<p>It won’t add any weight, but I’ve learned from experience to pack an extra l0 days of prescription meds, just in case of big surprise emergencies extending your stay. Everything else you can always buy.</p>
<p>Have a great time!</p>
<p>CBBBlinker, I thought the same thing. As we’re getting ready to move 2 blocks, I AM wondering how to move the china. I hate to wrap it to go such a short distance.</p>
<p>I am overwhelmed with all of these good ideas! Thank you everyone for your help! </p>
<p>I hope we get invited out to dinner with some Chinese people but I think my daughters closest friends are mostly ex-pats that she’s working with. She tutors some young children but I don’t know how close she has become with the parents. I’m bringing her some kids books-on-tape for them.</p>
<p>A recent concern that has come up is regarding money. There’s conflicting information on the tripadvisor forum about whether it’s better to take cash and change it there, just withdraw it as we go at ATM’s or to get it put into travelers checks and exchange that. Anyone have any ideas on that?</p>
<p>Don’t know about China, but everywhere else we’ve been in Asia has ATM’s. US dollars should work also, but they like the bills to be no larger than 20’s and new.</p>
<p>Actually, I’m not worried about getting money from ATM’s. I’m concerned with the charge for the ATM transaction fee’s versus using travelers checks or bringing cash and getting that exchanged. I’ve heard that people have been charged as much as $5. per transaction. Think I’ll call my bank to see what that charge is. Sorry, sometimes just writing my questions out, helps me think what it is that I want.</p>
<p>Glad you brought it up because I forgot to mention it! Call all your credit card companies and banks today and tell them you are going to Asia - otherwise, they will block your accounts when they see an Asian transaction figuring it is fraud. Also ask them at that time what fees they have for foreign transactions. Our cc companies and banks varied wildly. Some charged no fee (really! USAA is the best!) and some charged $15 per transaction. Guess which we used? :-)</p>
<p>Also check what the exchange rate is for ATM versus travelers checks. Our experience with Europe is that travelers checks you get the tourist exchange rate whereas ATMs it is the bank rate which is a much better rate that usually more than makes up for the fees - though probably not for a $15 transaction fee! (fortunately I have never paid more than $2-3).</p>
<p>Yeah, I knew to call our bank and credit card companies regarding using them overseas but I got a wishy-washy answer regarding using ATM’s. The Wachovia person said that there was no set fee and she couldn’t even give me a range throughout the country. AAA person told me that it would be a better deal to use ATM’s then the Travelers Checks. I thought that was refreshingly honest! It never occured to me to ask our CC company about a transaction fee. Well, I know we haven’t been charged one in other countries so hopefully they won’t charge one in China.</p>
<p>re: credit cards. I don’t know if you are married but I ran into a complication once when I told them I was going abroad but didn’t mention that my dh was staying at home. He ran into problems…not me. So be sure and tell them who is going and who is staying.</p>
<p>We’re all going 
Except for college son who doesn’t use our CC’s anyway.</p>
<p>We brought traveler’s checks but used them only once or twice - the exchange rate wasn’t that good, and the paper work was more time consuming and inconvenient. Cash was the best - easily changeable into local currency, and it was amazing how long our money lasted in China, especially if you pay your larger bills (like hotel) with a credit card. I don’t recall using an ATM card at all.</p>
<p>bring toilet paper and toilet seat covers if your squeemish about squatting. Sorry… I had to just say it. </p>
<p>When I go to China to visit my family, I bring what I usually take on vacation. If you’re picky about how you look… forget about it. Don’t bring stuff to style your hair. The humidity could be bad, so bring light clothes. </p>
<p>When you’re actually there, make sure you drink plenty of water (bottled only… make sure it’s bottled). You will get dehydrated if you don’t, and bloody noses aren’t any fun. Also, try everything (food). You never know what it will taste like until you actually put it in your mouth =)</p>
<p>DS who is in Chongqing said where he is it’s tough to use credit cards and
ATM machines. He even needed to pay insulin pump company in cash for is pump supplies – that seemed bizarre to me. However, in Beijing, Shanghai, and HK there’s no problem using credit cards or the ATM. We used both virtually everywhere – and since we stayed in a Marriot in main downtown of Chongqing we used a credit card at the hotel. However, I believe we used cash – Chinese – for restaurants especially the local ones in his city and Chengdu where we were the only tourists. We also took travellers checks but did not use them.</p>
<p>The reason I’m cash focused is that we’re only staying in one high rise hotel, everything else is small and takes cash. I didn’t really think about that when I was booking them, I just wanted places that were unique and friendly but still had western bathrooms. </p>
<p>Believe me, everyone that has recommended taking tp, I’ve given way too much thought and worry about the scary squatter toilets.</p>
<p>Best way to get money is ATM - I’ve yet to travel to a city in China that doesn’t have ATM machines - where are you going? If you happen to have Bank of America then you can get free ATM withdrawls at China Construction Bank. Changing cash is easy to do at the airports and at major hotels. Travelers Checks are hard to cash (when my parents visited we had to find a Bank of China and stand in a long line).<br>
Many public toilets do have paper - it’s not in each stall but in a dispenser as you enter the room or in a plastic bag near the door. Of course the quality can vary a lot! Restaurant bathrooms usually do have paper - but even nice restaurants will often have squat toilets. The smell in the bathrooms is what can get you - they don’t flush the paper - it goes into the wastebasket in the stall.<br>
For getting around you should have all your hotel addresses printed out in Chinese characters with phone numbers so you can show the taxi driver - he can call if he doesn’t know where it is - they all have cell phones. You can have the hotel write out places you want to go to or print them before you go. Taxi drivers need to see it written in characters and will often not understand what you are saying - I’ve had several times when I get in a taxi, tell them the destination in Chinese, they nod and drive off and then 5 minutes later they ask again and have no idea what I am saying.</p>
<p>with you that the worst part of public ladies’ rooms in China is the smell – from throwing toilet paper in trashcans since flushing systems not made for paper. Most – but not all – ladies’ rooms have at least one or two Western regular toilets in addition to all the squatting ones. But not all have toilet paper or soap/paper towels.</p>
<p>H & D just got back from China last Sunday - they went on a school trip. Here are some tips from them -
Get something to help you sleep on the way over so you can get on China time. They used Ambien.
Bring snacks! All D ate was sticky rice. The food is pretty awful.
Change your money over there - the exchange rate is better.
Bring hand sanitizer
Bring small kleenex packets for bathroom trips</p>
<p>Enjoy!</p>
<p>Food was awful? How sad. My travels were years ago, but food in China was variable, in many places ecstatically wonderful. Have had some of the best meals of my life in China. When I left after traveling for 6 weeks, was sad to stop eating Chinese every day. Liking vegetables helps, as well as a tolerance for a certain amount of oil in food, and an inquisitiveness about new things. But every region is different. Some Asians would say there is excess fat in American food as well. We traveled as vegetarians on that trip, which can be a very good and usually available option, though I’ll eat anything for the most part. </p>
<p>Those who have visited my S in Shanghai talk about the dumplings as the best meal in the world. Will be there soon myself, so appreciate the above travel info!</p>
<p>If it’s any consolation, squatting is good for the lower back, the quads, and is a more sanitary option if you can avoid falling in. Will have to see how it goes at this more advanced age!</p>
<p>I have clothes in piles, suitcase open. Cookies are baking to give to daughter. Music has been transferred to MP3. Boarding passes have printed. According to weather.com, it’s going to be warm but chance of rain most days. 
Hmmm, may need an extra pair of shoes. I’ve heard that food is very different but delicious in general. Fortunately, we all like spicy food and love both noodles and rice and even tofu. For a good part of our adventure we’ll have our daughter who can help us with the menus.</p>
<p>Hey, GL Mom - I’m excited for your trip to begin too! Can’t wait to talk it over when we get back and wish our kids were teaching in the same city!</p>
<p>While packing I found two mini rolls of Charmin that we packed and never used the last time we went to Europe and were warned of a tp shortage. I am prepared! :)</p>
<p>Oh, and I found out that Capital one has no transaction fees for any overseas transactions!</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for all your packing tips and good wishes.</p>
<p>z</p>
<p>Don’t worry about the food! The food is only awful in so-called restaurants that American tour companies take folks to because they get a kick-back. We had a chicken dish in one of those one time that we nicknamed “hen bu hao”. Of course, hen is a chicken in English, but in Mandarin, that phrase means “very bad”. </p>
<p>Anyway, if you are on the economy, you will likely have fantastic food!!</p>
<p>Have a fantastic trip!!</p>