WestTexas Posted July 26, 2011 at 03:00 PM Report Posted July 26, 2011 at 03:00 PM Has anyone shipped a box from within China to another part of China? How does it work? I am assuming I need to go to the post office, but other than that I have no idea. I have some books I want to ship to the next town I'll work in. I have been having back pain so I don't want to carry the books on the train. The total weight of the books is around 15 kilos. Any info, like on boxes, prices, time, where to do it, etc. would be appreciated. Thanks! Quote
xianhua Posted July 26, 2011 at 03:31 PM Report Posted July 26, 2011 at 03:31 PM I went to the post office to post a parcel (from and within China) recently. My family were horrified when I told them I'd used this outdated and redundant form of posting. The preferred method now is to use a courier who are usually quick (usually next day), cheap, reliable and efficient. The only part which is rather annoying is that they will insist on taking the phone number of the recipient. I assume this is to call them when they can not find the exact location. The courier will collect from your address if you get it all ready. I'll find out the name of the courier we used shortly. Quote
Yang Rui Posted July 26, 2011 at 04:29 PM Report Posted July 26, 2011 at 04:29 PM If you don't want to carry the books to the post office, you could consider this company: http://www.zjs.com.cn/ They're a relatively big courier. I used them to ship things from Shenzhen to Shanghai and they were ok. They'll come round with a box that you can fill up and then they take it away. Quote
roddy Posted July 26, 2011 at 05:48 PM Report Posted July 26, 2011 at 05:48 PM If you do end up going to the post office (the courier idea sounds better, though) there's a handy postage calculator - for a domestic parcel you want this one. Add a few kuai on for their (non-optional) box. Quote
WestTexas Posted July 26, 2011 at 06:28 PM Author Report Posted July 26, 2011 at 06:28 PM Oh my, that's way cheaper than I expected. I think I'll go with standard shipping. Thanks for the help! Quote
imron Posted July 26, 2011 at 11:53 PM Report Posted July 26, 2011 at 11:53 PM Just remember don't pack the box before you arrive at the post office. They'll want to do that for you Quote
xiaoxiaocao Posted July 27, 2011 at 02:53 AM Report Posted July 27, 2011 at 02:53 AM Just remember don't pack the box before you arrive at the post office. They'll want to do that for you Or if a courier is coming to pick it up. Found this out the hard way. After meticulously packing everything the night before the courier guy wants me to open them all up so he can look through himself. My pleas of 不用吧 fell on deaf ears. Quote
xianhua Posted July 27, 2011 at 08:17 AM Report Posted July 27, 2011 at 08:17 AM Here is the courier I recommend. The last 6 deliveries have all been made on the following day. Compare this with the post office who took two weeks to get a parcel from Guangzhou to Wuhan last time. Quote
jbradfor Posted July 27, 2011 at 02:15 PM Report Posted July 27, 2011 at 02:15 PM I'm not saying a courier is a bad idea (I don't know enough to say one way or another....), but what happens if there is an issue with the package? I assume there is no tracking status. What recourse do you have it the package is lost or contents damaged? Quote
xianhua Posted July 27, 2011 at 07:47 PM Report Posted July 27, 2011 at 07:47 PM Tracking can be carried out online and text messages are generated when the item is successfully received. I get the impression that the post office service has been left for dust by these couriers. Quote
roddy Posted July 27, 2011 at 07:52 PM Report Posted July 27, 2011 at 07:52 PM You can include the amount of insurance you want on that tariff calculator. Don't know if there's any tracking, but it's just a box of books - there's only so much that can go wrong. Quote
jbradfor Posted July 27, 2011 at 08:09 PM Report Posted July 27, 2011 at 08:09 PM And if the courier loses / damages packages? Can you buy insurance for these, or are they "best effort"? "just a box of books"!?!? What could be more important to ship? Quote
WestTexas Posted September 4, 2011 at 08:19 AM Author Report Posted September 4, 2011 at 08:19 AM So, just as an update: I shipped my books and my clothing by the standard Chinese shipping. I'm not sure what the charge per kilo was, but I think it was very low. I believe I paid around 70 yuan total. I shipped about 28 kilos of books and about 25 kilos of clothing. The shipments took almost 3 weeks to arrive. I have no idea how. The city I moved to was only about 400-500 kilometers from the first city I lived in, and only one province away. There is a rail line going straight between the two cities. Someone literally could have carried the boxes there more quickly. Because it took so long, I thought the shipments had maybe gotten lost, and was not happy about this. I was actually planning to go to the post office and inquire what the problem was on Monday, and then two days before that, on Saturday, the boxes arrived. Also, I had to wear the same pair of pants for like a week while I waited for the clothing to arrive. 2 Quote
roddy Posted September 5, 2011 at 07:45 AM Report Posted September 5, 2011 at 07:45 AM Thanks for the follow-up. After meticulously packing everything the night before the courier guy wants me to open them all up so he can look through himself. My pleas of 不用吧 fell on deaf ears. Given that if they thought they'd get away with it people would no doubt be shipping boxes of fireworks, cheap cigarette lighters and kidnappees, you can kind of see why they like to check . . . Quote
xiaoxiaocao Posted September 5, 2011 at 12:51 PM Report Posted September 5, 2011 at 12:51 PM Given that if they thought they'd get away with it people would no doubt be shipping boxes of fireworks, cheap cigarette lighters and kidnappees, you can kind of see why they like to check . . . Yeah good point, and there would probably be much worse/more dangerous stuff than that getting posted around. Quote
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