Caravanistan

Article in the BBC yesterday about both Iraqi and Kurdish intelligence officials becoming alarmed about a growing ISIS presence in the mountains near Kirkuk. Alas because of the tension between the Iraqi military and Peshmerga there's kind of a no man's land where neither side patrols - allowing IS ...

Yep... As long as it's declared and you don't leave with more than that amount it's a non-issue. It'll take a couple of extra minutes to fill in the currency declaration form at the red channel, but nothing legally to fear by doing so.

Is this just affecting people who departed TJ via Bor Dobo – Kyzylart, or is it a nation wide thing?

There are. At least in the International Terminal. unsure about over the domestic side. They are outside the building, after you go up the escalators to get into the departures terminal - just before the second security check/x-ray. Too bad if there's something in your bags which requires the airpor...

^ the instruction pics for how tourists should set up alipay in those attachments are backwards, but I'm too lazy to edit them.... Pic # 2 is step 1 and Pic # 1 is step 2.

Positive reports of tourists successfully signing on for Alipay's "tourpass" in the past few days here.... Tripadvisor Shanghai expats FB page Alipay's FB page Wechat wallet supposedly already works too.... Instructions here , but haven't heard any first hand reports about that one yet. As far as th...

In the past it was quite easy for foreigners with tourist visas to open bank accounts in China. A couple of hours of paper-shuffling at the bank and you'd walk out with a working debit card. But this has become quite difficult recently, and it might take a lot of legwork to find a willing bank. Non...

Not sure if this thread is helpful....

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=11432&p=33931&hilit=Overstay#p33931

You're not alone for what it's worth. Seems like a lot of people got hit with it.

Look forward to the write up, Jacoblab1. Especially considering your age you're certainly blazing trails - much respect.

It's a tough call. The situation is so fluid right now involving so many key players (Turkey, Syria, Russia, Iran, Syrian Kurds, remnants of ISIS) clamoring for influence in a majorly strategic part of the Middle East - I'm not sure even the most knowledgeable Poli-Sci genius could hope to guess how...