Here I come ... China!!!

Finally looks like I might in fact get to visit China before I head out of HK (maybe for good) after all.

A month or so ago, I decided to apply for the GIFT's Young Leader's Programme (YLP) since it looked like a good opportunity to visit China (Urban - Beijing and Rural China - Ningxia Province) and also an opportunity to work on a project that has a lot of benefits to the community and also a good opportunity to work with some top executives of private and public enterprises in Hong Kong.

I finally got selected for the program last week and now pending my China VISA approval. Getting a VISA to China is the challenge of the year thanks to the China Government's clampdown of Visa issuance to all and sundry including possibly a few million potential visitors to the Olympics, I should be in Beijing during the Olympics (although it is still doubtful if I'll get to see the olympics live). One thing that surely reduces my chances of getting a VISA is the fact that I am going for a project organized by an NGO - that's one word that's giving nightmares to the officials in Beijing.

If my VISA gets approved (hopefully I should know in a couple of days), it is a definite spoiler to my india travel plans and my mom's plans of getting me hitched before I head out for my exchange since I might head out to London directly instead of coming back to HK and / or going to Bangalore.

Before I wrap up this post, if you are aware of anyone or any organization who would sponsor a poor student's expenses of this trip and do its bit for a poor village in China, do pass on my contact to them or vice-versa. You can read more about GIFT at the following web-page.