Waiting for Travel Approval

We are hoping to travel to China to meet Rachel Guanglan in January, which would be exactly 2 years after we met Lillian Weihe. The only thing we are waiting for is formal travel approval from China, which would then allow us to set up our appointments and make travel arrangements. We've been told if we don't initiate travel by late January, we'd have to wait until at least late February, as Chinese New Year is on Feb. 14 this year. Appointments are not made in the two weeks CNY is celebrated. Here's hoping for travel approval SOON!