I own an Italian passport and I'm planning a trip to China and Hong Kong. Being entitled to a 15 day visa-free in China and 90 day visa-free in Hong Kong, could I land in China, after 15 days move to Hong Kong and then again re-enter China and be entitled to other 15 day visa-free?
And then, again, at the checkpoints can I just indicate the hotels where I'm planning to stay or they want me to show the reservation as well? Since I don't have a strict itinerary, it would be quite improvised.
China so far has been very tolerant of 'visa runs', from what I've been able to gather on the ground, even as others in the region have tightened up.
Of course this could change on a moment's notice, as it has elsewhere, perhaps in reaction to some occurrence or geopolitical shift, so best have a plan 'B'.
I've never been asked to show a reservation, they just want the full address of the first hotel where you will be staying and the cities you will be visiting, I think. If you are thinking of staying at private accommodation such as with friends, do tell them at the border ('boundary' checkpoint in the case of HK) and make sure your host does the proper paperwork within the required deadline (which apparently varies in inconvenience quite a bit by location). Hotels that accept foreigners will do that for you automatically.
According to the visa free travel FAQ of the Chinese embassy in Germany, you can enter China more than once for 15 days. Although I suspect if they feel you are misusing these regulations they may just deny re-entry.
Wer die Voraussetzungen für eine visumsfreie Einreise nach China erfüllt, kann sich mehrfach visumsfrei in China aufhalten. Auch bestehen derzeit keinerlei Beschränkungen für die Anzahl der visumsfreien Besuche oder die Gesamtzahl der Aufenthaltstage.
Travellers who fulfill the conditions for a visa-free entry into China can stay in China visa-free several times. At the moment there are also no restrictions on the number of visa-free visits or the total number of days inside China.
They also recommend you bring your hotel bookings with you. On my visit in China this summer they just wanted some exact address to put into their form - or at least that was my impression (we gave them the address of the first hotel we would stay in). It's not like hotel bookings are official documents anyway.
What you want to do is a "visa run" (or several). Some places have very explicit rules about that (e.g. the 90/180 rules of the Schengen Area), others are a lot less explicit, but they usually don't like it very much, and immigration officers have a lot of discretionary power.
I haven't found the relevant official text, so I don't know if there is anything explicit, but I would expect them not to like it — they make it clear that if you want to stay longer, you need a visa. Of course, if you plan to spend all your time and money in high-end hotels, restaurants and shops they will probably oblige.
I found a french visa agency which tells us:
Si vous devez entrer plusieurs fois en Chine dans l'année ou durant votre séjour, le visa double ou multiples entrées est conseillé, même pour des séjours inférieurs à 15 jours, notamment si vous passez par Hong Kong.
Translation:
If you need to enter China several times during the year or during your stay, a double or multiple entry visa is recommended, even for stays of less than 15 days, particularly if you are passing through Hong Kong.
But the solution is simple: get a visa! It's a little bit annoying, but contrary to visa applications for people from "poor" countries trying to enter "rich" countries for whom it can be quite difficult and the rejection rate can be high, the visa for an Italian wanting to visit China is really just a (costly) formality.
For visa applications, you are expected to show bookings for at least the first 7 days. I don't see any clarification about what information is required in the case of visa-free entry.
