I was told the renewal process will take around ten business days. Also, the consulate apparently only handles this sort of appointment on Wednesday and Friday mornings (at least from the email re: my appointment that I got from them).

Too bad about the banks. I was looking for a better option than a plane or train trip to Chengdu, in time and money.

Good points. Well, unless anyone has some service that they really recommend, I guess I'll head out there.

Thanks for the reply.

I need to renew my US passport, but I don't want to travel to Chengdu. I read that you can renew via a third party.

Has anyone done this before? Is there a service you recommend?

Hope someone can help me out.