US citizen living here getting travel visa for China?

honestly the visaforchina site is legit, it's the official outsourced visa center for china in japan. i've done the process twice from tokyo and it's pretty straightforward

for december you're fine timewise as long as you get an appointment soon. the slots open up about a month out and they go quick. i'd check the site every morning around 9am when they refresh. regular processing is like 4-5 business days so if you go mid-november you'll have your passport back by early december easy

the hk thing is worth considering too if you just want a quick trip. 72 hour visa-free transit is real but you need a confirmed onward ticket out of hk within those 3 days. i've done it and it's chill but you're limited to hk itself, can't cross into mainland china from there unless you have the full visa already

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oh also worth mentioning - if you're a us citizen the visa is valid for 10 years but they'll only give you 60 or 90 day stays at a time. i've seen people assume they can just stay for months on end and get surprised at the border

for the appointment itself, the roppongi office has a weird rule where you can't bring bags larger than A4 through security. there's a coin locker area but it fills up fast. pack light or leave your backpack at home

one last thing - the new year holiday in china is around jan 1 so the center might close for a few days. if you're applying in december check their holiday calendar first, wouldn't want your passport stuck there over the break

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since you're a us citizen living here with a zairyu card, the process is actually easier than if you were applying from the states. the center in roppongi handles all the paperwork and they're used to foreigners who live in japan, so it's less of a headache than dealing with the embassy directly

for december travel i'd book your appointment for late november, the slots open 4 weeks out at 9am sharp. the 15k yen fee is for us citizens specifically, and they only take cash. there's a seven bank atm in the building lobby if you forget

the photo thing is real though - i've seen people get sent to the konbini downstairs to retake theirs. just use the photo booth at the center itself for 800 yen, it's not worth the hassle of saving 600 yen and getting rejected

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if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping

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kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.

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tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.

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