Today when I went to get my foreigner registration permit, I ended up in a place specializing in 警务 (police affairs) and realized that I had 走错 (gone to the wrong place).  The officer inside informed me that my residence was not within the 范围 (scope) of that particular outpost.  When I got to the real outpost, I was informed that my permit had to be signed by the 民警 (civil police) assigned to my particular residence.  I got the 签字 (signature) that I needed from someone else at the station, and listed my purpose of stay as 技术交流 (technological exchange) to the 值班 (on-duty) officer.  Local Chinese people were updating their 户口本 (household registration) as well.  I’m glad I was able to make my way through the process after 咨询 (inquiring)with the station’s 领导 (leader).

警务 jing3wu4 – police affairs
走错 zou3cuo4 – to walk (go) to the wrong place
范围 fan4wei2 – scope
民警 min2jing3 – civil police
签字 qian1zi4 – sign/signature
技术交流 ji4shu4jiao1liu1 – technological exchange
值班 zhi2ban1 – on-duty
户口本 hu4kou3(2)ben3 – Household registration booklet
咨询 zi1xun2 – inquire
领导 ling3(2)dao3 – leader