Yesterday I was crossing back into Shenzhen from Hong Kong when something out of the ordinary happened. The immigration officer at the desk felt strongly that the photo on my 护照 (passport) did not 像 (look like) the person standing in front of her. She consulted with the officer sitting adjacent to her, and then she prevailed upon the 值班领队 (on-duty leader) to comment on if the person on the photo was, in fact, the person standing in front of her. This may have something to do with the fact that I recently 留胡子 (was growing a beard). I wasn’t afraid so much as annoyed, after all I could not possibly be found to not be Andrew 本人 (myself). I hope to sort this photo problem out soon by getting a new passport, even though it will be years before my current passport 到期 (expires). Since my 签证 (visa) will soon also expire, when I 再次办 (next [apply]) I’d say solely doing a new China visa 不如 (is not as good as) obtaining a new passport as well.
护照 hu4zhao4 – passport
像 xiang4 – look like, to look like or appear similar to sth./sb.
值班领队 zhi2ban1ling3dui4 – on-duty [team] leader
留 liu2 – to grow (of hair)
胡子 hu2zi3 – facial hair/beard
本人 ben3ren2 – myself (can also be used to mean “himself”)
到期 dao4qi1 – to expire (lit. “arrive period”)
签证 qian1zheng4 – visa
再次 zai4ci4 – again, the next time
办 ban4 – do (in the case of visas, “apply”)
不如 bu4ru2 – is not as good as
