m-coon

The seller of the dog is probably laughing all the way to the bank!

I just returned from China. I traveled through Guangzhou. I saw a lot of people wearing face masks but I did not see any government activity. However, the tv in China was always making it sound like the USA is having serious problems with this flu. I expected to have some problems while traveling through China - but again, I saw no government involvement. No medical personnel was checking travelers. m-coon

Sometimes the thing to do is to just go ahead and do it! Good for you! YES... you are very right. I am just amazed that not one single bag of this stuff was opened!!!! They opened some of the bottles of vitamins - but left the flour alone. I find this very strange. Do you think they maybe stuck a needle into the bags and extracted some for examination? I would think they would at least open one bag? The first time I traveled to China - I had gifts for all the family members - and they opened EVERY SINGLE GIFT WRAPPED PACKAGE!!! And on other trips they always seem to look pretty close at everything - this time they hardly looked at anything. I guess I should be happy as they could have made a huge mess of my stuff (if they wanted to). Scott

ype I have searched the stores while here and all we can find is regular plain flour. I know the american restaurants here like McD's and KFC use this stuff to cook their chicken and chicken wings - but this type of flour does not appear to be on the retail market. We are in Liuzhou - perhaps larger cities may have it - but I am not finding it here on the shelves. Well... the vacation is about over. I leave for the US in two days. TIME DOES GO BY FAST WHEN YOU ARE HAVING FUN DOESN'T IT!!!!!! Are any other CFL members flying out of Guangzhou (to LA) on Tuesday?????? Scott

Hi all from CHINA..... I don't have time for a long explanation right now - but the quick update is that I am in China right now, with my #40 of flour, AND NOT ONE AGENCY ALONG THE ROUTE EVEN BOTHERED TO QUESTION THE (FLOUR) BAGS CONTENTS OR EVEN EXAMINE NOT EVEN ONE SINGLE #2 BAG OF THE STUFF !!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot beleive it myself... really. I will give all the details of the entire trip at a later date. But for now we know that NOBODY (airlines, TSA, or Customs) cares what is in the luggage - even if it resembles drugs....... ha ha The airlines just want to get every penny out of the passengers for all extra, or over-weight, and over-size baggage........ it cost us $400 extra for 2 extra bags!!! WOW!!1 Thanks, Scott

I'm reading this as him stating that "this is kind of a minor thing" I tend to agree with that. You're not going to get thrown in a Chinese prison for flour and ginseng. You've already stated that you've considered what they might do "confiscate the flour." Other than that, or perhaps pay a duty - I can't see any other outlook happening. You're not going to be arrested for bringing large quantities of flour across the border Most of the people here stated that they haven't had any issues going through customs. I've done the exact same thing. So has my wife. Her baggage was inspected at customs - mine wasn't. The guy quickly went through her luggage looking at all of her food products from the States, as well as various medicines. No problem. One of her checked bags contained only food and medicinal products. Thanks.... your input was valuable to me. It is what I needed to hear to be able to relax some. Thanks again. Scott

You mean as long as they don't look, right? A 40 lb. bag of flour is a little hard to sneak by. It's within the ¡Ù18kg. limit, no metal...nobody's going to look, not even the drug dawgz... I've taken my Tai Tai instant foods, chocolates, brown rice, coffee beans, peanut butter, Kalua, Southern Comfort, Bailey's and lots of Cuban Rum...no problems. Sorry, guy! But metal IS allowed It's nice to be able to smuggle drugs, but I wouldn't recommend it! The 18kg is an airline limitation and has nothing to do with customs - anyone's bags can be subject to an customs inspection. Plez, don't be so silly...how many times has customs inspected you in the PRC? I'm 0 for 16........ Like I said, it must be nice to be able to smuggle drugs - the rest of us use a little discretion. A 40 lb bag of flour can hardly be called discrete. He can either declare it or not - neither way is likely to cause him a whole lot of grief. I intend to declare everything - but I'm not sure THE QUANTITY i'm going to list........ I'm still waiting to hear about the call my wife made to Guangzhou customs...... I was asleep when she called - I'll find out tomorrow. Randy - WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY GRIEF???? Do you think this may cause me such serious problems that I wish I hadn't tried? I figured the worse they will do is compensate the flour. If I claim it and explain what it is and why I'm taking it - what can they do to me??? It is a LEGAL food item after all........ Scott

What makes this even worse... if it can be worse - is that she also has bought and packed about 25 to 30 bottles of over the counter medicines and vitamins, etc. And... She has bought and packed almost $1000 worth of Ginseng!!! Customs is going to have a field day with us!!!!! I guess I will have to have more than one customs declaration forms....... ha ha Scott

Every major food store has it own brand. I have seen dozens of brands of this stuff - and it all tastes about the same.

This I have seriously considered..... but I don't have time now to try and find the right spices to make it taste like the stuff she buys and likes. She wants to have this for some huge dinner party we are having the first few days we are there.... just no time to experiment and test spices. Plus she is planning on giving all of her family members about 5 lbs each. But maybe for next time...........

Dave... I'm sorry this disturbs you so. But, everything is true - I'm trying to find out if this will present a problem for us. I have e-mailed and called about every agency both on US soil as well as China soil - trying to find out what to expect if we do this. I'd like to know what YOU would do if your wife wanted to do something similar to this??? You're telling me that you would tell her: Sorry dear - I won't help you do this... or allow you to do it either? Bull shit... you would do everything in your power to please her. If you didn't - you're a shitty husband. I'm not going to tell her "no"... you try and buy it in China. I trust her when she says it is not available for sale where she lives. I will do whatever it takes to please her - because pleasing her (and her family) gives me great joy! You go ahead and be a grumpy old fart. If this topic bothers you so much - please refrain from reading it. I have (same as you) been a member here for many years - and I have the same right as anybody else... to ask questions - and expect some sort of respect from other members in their reply. Again - if it bothers you so much - then stop reading this thread. If you read through this thread - there have been some people who have taken my question seriously and have given some very good answers and feedback. Your post was one of the few that just assume that I am crazy or have other some other motives for asking such a "crazy" or "off the wall" question. Sorry to disappoint you - but it is all just as it says - a question to help me prepare for what may happen through the many stages of the travel process if we take a large package of food stuff used in cooking. Scott

It is seasoned flour - can get it at any grocery store in the US. She says she cannot get it there - at least not in her home town. I don't mind taking it or the expense of taking it - I just don't want to get to China and have it confenscated by cutoms. I've talked with both Delta and China Southern - both say NO PROBLEM. But they both agree I should talk to the Chinese consulate here first............ can't get in touch with them!!! m-coon

The wife says THERE IS NOTHING LIKE THIS ANYWHERE IN CHINA THAT SHE KNOWS OF!!! She is insisting that we try to take it. I have no choice but to try. It is not regular flour - it is the kind that is seasoned especially for fry cooking poultry. m-coon

Hi All, I hope my title got everybody¡¯s attention..... ha ha Sorry to disappoint you - but there are no drugs involved - only FLOUR. Lots of it.......... My wife wants to take about 40 pounds of cooking flour on the airplane with us..... For obvious reasons - I am quite worried that any one of several scenarios will play out - possibly ending with the flour being compensated at China customs. Has anybody ever tried to do this before? Can you share your experiences? Can you give me some solid advice? Delta Airlines says they will not be the problem - but they said China Southern (in Guangzhou - where we pass through customs and board our last flight) will be the problem. Delta said both the airline and customs will be tough to get through with this stuff (still intact and useable). Thanks, Scott

My wife has complianed that the SKYPE is not working. I use it to make a local call and it works fine. She immediately calls China and it does not work? By not work - I mean she says the other person cannot hear her. So there is something going on......... m-coon

I still think this would allow me much more freedom and confidence to roam away from the comfort level of my wife or friends. This way I could get away to do my think alone. I assume I could mark "HOME" in the gps - and it will direct me back to home anytime I am not sure where I am. I just like the freedom of being able to do this. If it will work - it will be great for me. If I do buy it and use it next month - I will post on how it worked for me in southeast China this trip. I am planning on spending a great deal of time in China after I retire. I see this as being a very good investment that I will get many years of use out of. The other option would be to buy another GPS unit in China - but then I have to get one that uses english.........? Scott

Mine is the Nuvi 260W. Sold for about $400 when it first hit the market - but I picked it up last Christmas for $200. I agree - I hope somebody here has used these maps before - I'd like to hear how good they looked and worked. Scott

Hey - thanks for the tip here, Scott! Did you submit a copy of your wife's passport paqe and Chinese ID? NO...... that was the one thing that I did not submit. I just did what the visa company said - which was to submit everything else metioned in this thread. Scott Let me clearify - I did not submit any document from my wife. They didn't need any of her stuff.

Hi, I was thinking about buying the China maps available from Garmin for my GPS unit. This way I can wonder away from my wife without the fear of getting lost. Does anybody have any experience of this software? Does it cover all of China - like they claim it does? I am interested in knowing what anyone can tell me about this software. Thanks, m-coon

I followed the advice given on this website and was issued a 2 YEAR, 90 DAY STAY, MULTIPLE ENTRY VISA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I used a company in DC because I was advised that my local consulate (Houston) would not issue 2 year visa - and the company I used did a great job for me and got the 2 YEAR visa. Some people said this could not be done - sorry, but you are wrong. The embassy in DC will issue visa for any state resident. Scott

Hi, My wife told me that she read that the weight limit on a China Southern flight (in China) is now 44 pounds........ Does anybody know if this is correct? Does anybody know the size limitations also? And how many bags are you permitted to check for free? I HAD a thought - We have tickets from the U.S. to Guangzhou. But we could not buy/purchase tickets beyond Guangzhou (in the U.S.), So Instead we had a relative buy the one flight out of Guangzhou to our final destination for us. DOES ANYBODY KNOW THAT IF WE SHOW THESE TICKETS TO THE CHECK-IN PEOPLE AT DELTA IN THE U.S. WHERE WE WILL BOARD - DO YOU KNOW IF THEY WILL ALLOW US TO CHECK OUR BAGS ALL THE WAY TO OUR FINAL DESTINATION - EVEN THOUGH WE ARE HOLDING TWO SEPERATE SETS OF TICKETS TO GET US TO THE FINAL DESTINATION??? Thanks, m-coon

Yea - David - you of all people know the most details of the dirty mess this marriage was. I am amazed myself that we actually got the card as easily as we did. It was not necessarily easy - but it was a lot easier than I thought it would be - I expected this to have to go to immigration court. I'm pleasantly surprized!!! Were headed to China in a month for a long awaited vacation and lots of shopping! Scott

If anybody has purchased/rented cell phones or SIM cards for use while vacationing in China - can you please tell me the best and cheapest way to do it? I see they can be rented/purchased on the internet here before you go. And other option is to do this at the airport of entry into China. What is the easiest and/or cheapest way to do this? Thanks, m-coon

Hello, Has anybody here, recently or not, had experience with applying for and receiving a visa for the adult son or daughter that was left in China when your spouse came over? We have sent in the application a good long time ago. I remember being told or reading somewhere that it can realistically take as much as 15 years to get this type of visa. Does anybody have any experience with this procedure and can give me some actual timelines? Thanks, m-coon

Yes... we went from having the worst problems any couple could possibly have, to being perhaps a couple with almost no issues with our relationship! I am assuming that because of the extreme problems we had early on, and because we both really wanted to save our marriage that we both have worked very hard to be (become) the person that we knew our spouse wanted us to be. A little change goes a long way. Now is the true test - now that she has the 10 year card - is she going to continue to love me or look again for greener grass. My gut feeling is that the past is truly past and neither of us will do anything that will cause us to go down that road again. We are now planning our first trip back to China together - and we are going all out. This trip is going to include some serious shopping for some long awaited gifts of love for one-another. m-coon