Job Discussion Forums

[chengdu4me]

The one thing you won't find anywhere in China is mens shoes over size 11.

If you use a sleep aid such as Unisom, bring lots of it. You can't get it here.

Like others have suggested, Tylenol, Tums, particular addictive candies.

You can buy a 10 cup (4 mug)coffee maker at Carrefour for about 180 RMB. You can buy a bean grinder for about 80 RMB. Coffee beans (here in Chengdu) is 24 RMB for a 1 kilo bag (Mantown brand). Various different blends/origin of beans.

Pre-ground coffee is about 50 RMB for a one pound can of Maxwell House in the international grocery store in the neighborhood. If you are particularly wealthy, you can buy at Starbucks for 90 RMB for a 1/2 kilo.

You can learn to live with alternatives on many things, but do not scrimp on medication and things you need to make your life comfortable for the first few months. Life here can be shock enough and those little creature comforts make the transition much easier. You will find alternatives to most of them, but having them to start off with is invaluable.

[vexed]

[General Franco]

[chengdu4me]

GF, that's good news to me! Did they have size 13 1/2? I haven't found those anywhere yet. The cites I have been in stop at size 11.

[TexasHighway]

chengdu4me wrote:

[KarenB]

As mentioned before, some places like Shanghai or Beijing, you can find just about everything, other places some things, and in certain backwaters, hardly anything, unless you take the 5 hour train ride to a major city.

In our case, we pack deoderant (it's starting to show up here, but generally not antiperspirant, and not my favored brand), tampons, condoms (Asian men are smaller, so they will be too small for most westerners), certain spices that you can't get here easily -- such as cinnamon (you can get cinnamon bark), nutmeg, chili powder.

I wear women's size 8 shoes and can find my size here, but it's difficult to find anything larger than that. Clothing for anyone over size 10 is difficult to find (at least a style that you'd be willing to wear in public). Bras for ladies who aren't flat and don't care for 2 inches of padding.

We buy most of our meds here, but I do bring Sinus Tylenol from the States as I tend to get a lot of sinus headaches. Also, when we go to the states, we bring some Chinese antibiotics which can be purchased over the counter very cheaply. There's been a couple times when I caught some germ from someone on the airplane, or developed a sinus infection as a result of the flight, and then had shell out $100 for a doc and meds in the States.

[chengdude]

Tylenol is acetaminophen...in China you find it sold the way the world outside the USA knows it: paracetamol. The biggest brand sold nationwide is called Gan Kang.

If you prefer ibuprofen, the big brand is Fenbid ("Fen-bi-de").

I always bring my own aspirin, but only because I prefer BC Powders. Chinese aspirin is sold at an utterly insipid strength of 25mg -or maybe 50mg- per tablet.

Nivea shave gel (in addition to Gillette & Schick) is widely available; true, though, it's about $5 a can.

Twin blade razors & cartridges from Schick and Gillette are dirt cheap. As others have said, the newer shaving tech gets pricey.

For black & fruity-type teas, Akbar, Dilmah and Twinings are becoming quite easy to get.

I'd cast my vote for deodorant and a supply of decent socks because, unlike many guys here apparently, I don't like wearing ankle-length pantyhose.

For everything else, there's only one Chinese word you need to know that will unlock your happiness and fulfill all your dreams: Taobao.

[Jayray]

What drives me nuts is that i see pretty big, fat, Chinese men and students, but I can't find a large size shirt very easily. I'm a size 16, but most of the sport shirts I find in the stores seem to be about a 14 or smaller.

Even more bizarre is that where I've shopped, size 38-44 waist size pants are common. I'm a size 34 waist, 31 length, but I have to really dig through the stock to find my size. When I DO find my waist size, invariably, I have to get the pants shortened from a 34 length. To top it off, in the very same stores that carry 44 waist sizes, I can't buy a belt longer than a 34. That means that my belts are always worn on the very last notch. God help me if I gain weight; then I have to resort to a length of rope.

If you have an aversion to buying a chicken in a store that still has all of its parts, you should bring freeze-dried chicken with you in mass quantities because where I shop, the butchers WON'T cut the feet OR the heads off the chickens.

I second the BYO socks comment. Bring your usual socks from home, but try to find some very light weight socks. What you'll find in the men's department are really footies, the things that barely reach the top of your shoe.

Last (but not least): bring a lot of patience, humor, and a willingness to endure crowds wherever you go.

[MisterButtkins]

Hmm, I actually prefer some of the socks here to the typical American cotton socks. There's this one brand I really like, it has a wolf on the package, 2 yuan per pair. They are made out of some sort of special material that keeps your feet really, really dry. When you wash them and hang them up they are dry in like 10 minutes. They seem really resilient too - the American socks I brought are all falling apart after only 7 months.

[killian]

shaving cream? really? maybe i've been in china too long. wet your face with the coldest water in the house and shave away.

shoes...i am a 13 /13.5. hard to find in china. the ones i do find are shoddy.

[JamesD]

Guys, go electric. I was a blade man for 30 years and thought electric shavers were useless. Tried again a few years ago and realized how dumb I had been.
No more buying blades or foam and saves a lot of time since you can shave anywhere. Takes a few days to get your skin accustomed to it but definitely just as smooth and handy when you're rushed in the morning.

[thessy]

[The Voice Of Reason]

[Ariadne]

Re bringing food into China... I always carry in lots (and lots) of cheese along with cans of chicken, chili, and soup. I've never had anyone even look in my bags.

.

[Halapo]

If you are in Beijing, Shanghai or Hong Kong/GZ you really don't have much to worry about. Prices will be higher, but you can get it.

Even if you are not in the bigger/international places, you can get almost everything off the "Chinese Internet". I say it like that because you will need to read and order off of the local version of Ebay, and know your own mailing address... or get somebody to do it for you. Lots of things are much cheaper if you order online... In my office this month, about 15 orders have been made, and only 1 person didn't get what they ordered... Seems about average from month to month online deals... Less the 10% chance of getting ripped off? Sounds about right for China.

Shoes! Hell, I just spent the better part of a week looking for size 10 (US/Canada). That is a pretty standard size, but they don't have every style in every size. And to be fair, I really wanted 9 1/2, but lets not go crazy or aim to high... Plus I have students with bigger feet then me, I don't think they really care, they just wear what fits. I would say this is true for all clothing.

Shaving, you can get what you need just about anywhere, but its normally pretty crappy quality. Deodorant took me a month to find locally, and now I buy it during my monthly trips to Shanghai.

Meds, my mom is a nurse, she loaded me up ( we are buying them, not stealing, I know what you were thinking! ) with bottles of things I never thought I would need. Now I remind her to load me back up each time I come home, the price here is to much, and you might not be able to read any warnings ( if there are any ) on a Chinese box.

DIGITAL READER! I got one thinking it would be much smarter then lugging books over ( cause books are heavy and eat up baggage weight limits fast ). Has it ever paid off! No need to search through bookstores for books in English, the most recent printed over 4 years ago! Most major releases now come out with a digital copy the same month, if not the same day as the book itself.