The Pearl River Delta, rich and beautiful, is a boom area in Guangdong province. Its unique southern Chinese landscape and folklore attract tourists from all over the world. To make it easier for foreigners to tour the Delta, we have made the following convenient arrangement duly approved by the State Council. Foreigners who are already in Hong Kong and Macao and carry an ordinary passport of a country which has diplomatic relations with China can come to Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, Zaoqing and Huizhou in tour groups after going through some greatly simplified formalities.

Anyone who meets the above mentioned requirements and is interested in a tour in the Pearl River Delta, so long as the stay is not very long (that is, leaving China not later than the 6^th day after entry), can do so by joining a tour group organized by an authorized travel agency in Hong Kong or Macao. With this convenient arrangement, you do not have to fill in the Entry/Exit Registration Card, as the travel agency will go through all the formalities for you. Then you will have all the fun and no troubles during the travel.

This convenient arrangement applies to those who want to tour Shantou. But we must remind you that as Shantou is not conjoined with the Pearl River Delta area geographically, foreign tourists coming to Shantou by this special arrangement can only enter through Shantou Port and their activities must be within greater Shantou.

Foreigners coming to China in this way must enter and exit China in groups. If you, for some reason, have to leave China earlier than the others, someone from the travel agency must escort you to the border, bringing an official letter with him/her and a list of the group members and go through the necessary formalities before you can exit. If, because of some force majeure or accident (for instance falling ill or getting injured) you have to leave the group and stay longer in the Pearl River Delta or go farther into the country, someone from the travel agency that organizes the tour can, before your period of stay expires, go to the local public security bureau to apply for a visa and go through other formalities for you to do so on your behalf.

Those who overstay or go beyond the administrative area of the Pearl River Delta into other administrative regions in the interior will be penalized as illegal overstayers and the local public security bureau will handle the matter in accordance with the Rules Governing the Implementation of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Entry and Exit of Aliens.

At present hundreds of travel agencies in Hong Kong and Macao have been authorized to organize the above-said tours. It pays to know something about these rules before making up your mind to patronize anyone of them.