Tips

I go to a Chinese church and most of our congregation is from Mainland China. My family is from Taiwan, so between my family and the families at church, I've gathered a lot of miscellaneous tips :) I'll try and roughly categorize them...

I realize that this may be excessive or not enough, pick and choose what you'd like to do, but here's everything:

Things to Bring

1. Medications/health stuff
   • Tylenol Immodium (for diarrhea?)
   • Sewyer insect repellent
   • suncreen
   • portable eye solution (or wear glasses if possible, can be very sandy)
   • PURELL - small bottles for travel
2. Weather and Culture of China
• good sneakers
• sandals
• toilet paper wipes (most places do not have toilet paper)
• socks
• light days pads (for long travelling, so you don't have to switch underwear)
• flashlight
• whistle
• under clothing small money purse
• hat to shield off sun, umbrella, raincoat
3. Converter (220V in China, 110V in US)
4. Cell phone with sim card technology

Do's and Don'ts

1) Change money into renminbi (RNB) from USD in America, or in the airport, or in a Chinese bank, in that order of reliability. Do NOT change money with another vendor, you may get fakes. Remember that $1 US is roughly 7-8 RNB.

2) Don't carry valuables around. Carry your purse backpack in front of you, around your neck and arm, securely under your armpit.

3) Have extra copies of important documents and always keep your passport safe.

4) Do Not expect readily available internet

5) if you buy something, you will probably have to barter. Make friends with a local and they can barter better for you

6) Do Not go out by yourself after dark.

7) Sew pockets inside of your clothing for money (I think this is slightly excessive but everyone has said this to me so far)

8) Do Not give your camera to someone to take a photo of you. Unless if you're a fast runner and they have short legs...

9) Do Not eat pre-cut food or salad, your stomach is not made for that kind of stuff.

10) Use a mosquito net if possible

11) Do NOT give money to beggars. Not all beggars are real beggars, and once they see you have money, they'll never leave you alone.

12) Watch first, don't participate immediately.

13) Practice squatting, you will probably use a bunch of squat toilets...which could range from a ceramic hole in the ground in a stall, to a room with a trough down the middle with no stalls. BRING TOILET PAPER!!

I hope this helps a little, I've been very overwhelmed with this advice and I hope that this doesn't blow you away. You're doing a good thing, but it's always good to be extra prepared. I'll probably get tons more advice in the coming weeks and will post them as time goes on :) Please post what you know, it'll help everyone, even if you accidently repeat something, that probably means it's a good thing to know.