We were supposed to be in Laos this week...

...during Chinese New Year, taking advantage of Leah's week long school break to travel.  Why Laos, when there are so many interesting destinations here in China?  Big crowds and expensive tickets, that's why.  New Year's week is the worst time all year for foreigners to attempt any in-country trips, given the hundreds of millions of Chinese people who are traveling to their home cities and villages to celebrate the holiday with their extended families.  So our plan had been to leave China and go to Vientiane and Louangphrabang in Laos.
     However, Terry found out about 10 days ago that he wouldn't have his passport back until about Feb. 1.  He had to surrender it for routine scrutiny after his second interview at the Public Security Bureau earlier this month.  This interview was approximately step #700 in the l-o-n -g and time-consuming process of getting a temporary residence permit for our family, a process that he initiated last summer.  This process is taking so long, in fact, that the health certification he got last summer had reached its 6-month expiration.  So a couple weeks ago he had to go to a local hospital and get a health check all over again.  Terry had thought that this would be the last unpleasant surprise in the permit process.  But no.  A few days ago he was told that the notarized copies of our marriage certificate and Leah's birth certificate would not suffice; they need to be "authenticated".  If handled from here, authentication would cost over 7000 RMB, which is over $1000.  Gulp.  Fortunately Terry is going back to the U.S. soon and can authenticate there for considerably less.
     Most foreigners who work here don't bother to get a temporary residence permit. It's not strictly necessary.  But if for some reason the Chinese government should get nervous about foreigners being here, visas could be canceled and we would have to leave China, which would be problematic since Terry's work is China-based right now.  There was a crackdown only a few years ago.  All business visas were canceled here 6 months before the 2008 Olympics.  Only single entry visas were allowed and many applications for these were denied.  A temporary residence permit replaces a visa and makes it much less likely that the holder would have problems traveling in and out of China, even if there are visa crackdowns.  We hope!
     Frustrating and drawn-out as this process of getting a residence permit is, it's understandable that China wants to control who comes into this country to work and do business.  It's said that China is second only to the U.S. in terms of stringent requirements for living and working in their country.  And it takes a lot longer for a foreigner to jump through the work and residency hoops in the U.S. than it takes here.