I really wish I had brought some______,

[vibes1313]

Wasn¡¯t sure where to post this, so move if needed.

I thought this might be a fun thread and maybe informative for all of the recent P4¡¯s and happy travelers. It may have been done before, but I haven¡¯t graduated to ¡°search master¡± yet.

 

There are so many things that are really hard, or maybe impossible to find in China. I think the first thing I had a quest to find was barbecue sauce. Two months and many man-hours later, I conquered this great feat. Now I find it everywhere.

Beans. When I came back in April I brought ten pounds of dried beans (pinto, black-eyed, lima, slit-pea, and great northern) and a can of jalapenos. I¡¯m now down to a pound and a half, so it worked out pretty good. Which brings you to.....

Tums. I did find a little roll about the size of your fingernail in Shekou for 8rmb, but this time I brought the mega bottle.

Before I came to China I remember reading about things like floss, insoles, deodorant and such being hard to find, but now I see these everywhere. I¡¯m sure location will make a big difference. Every time I come back to China I see more and more foreigners. The general rule of thumb is ¡°find the foreigners and you¡¯ll find the goods¡±. Hong Kong doesn¡¯t count. Hong Kong has everything.

But I have to fill in the blank with.....

Preparation-H.

[LeeFisher3]

On my last trip I made sure to take all of the P3 documentation with me, multiple copies and printed on both sides. This was all neatly bound with ACCO fasteners. I was so very proud of this neat packet until my SO pointed out to me that her mothers name was spelled incorrectly damn Auto Complete, extra characters in her name.

 

So off we go to correct this and the fun began, I figured we should be able to find some whiteout somewhere in Fushun… No whiteout, OK so it’s a fillable form so let’s go download one and do it again, unable to access DOS web site. One helpful sole suggested to my SO that we have the document scanned and correct it and print the scanned image, couldn’t find a scanner. Only took an hour to discover that her mission was to find a scanner to do this.

 

As there were only additional characters so I came up with an idea, cut a piece of paper that would cover the error and found glue, YES they have Glue in China!!! Now we photocopied the form and the name was proper. My SO was so proud of her man, and I was ready for a drink.

 

How about a hole punch, I want to bind this form with the others, no hole punch even at a business center at the largest hotel… Arrrrggggg!!!

 

Using the original as a template I marked the spot I wanted to have holes and then folded the papers and got busy with scissors. Ended up doing this with the Notary documents too, a true test in patience.

 

I want an Office Max in Every city in China!!!!!!

[HanLi]

good post, I was curious also about finding goods I may need, so I contacted my SO and asked if certain things would be available prior to my arriving there. But she lives in Shanghai, I never had much of a problem.

 

Remember the Boy Scout Motto.......

 

Oh, I see Lee has great reply also concerning the documents... YEA!!

[rogerluli]

 

 

I want an Office Max in Every city in China!!!!!! 

143039[/snapback]

Be careful what you wish for Lee... One of the great charms of China are the zillions of little stores where you can buy just about anything. Imagine China taken over by the "big boxes" like Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc. I know this change is already occuring...I just hope it happens very, very slowly...

[jim_julian]

Bring plenty of diphenoxylate atropine

 

.... particularly if you eat "fish" aka carp

 

ohhh and diphenoxylate atropine is also known as lomotil.

[LeeFisher3]

 

 

I want an Office Max in Every city in China!!!!!! 

143039[/snapback]

Be careful what you wish for Lee... One of the great charms of China are the zillions of little stores where you can buy just about anything. Imagine China taken over by the "big boxes" like Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc. I know this change is already occuring...I just hope it happens very, very slowly...

143160[/snapback]

I agree we should be careful for what we wish for, but white out and whole punch, what an experience.

 

I have my handly dandy whole punch sitting in the stack of things to take with me and I've got to pickup a roll of correction tape too.

 

But really the only thing I wish I had right now is her, but I know when that will happen so the wait is much easier.

[Dan R]

Every time I go to China I take less with me. Last trip I was down to a shoulder bag. Of course I buy a suitcase to bring things back

 

The warehouse store trend certainly make changes fast. When the U.S. pushed Japan to allow Toys R Us in the first year was disaster as over 600 family owned toy stores closed in Tokyo. They had all been in the families a minimum of three generations. Near me 100 shops closed when our mall opened. 6 family toy stores closed when Toys R Us opened. A survey done on what happened to the children of shop owners in our city 5 years after the warehouse stores came in found that 76% were employed as clerks or managers of the stores that had put 230 of their parents out of business.

 

In the U.S. towns and big cities are now trying various legal blocks to warehouse stores that have such an impact on the areas they open in.

[BuffaloPaul]

I've been told not to bring anything except a toothbrush B)

(probably has more red underwear for me )

[BuffaloPaul]

I've been told not to bring anything except a toothbrush B)

(probably has more red underwear for me )

143288[/snapback]

oh yeah - and two large empty suitcases

[vibes1313]

oh yeah - and two large empty suitcases

143290[/snapback]

That's funny. I brought 2 also. I was lucky that one fit inside the other. But now I have to buy 2 more.

I never found white glue so had to settle for rubber cement. I will guess that horses have an alternate destiny. There's a Kinkos in SZ I've been meaning to visit.

And I think they're pouring the foundation for a Home Depot which means it will probably be open tomorrow.

[tonado]

If you go to China in winter time, bring plenty of warm clothes. In USA, I usually wear large size. I bought some X-large thermal underwears in Nanning and they barely fit me. If you are a big person, you would have a hard time finding clothes in stores in China. Maybe it is different in Northern China where people are taller and bigger.

Edited August 4, 2005 by ttlee_99 (see edit history)

[LeeFisher3]

If you go to China in winter time, bring plenty of warm clothes.  In USA, I  usually wear large size. I bought some X-large thermal underwears in Nanning and they barely fit me.  If you are a big person, you would have a hard time finding clothes in stores in China.  Maybe it is different in Northern China where people are taller and bigger.

143414[/snapback]

Nope, the sizes be about the same. I have XL's from last winter.

[awch]

Deoderant. Dental Floss. Mint Tea. Instant Pudding. Brown sugar. Anything needed for baking such as extract of vanilla and baking powder. Salty buttery popcorn. The kind of face wash and lotion I like (body shop). Snacks like cheetos and fritos. Breakfast foods. Jewlery cleaner. English books. IP Profen. Pepto-bismo.

 

These are the things I miss and can't buy here......

[Robert S.]

Grits. Honey.

[vibes1313]

Fritos.... There are tons of potato chips. Lays, Pringles, and other Chinese brands. But with all the corn here it's near impossible to find a corn chip. The USA Store in Shekou sometimes has Doritos, if you get there early on the right day, but I've never seen a Frito in China. Or grits.