What do you mean they can ARRANGE the return flight and bookings without actually having to buy them. Do you know any agents who will do this? Or can I just get some old travel confirmations I have and just change the locations and dates?.... Any ideas?

I'm currently in HK as well. Applied for my visa through FBT, was quoted 750hkd (EU passport) 1550hkd (US passport) for a double entry 30day L. Documents required: passport, one photo and a filled out application form (they'll provide it for you). I should know the outcome by tomorrow... then will let you guys know.
anyway does anyone know what is there to do in HK while I wait? I don't really feel like shopping for a "cheeeeeeeeep suit"

I've also experienced them being extremely difficult with worn down passports but it seems to help a lot to wrap them in a nice plastic passport cover!

Yea flight to HK is expensive but what you should do is fly into Shenzhen for half the price and take a bus to the border and walk across. Much cheaper. For what to do while waiting on a budget. What I like to do is go ride the ferries. They're like a bus system. very cheap and you can enjoy a boat ride while visiting some islands.

Thanks for the tip of flying into Shenzhen!

I'm heading to HK next week and will give an update of how things go.

Here are the details for FTB:

FOREVER BRIGHT TRADING LIMITED
九龍尖東科學館道14號新文華中心B座九樓916-7室
Rm 916-7, 9/F,New Mandarin Plaza,Tower B,
14 Science Museum Rd,Tsimshatsui East,Kowloon,H.K
hp: fbtravel@fbt-chinavisa.com.hk
Tel: 23693188 Fax: 23122989

I just emailed them and they got back to me straight away. Still need to clarify if they can provide the documents I need or not though.

As I said before, you only need a passport and a photo, FBT provides the rest.
I flew from BJ to Shenzhen 1700 round trip tax included. then took a 90kuai shuttle bus from the airport all the way to Tsim Sha Tsui.

So I'm back from HK with my double entry 30day L. This visa run could have been done for a total of 3000rmb +/- 200rmb. (Plane tickets to Shenzhen 1700 + bus to hong kong 180rmb + two nights at a hostel 350rmb + double entry L visa 750rmb + food)

Now my trip ended up costing me a lot more since I've made many mistakes:

1. Booked a flight to guangzhou not shenzhen (yeah it's cheaper but a lot more farther from HK)
2. Flew on the day my visa was supposed to expire (flights to guagzhou were delayed because of the weather, so I had to book another flight to shenzhen)
3. Ended up staying a night at a Las Vegas Hostel in Chung King Mansions (got charged 320hkd a night for a private double room since everything else was fully booked)
4. On my way back to Beijing still went to Guangzhou to party for a night and needless to say the nightlife in Guangzhou sucks (that was another 700kuai wasted)

This is what I should have done:

1. Fly to Shenzhen (1700rmb round trip) then take the bus to Tsim Sha Tsui (90rmb)
2. Book a place on hostelworld.com (roughly 200rmb per night) in Tsim Sha Tsui and stay a night.
3. Go to FBT to submit my passport and visa application at 9am
4. Take a ferry to the Lamma Island (12hkd) and chill at the beach while waiting for my visa.
5. Stay a night on Lamma Island (300hkd per night, but so worth it)
6. Take the ferry back to Central and the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui (20hkd)
7. Pick up the passport and a new visa from FBT at noon (750hkd for EU passport)
8. Walk to Hung Hom and take a bus back to Shenzhen (100hkd)
9. Fly back to BJ

If I remember correctly, the chinese government denied that there have been any changes made to the visa policy for over a month. So I wouldn't take their word. I mean you could probably get an L valid for thirty days or so, that's if you've got all the paperwork.
During my visit to HK I've talked to a couple of HK residents and they were surprised that I could get a visa. Apparently if you're doing it through the legit channels, you can't get anything longer than 30 days even if you're a HK resident. Currently visa agents are the way to go.

You guys might want to try sending your passport back to your home country (from HK, or even better somewhere thats cheaper to stay for a few days). I know 2 people who sent their passports home to visa agents and were able to obtain 6 month L-visas. I am not familiar with how it works in HK but getting a 6 month visa sounds much more cost efficient then spending all that time in HK just for a 30 day one.

Hi C&L,
I am in HK at the moment and would like to also reextend my F visa. What documentation did you need to provide at the visa office?