new route runs through the Scottish Borders area, with stops at Galashiels, Stow, Gorebridge, Newtongrange, Eskbank and Shawfair. With hop-on/hop-off privileges, a same-day round-trip ticket from Edinburgh to Tweedbank costs £16 (near $25) and a one-way ticket, £10. Purchase tickets at a station or ahead of time online.
Under the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP), citizens of participating countries are allowed to visit the US without first applying for visas. Each must first fill out the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) form online and receive approval before traveling to the US (whereas, in contrast, a visa must be applied for at a consulate). The ESTA application can be found at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta.
At press time, Sweden’s national rail operator, SJ, was planning to stop rail service to and from Denmark on Jan. 4, 2016, saying it didn’t have the manpower to comply with a new Swedish law requiring that all travelers to Sweden have their IDs checked.
Sweden’s government has temporarily suspended its participation in Europe’s Schengen Agreement, which allows for open borders between 26 participating countries, in order to stem the flow of refugees into the country. More than 150,000 refugees applied for asylum in Sweden in 2015.
From June 1 through Sept. 18, 2016, Brazil is offering US and Canadian travelers visa-free entry for stays of up to 90 days to encourage attendance at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Aug. 5-21. Having tickets to Olympic events is not necessary to take advantage of the offer. Normally, a tourist visa for Brazil costs a US citizen $160 and can take up to 60 days to process.
Dear Globetrotter:
Welcome to the 480th issue of your monthly foreign travel magazine.
Divide that number by 12 and you’ll see that, with this issue, ITN has been in publication for 40 years!
Visiting wine regions is a hobby of ours, not only for the wine but because vineyards tend to occupy some of the world’s most beautiful places. As Californians, we also appreciate the nexus between the grapes grown in our state and the same grapes grown in their country of origin.
I saw the item stating that travelers no longer will be able to get pages added to their US passports after Dec. 31, 2015 (Aug. ’15, pg. 58).
While serving as a volunteer for Travelers Aid International (www.travelersaid.org)* at Washington Dulles International Airport in 2012, I heard about a case in which Immigration agents in South Africa had refused to check in a passenger who didn’t have enough blank pages (six, I think) in his/her passport.**
North and South Korea exchanged fire across the western part of the demilitarized zone on Aug. 20.
The salvo began after a rocket fired from North Korea toward the South Korean town of Yeoncheon landed in an uninhabited area. The South Korean military responded by firing dozens of artillery shells toward the suspected origin of the rocket. There were no casualties reported by either nation, but at least 80 South Korean civilians were evacuated, with hundreds of others told to take shelter.
Philip Wagenaar keeps Immigration officers from using up his passport pages too quickly by putting rubber bands around the blank pages he doesn’t want stamped (Aug. ’15, pg. 49).
I’ve been putting colorful sticky notes on pages I don’t want stamped. I remove them as I need to to free up more pages to be stamped.
I’ve had no complaints from officials, but once in a while I’ve caught an agent lifting some notes up to peek underneath!
PAMELA SANBORN
Mesa, AZ