Riding With the Bulls

Kalevi Ruuska, a former employee of the Finnish Foreign Trade Association who represents several sauna manufacturers, has assembled a list of U.S. hotels with Finnish saunas, although he adds that few offer the traditional whisks and cold plunge finale. Contact Ruuska at 845-897-4773, or e-mail jocoinc@worldnet.att.net for more info.

I am planning a trip to China to the usual tourist spots. Are there any inoculations I should get? Do I need a visa? One guidebook mentions, but does not explain, single-entry and double-entry visas.

Margo Dunlavey

Rockville

Hepatitis A and current tetanus-diphtheria vaccines are the only inoculations recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (800-311-3435, www.cdc.gov/travel/eastasia.htm) for U.S. travelers visiting tourist areas of China.

Visas to China are getting more difficult to obtain, according to the consular information sheet issued by the U.S. State Department earlier this month. "Chinese authorities have recently tightened their visa issuance policy, in some cases requiring personal interviews of American citizens and regularly issuing one or two entry visas valid for short periods only."

To apply for a visa locally, you must go in person, or send someone in your stead, to the Embassy of the People's Republic of China (202-328-2500, www.china-embassy.org) on 2201 Wisconsin Ave. NW in Washington. Hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1 to 3 p.m.; no appointment necessary. Fill out an application and submit it with a current passport. Cost is $50. A double-entry visa, which costs $75, is necessary if you plan to leave China to go to Hong Kong, for example, and then reenter the country.