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The police station

 Yang, the visa officer from EF, was added on my WeChat and I had the day off reserved to register at the police station for my full working z-visa. While in Shanghai I had undergone a full medical check with the rest of my cohort, which seemed to be more of a 'song and dance' rather than anything considered a 'check'. 

A medical check in China is very systematic. Getting into a dressing gown and following the footprints on the floor, going from station to station, with around eight in total only took around 40 minutes. I had no idea what they were checking for, the paper with all the check boxes made the process look detailed. There's the chest X-Ray, followed by a station with a lady patting my back, another feeling my stomach, taking my blood pressure, and then also checking my eyesight, as well as a blood test. Undergoing a blood test was difficult for me, the last two times I had fainted in the hospital, as I'm terrified of needles and seeing the sight of my own blood. This time, I just had to 'deal with it' and try not to embarrass myself by fainting. 

The document for the medical check was given to Yang, who brought it with her to the police station. It was in Chinese so I had no idea what it meant, but I'm assuming I passed. I met her at the EF centre and she got a taxi to what appeared to be government offices, not really a police station. After walking through various corridors, Yang found a Chinese lady, who I'm assuming told her that this was not the police station, as she called another taxi. This involved another forty minute taxi ride, but eventually we ended up in a building with what appeared to be Chinese police officers. Visa offices, in the East of China, all seemed to be on the second floor, so we proceeded to get a ticket and wait until our number was called. Once our number was called, we proceeded to the cubicle with the officer dressed in formal attire, and he seemed to speak a little English, as I said 'hello' and smiled cheerfully. I was surprised to find that he also replied 'Hello' and smiled back, very much in contrast to the Chinese immigration officers at the embassy in Manchester. Though I took their 'serious' stoic expressions to simply be 'part of their charm', so I always tried to make the effort to be warm and inviting. 

My passport was submitted to the police office, which Yang would give back to me with the z-visa glued in, in one month's time. I wasn't sure why the police needed it so long. During this month, I was nervous about the fact that I was stuck in Hangzhou, if not China, and couldn't leave in case I wanted to go home. I was told that I could get my passport back during this time to travel, or alternatively travel within China via train or plane using the receipt given from the police station as a 'supplement' passport document, though not outside China. I became accustomed to police station visits, as this became part of a yearly routine, and totally normal....

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