AirBnb in China and Police registration.

[Angelina]

https://www.usnews.com/news/technology/articles/2018-03-28/airbnb-to-start-sharing-chinese-host-information-with-government

 

U.S. short-term rental service Airbnb Inc said it would start disclosing host information to Chinese government agencies starting on Friday, as the San Francisco-based company complies with regulations in China.

China's strict regulations on residency require citizens and tourists to register their addresses with the police when they arrive in the country or stay at a hotel, within 24 hours.

[mungouk]

On 3/30/2018 at 1:59 PM, Angelina said:

Airbnb Inc said it would start disclosing host information to Chinese government agencies starting on Friday

 

So can anyone who has recently used Airbnb in China confirm that you get automatically registered with the local PSB?

Or do you have to do it yourself?

 

 

Edit to add the help text from Airbnb, which is inconclusive:

 

Airbnb operates our business in China (which for these purposes, exclude Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) (“China”) through Airbnb Internet (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (“Airbnb China”).

If you don't reside in China:

If you don't reside in China and you confirm a booking for an experience in China, the following information will be shared with Airbnb China:

• Your name and phone number
• Booking dates
• Messages between you and the host
• The names and email addresses of the other guest(s) that you are booking for

Chinese government agencies may require Airbnb China to disclose host and guest information relating to experiences in China. Our privacy policy and guidelines dictate how and when we disclose information to local officials and we have a policy of responding to valid and lawful orders from governments around the world.

 

 

[LiMo]

I stayed at an AirBnB but my girlfriend handled the specifics. We never had to go to the PSB, I'm pretty sure the landlord dealt with that, but I'm not 100% sure. So from my limited experience it's either done automatically or the landlord does it. Of course, in the latter cases some may be lazy or forgetful or really inconsiderate so you may need to chase them up about it. I suggest asking the landlord as soon as you find a nice place.

[dtcamero]

I'll be staying in shanghai this summer via airbnb. this is from an email they sent in the mail today...

 

当地法规

正如您可能知道的，中国规定酒店和其他住宿提供者必须确保向当地公安机关登记外国房客的身份信息。同样，不在酒店住宿的外国房客也必须在抵达后24小时内向当地公安机关登记身份信息。请向您的房东了解如何向当地公安机关登记身份信息。

 

it seems kinda vague that they don't explicitly say the airbnb host is not a 住宿提供者, but I think that's the takeaway. Or maybe it is the host's responsibility but airbnb can't make them do it so they're just saying "you two work it out somehow..."

 

I'm going to register to be safe. 

[roddy]

That’s exactly the kind of thing Airbnb has no interest in whatsoever. Also, this should be a separate topic. 

[dtcamero]

so fyi, here's the definitive answer...

 

 airbnb does not automatically register you (which is actually kinda obvs since they're unlikely to have the chinese gov't software capable of doing this).

 

the shanghai PSB wanted to see my landlord, his ID, his copy of the deed, and the lease contract, in triplicate. 

well this is a good way to get to know your landlord on airbnb lol. luckily my guy was super cool about the whole thing, but if they just refuse then it's your problem and i'm not sure what you'd do.

 

airbnb was kind enough to email me something that summed up the lease arrangement and looked like a contract, which the landlord and i signed and was accepted by the psb, but you might have to recreate it in chinese to be acceptable elsewhere.

[mungouk]

OK just to bump and add to this thread...

I'm heading to Beijing in a few weeks and just contacted three AirBnb hosts in advance (all "superhosts" who would/should know what they're doing) to check that they are familiar with the PSB registration and willing to do it for foreigners. 

(I'm 100% 外国人 and don't have any Chinese friends/relatives to help me out with this.)

 

All three of them politely turned me down.  Hardly an extensive survey but I don't see how to go about finding someone who will do this.

 

Right then, back to booking.com and Agoda.com by the look of it...

 

 

[889]

I think that's the right move. Certainly if you're staying for just a short visit: you can waste a nice chunk of time with the registration.

 

And also very wise to settle this out before booking.

[DavyJonesLocker]

Although I wonder what the fall out  is if you don't register? I have stayed in several places like friends houses , partners parents place many times and no issues. However that is travelling inside the country . 

Having said that,  in the past several times I came to China (Beijing Shanghai) and stayed with gf's and never registered . I did book hotels for part of the stay. Can't remember exactly what we did for visa purposes ( I.e book hotel and cancel etc)

Not a recommendation of course if you want to stick by the official rules. 

 

[889]

If you're entering without a visa on short-term transit, TWOV, there's an explicit rule that you can be banned from entry for two years in case of serious failure to register.

 

I'm not aware of any similarly explicit rule for those entering with visas, but you are required to register and no doubt penalties of some sort can be imposed if you don't.

 

There have been some reports of travellers on transit who've had problems re-entering when they didn't register on previous transit stays. That suggests pretty strongly that when you enter or leave they can now pull up your registration history.

 

 

[StChris]

I used AirBnB extensively last summer and the whole registration thing never came up. I suspect that if you raise it in advance, then the host will likely just turn you down due to 怕ing麻烦. If you just book go, then it'll likely never brought up. 

[889]

Of course, but if you don't stay in a hotel, the obligation to register within 24 hours is on you. If you don't want to risk trouble down the road, you will register (or stay in a hotel).

 

Keep in mind the trend over the past decade has been more control, of foreigners and Chinese, not less.

[roddy]

This is an informative read. I suspect that guy got a closer look (journalist, transit visa) than most, but it's certainly the case that records (or lack of them) are kept and easily available to folk in the right uniforms. 

 

It's also certainly the case, as @StChris has found, that you can AirBnB around China and it never comes up. But then two years down the line you've got a residence permit application in progress and the PSB is already annoyed with your employer, or you've got an immigration official at the border who's just been told off for not checking people carefully enough, and....

[889]

More recently over on Youtube there's the oh-so-sad story of "Josh," the Australian with a German accent, who got sent back trying to transit at Beijing because he hadn't registered on a previous stay.

 

"Josh" seems to make his living posting travel-disaster videos on Youtube, and like Mrs May his problems always turn out to be somebody else's fault. So he's not really a representative case. But yes, it can be an issue these days.

 

[anonymoose]

Seems a bit harsh, though, if you stay at some dodgy hotel in Shitville and the owners don't register you, even though you assumed that they would.

[889]

You only have the obligation to register when you stay privately. Otherwise it's the responsibility of the lodge. If it is licensed lodging there should be some sort of framed license hanging about. Not to say snapping a photo of the lodge as proof might not be a good idea.

[mungouk]

21 hours ago, 889 said:

his problems always turn out to be somebody else's fault

 

Hmmm, yeah.  My empathy for the journalist in the otherwise-informative post @roddy linked to nose-dived once he started complaining about waiting one hour at immigration... 

 

Road warriors and travel gurus, huh.

 

 

[芒果乾]

Have stayed at Airbnb places in various cities in China and never registered as I have been staying at places for less than a week and it was too much hassle. If I stay in China for more than a week (not at hotels) then I would definitely register.

 

One Airbnb place in Shenzhen had an office and registered me when I was staying for two nights. Guess they were doing things by the book unlike most Airbnb hosts in China.

[matteo]

I was in Hangzhou last week for just three days and stayed in an Airbnb (there is some discussion about it here https://www.chinese-forums.com/forums/topic/57866-1-week-visit-to-shanghai-suzhou-hangzhou/).

 

I asked my host before my stay whether he was available to register us but he basically told me it's not worth it for short stays.

Airbnb is (I think deliberately ) vague about the whole thing, and some statements you'll find on the web can make you think that it will do the registration for you.  However I am 100% certain that I was not registered because the booking was done by my girlfriend and Airbnb (while knowing that there would be two guests) only allowed her to enter her details. At no point I was asked my passport number or full details from Airbnb or our host.

 

I am not too worried about it as I did some research on the web and discussed it over with a few chinese friends, everybody seem to agree that for short stays this is something the government turns a blind eye to.

 

HOWEVER that is - technically speaking-  illegal, and can potentially lead to troubles when applying for another visa in the future. I do think it is unlikely, and the highest risk is  probably accidentally declaring something not true when filling an an application form or ticking one of those long checklists "I have never..." and being randomly caught. 

Sooo...I am not too happy I did it as I'm planning to apply for a student or work visa to China in the not-too-distant future, I'll probably do it differently next time, but I think the risk is minimal (for a short stay obv.).  

[889]

As said, I think it's especially risky for those transiting without visa -- a 144-hour TWOV stay is possible in Shanghai-Zhejiang-Jiangsu region -- since the TWOV rules specifically address it.

 

That said again, I think it's also reasonable to assume that that automated good-conduct appraisal now being applied to Chinese will be extended in some form to foreigners in the future. If it hasn't been already. So if you develop a record of not following the book, you might start to encounter difficulties getting by in China at some point.