Sending Books from US to China

[Zhoule]

I am heading back to the US for a couple weeks worth of work/meetings, etc and wanted to ship some books back to China that are currently rotting away in a US storage unit(much like my brain is rotting away without the books in China ).

The last time I looked into doing this (December of '07) I was disappointed to see that the USPS no longer did the MBag, or any surface mail, overseas, and only offered airmail.

Has anyone found another method to be workable? I am talking about ~200 lbs of books, 3 large boxes. Though this could be paired down (and would definitely be if I have to do some variant of airmail). Got at least another 5-7 years here (minus 6 month time served ) and the thought of having to order from Amazon once a month when I already have a ton of books in the US waiting to be read is heart breaking

[self-taught-mba]

I think the USPS has a flat rate box for $38 bucks (priority mailer). No weight limit. Seen people get the heaviest books into those. I know you said NOT USPS but many don't know about the flat-rate options. Sorry best I can do.

[889]

Your airline will charge a fortune for overweight checked luggage: the standard is something like 1 percent of the published first-class fare per kilo.

But most airlines also offer an alternate, usually called something like "unaccompanied baggage," that gets shipped as cargo. Usually you have to deliver the stuff yourself to the airline's cargo terminal the day before you leave, then pick it up and clear customs at the air cargo terminal at the other end.

Cost will vary with the airline, but they should be able to give you a quote over the phone. Be sure to ask about all the surcharges.

(The $38.95 flat-rate USPS box has a 20-lb limit.)