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boxcarwilly
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Posts: 85
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 Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:01 am Post subject: changing jobs, relocating: what to do about SHIPPING STUFF |
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| Just got back from rail station. I shipped 6 boxes containing 80 kg's total from Shenyang to Shenzhen. I insured the 6 boxes for a total 10,000 RMB insurable value. The cost was 40 RMB for insurance, 30 RMB to bag the boxes and 10 RMB actaul shipping cost for each box! Total of 130 RMB! Shipping could take 20 to 30 days to reach Shenzen. |
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voodikon
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
Posts: 1363
Location: chengdu
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| Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:08 am Post subject: |
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| thanks for the info. is there a particular way the packages need to be, uh, packaged? should i just print out the destination address on a sheet of A4 for each one? |
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chengdude
Joined: 13 Jun 2004
Posts: 294
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| Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 3:08 pm Post subject: |
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A slightly modified rail option: a company called China Rail Express. It's 4.7 RMB per kilogram plus a 3 RMB charge for each box...and I guess optional insurance. That cost apparently includes pickup and delivery and it takes 3 days. Unless another job offer magically appears, I will probably be trying it out over the weekend, so I'll try to post my experience.
As for boxes, you can't beat China Post's...they're near bulletproof. The caveat: a bit expensive at up to 11 RMB per. But they do last; I have a small one that's going to be on it's 3rd voyage. |
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Hainanien
Joined: 30 Jul 2005
Posts: 83
Location: someplace in China this week... another place next
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| Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2005 3:54 am Post subject: |
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If it is a Lot of cash, Maybe try sending it to yourself through Western Union, reasonable cost for security.
You can send RMB through China Post W.U. services if ya go to their main branch... or the one they send you to.
If it�s U.S. $$�s, China Post or Ag bank will let you Western Union it to yourself & it will be safely waiting for you once ya get to the new city & figure out which bank you want to open the new account.
I once put all my luggage through the train luggage department instead of carrying it myself, it went on the same train I was on...
They said I had 3 days to pick it up in the new city before holding charges came. I picked it up the following morning with no trouble.
I had a couple boxes & a few regular suitcases, they put them in those big burlap / nylon bags & tied them shut as I stood there, put a double sided ticket on the bag & gave me the other half. It seemed pretty safe & was about half of my ticket cost for around 90 kg.... `books...  |
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voodikon
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
Posts: 1363
Location: chengdu
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:37 am Post subject: |
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thanks for the info. for anybody else looking to send their stuff on the trains, i just went through the motions yesterday. there's a separate office for sending baggage, which you go to. luckily i took a translator, because there seemed to be a lot of back and forth going on, particularly with the ladies who stand outside in the front and put all your unboxed baggage into burlap bags and put straps on your boxes (they did six packages for RMB20). all up, i sent 84 kg (it was between two people!) for RMB250. it should arrive in 2-3 days, and we have three days after it arrives to pick it up; after that, they charge RMB2/package/day.
the charges, by the way, break down to RMB8 per package plus RMB2.6 per kg. if you have a train ticket to the same destination, you save 30 or 40 percent. |
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tw
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
Posts: 3898
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 7:56 am Post subject: |
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| voodikon wrote: |
| it should arrive in 2-3 days, and we have three days after it arrives to pick it up; after that, they charge RMB2/package/day. |
HUGE discrepancy between your experience and boxcarwilly's! He said:
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| Shipping could take 20 to 30 days to reach Shenzen. |
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Chris_Crossley
Joined: 26 Jun 2004
Posts: 1797
Location: Still in the centre of Furnace City, PRC, after eight years!!!
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 8:13 am Post subject: Misinformation and lying |
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| tw wrote: |
| voodikon wrote: |
| it should arrive in 2-3 days, and we have three days after it arrives to pick it up; after that, they charge RMB2/package/day. |
HUGE discrepancy between your experience and boxcarwilly's! He said:
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| Shipping could take 20 to 30 days to reach Shenzen. |
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When in China, one should learn the difference between what one is told should happen and what actually does happen in the end.
How would you feel if you were told that your freight would take "between 20 and 30 days" to reach you? I suppose it would be OK if you were in northwest Xinjiang and the freight was going by train to Shenzhen; the worry would then not be the actual amount of time taken for the freight to get to its destination, rather it would be the condition whatever freight arrives in and whether or not there would be any of the freight missing.
Then again, the Chinese will always tell you what they believe you will want to hear. Once you hear what they think foreigners want to hear, you will then depart, satisfied (= deluded?) that you have been told fairly accurate information. If and when a week passes and you worry about when your freight is going to arrive when you were told "2-3 days", some official at the other end of the telephone line is going to say that "20-30 days" is the normal amount of time. The foreigner will then be thought of as the one who "misinterpreted" what had been said. It saves face for the Chinese, as there is no way that the foreigner can prove that what had allegedly been said had been said - unless the foreigner actually secretly records the conversation and plays it back as "proof" of what had actually been said.
There is this other thread on Dave's simply called "Lies". The Chinese, as I am sure someone has said, have perfected misinformation to an art that it is a perfectly normal thing to say one thing when they mean another, but they do not interpret what they say as "lies", though they can allegedly go too far, as one poster reported when he said that an FT was supposed to be fired "without suspicion" so the FAO of a school made up some lie about the PSB wanting to check all the red and green books after a foreigner had allegedly "died" in the town when no such event had taken place. |
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voodikon
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
Posts: 1363
Location: chengdu
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| Posted: Mon Aug 22, 2005 9:09 am Post subject: |
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well, a) i had a translator with me, so i don't think there was any misinterpretation, and b) it makes a lot more sense that it would take 2-3 days from suzhou to chengdu as that's the length of time it takes for a train to arrive. what are they going to do with the packages for 20-30 days? store them? transfer them around? why?
i can't explain why it would take 20-30 days from beijing to shenzhen though.
well, i'll let you all know on sunday whether they made it within the expected time frame (i fly out on saturday night). |
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chengdude
Joined: 13 Jun 2004
Posts: 294
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| Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 1:52 am Post subject: |
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| Wish I had gone voodikon's more DIY route: I ended up paying close to 150 RMB more for essentially the same service...although the company, China Rail Express, did pick up my boxes. They'll deliver to your door as well IF your destination is within their service area (that "IF" is something they don't exactly tell you unless you specifically ask). Mine isn't, so I'll need to arrange something on my own...or pay an outrageous 150 RMB delivery fee. |
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voodikon
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
Posts: 1363
Location: chengdu
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| Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 2:31 am Post subject: |
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well, if it makes you feel any better, i did have to take my things to the train station, which was an RMB25 taxi ride; and i'll have to pick them up, which will be another taxi ride.
and chengdude, if you're going to nanjing, aren't you going to have to change your name? to something like ... nanjude? it just doesn't have the same ring. |
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chengdude
Joined: 13 Jun 2004
Posts: 294
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| Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 6:51 am Post subject: |
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| and chengdude, if you're going to nanjing, aren't you going to have to change your name? to something like ... nanjude? it just doesn't have the same ring. |
Indeed no, so chengdude it will remain unless I have some sort of late-night revelation. Home is where the heart is, after all.
And good luck in Chengdu. You'll be working outside the city, but as I understand, the management company will give you an apartment in a pretty convenient, in-town locale. Hope they'll be paying you more than what they once offered me. Qintai Lu (touristy, mock-Qing shopping street), Baihuatan Park, and Qingyang Temple are within reasonable walking/biking distance and buses along the artery in front of Qintai Lu will quickly get you to Renmin Park and, just beyond, the heart of the city. |
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voodikon
Joined: 23 Sep 2004
Posts: 1363
Location: chengdu
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| Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 8:15 am Post subject: creepy. |
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| did i either tell you where i was working and forget; am i corresponding with you through another venue and name; or are you omniscient? |
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chengdude
Joined: 13 Jun 2004
Posts: 294
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| Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 2:05 pm Post subject: |
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| did i either tell you where i was working and forget; am i corresponding with you through another venue and name; or are you omniscient? |
Heck, I can't remember my phone number sometimes...see page 1 of this thread to discover the secret to my omniscience. |
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latefordinner
Joined: 19 Aug 2003
Posts: 973
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| Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2005 2:43 pm Post subject: |
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Voodikon innocently posted:
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| and chengdude, if you're going to nanjing, aren't you going to have to change your name? to something like ... nanjude? it just doesn't have the same ring. |
Hey, he could go to Ha'erbin, in Heilongliang. Then we could all sing, HeiDude... <running and ducking for much needed cover> |
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Chris_Crossley
Joined: 26 Jun 2004
Posts: 1797
Location: Still in the centre of Furnace City, PRC, after eight years!!!
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| Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2005 1:49 am Post subject: Hey, Long Dude! |
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| latefordinner wrote: |
Voodikon innocently posted:
| Quote: |
| and chengdude, if you're going to nanjing, aren't you going to have to change your name? to something like ... nanjude? it just doesn't have the same ring. |
Hey, he could go to Ha'erbin, in Heilongliang. Then we could all sing, HeiDude... <running and ducking for much needed cover> |
Or even "Hey, Long Dude!" <Runs and takes cover behind a tank.> |
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