Shanghai’s Exit-Entry Administration has issued an updated “Golden Week and Post-Holiday Certificate Guide” detailing how residents can secure travel permits even while government halls are formally closed. Between 1 and 7 October, six self-service kiosks for Hong Kong and Macau travel endorsements will remain open 24/7; processing takes three minutes using face recognition, provided passports have over 110 days’ validity. Demand for short-haul outbound trips has exploded—flight bookings to Hong Kong are 42 percent higher than last year, according to Ctrip data. To prevent a paperwork bottleneck, the bureau will open 20 district service halls on the first two Saturdays after the holiday (10 and 17 October) from 18:00-22:00, a first for the city. No appointment is required. The 12367 multilingual hotline will stay live around the clock to handle lost-passport emergencies and policy queries. Officials recommend travellers double-check passport validity (minimum six months) and use the “Suishenban Citizen Cloud” app to pre-fill applications—a move that has cut average in-person wait times to nine minutes. For global-mobility managers, Shanghai’s hybrid model—automated kiosks plus extended human counters—offers a blueprint for large Chinese cities coping with surging leisure and business travel. Companies should alert assignees that same-day renewals are possible but depend on kiosk eligibility rules. Those planning Hong Kong board meetings in mid-October should secure staff endorsements before 17 October to avoid queues once school holidays end.
Source: Shanghai Municipal Government
