Trip to London to get a Chinese visa or not

We are going to spend 48 hours in China (Shanghai) when we return home as we travel via that hub airport. We need a visa and what is more we can only get one three months before our planned China visit. As we are visiting China on our way BACK then we will not be there until March so we have had to wait until just before Christmas to sort this. We have had to take the 100 mile each way rail trip in to London to get the visa sorted. We spent Saturday filling out the three page visa form. We had to book the hotel three months in advance as we needed an address that we are staying in when we get to China.We really wished that we had not decided to stop over.
We got the train down and rushed to the Chinese Visa Application office in Old Jury Street. You do not need a visa if you are staying less than 72 hours and remain within Shanghai we were told. Catherine was upset how had she missed this on the web site and sent us on a fruitless journey. "Oh no it does not tell you that on the web site" the visa application officer told us. Then how do people find out then we asked."Well people fill in an application for a visa and then we tell them they do not need one" was the answer.We would have done a postal application but there was not sufficient time to get the passport to the office and back.
The good news is that it has saved us£35 each for a visa and we do not need to return to London in four days time just to get our passport back-with a visa in it.
So this is the very start of this blog.right at the end there should be an entry in March saying got to China. I just really really hope we do not get there and they say that we should have a Visa.
Our train back was off-peak so we have to wait until 7PM.We are sat in the Wesleyan Guild Hall cafe near Westminster Abbey. We have walked along the Thames embankment for a Mile or two and we are glad of the rest.

Getting stuff together

We have started to put things in the front bedroom ready for the trip. We are attaching backpacks to the Bromptons rear rack which is an idea we got from another cycling blog. It all looks a little weird compared with our usual touring bikes. We should in theory be able to change from cycling to being standard tourists very quickly. The haversack goes on your back, the bike folds into a black bag and the front bag you carry as a satchel.When you fly you check in two bags (bike and backpack) and the front bag is your carry on stuff.
With our tent in the back pack with sleeping gear and cooking apparatus the weight is going to be a real factor here. Both for carrying it on our cycle journey and getting it all within the 20KG hold 10KG carry on limit.