American citizens contemplating marriage to a Chinese citizen in China should review the following information.

This Law is enacted to protect the lawful adoptive relationship and to safeguard the rights of parties involved in the adoptive relationship.

A marriage in China between a foreigner and a Chinese citizen or between two foreigners is considered a "foreign-related marriage".

Chinese visas fall into four types: diplomatic visa, courtesy visa, service visa and ordinary visa. Ordinary visa is further divided into the following eight categories each marked with a phonetic letter: