China Post 2011 - rates, advice, tips - China -> Europe

[amandagmu]

Hello all,

I've spent some time today reading up on shipping costs back to Germany for all my books and what not via China Post. Anyone have experiences/rates/advice they care to share? This would probably be two small-ish or medium-sized boxes, filled just with books and papers related to research. I have read elsewhere on this site or another that I will need to carry my items, unpackaged, to the post office. Any other tips or advice people care to share on here? Did all of your items eventually arrive safe and sound? Do you have another suggested shipping option?

It appears I am limited to one bag of potentially up to 23 kg on my airline, with 30 euros/kg for each kilo after that (the "weight concept" rather than "piece concept" applies.... boo).

[Daan]

I sent a box of books and magazines back to the Netherlands from Beijing two years ago. You can actually go to the post office and buy a box there, then take that box to the post office and send it - but they'll want to check the contents first, so you don't want to tape the box shut. I paid about 300 RMB for a 20-kg box, if I remember correctly. That was the cheapest option, surface mail, and it took 2-3 months for the box to get to the Netherlands, but everything got there in one piece.

Of course there are 手續 to be dealt with, but you'll be pointed in the right direction by the staff. They deal with such parcels on a quite regular basis, of course, especially in Wudaokou, if you're in Beijing. The post office outside BLCU was better than the one on campus, in my opinion. One thing: customs forms must be filled out in English, not in Chinese, as EU customs will want to be able to read them, and the Dutch customs service will actually sometimes even go so far as to fine people whose customs forms are in Chinese. So be sure to use English everywhere on the form, even for the return address. Maybe English and Chinese both, but certainly English.

[anonymoose]

Your checked-in baggage can only be a maximum of 23 kg (depending on which airline, and if it is only 1-2 kg over, often they won't say anything), but that doesn't mean you can't carry other stuff with you. Usually for cabin baggage, there is a weight restriction of 6 kg, but rarely do they weigh your cabin baggage unless it is clearly oversized. Therefore, you could probably get away with carrying another 5-10 kg of books with you on your person. Also, many people buy duty-free stuff once they are through to departures and thus usually have an extra plastic carrier bag in addition to their hand luggage. So you could always fill a plastic bag up with books and have someone look after it for you while you check in, and then just carry it though to departures with you.

[amandagmu]

Thanks, but this is probably at least a few dozen kilos of books and research materials, including the 1200 photocopies I made at an archive... Oh, and don't worry, I already have plans to scan documents ahead of time and carry on as many books/periodicals/papers as possible (mostly the stuff I can't scan and/or likely can't easily replace, such as things dating from a few decades ago).

300 RMB is dirt cheap.... that's probably what I'll use to send the 1200 photocopies.

[Daan]

You can also, although probably not that cheaply, have them scanned, rather than doing so yourself. You can find little hole-in-the-wall places where they help you do that everywhere in Taipei, and I'm sure in Beijing as well. They're cheap and they tend to do good work. That way, you'll have a PDF of all the documents available, just in case they lose your parcel. Plus, it's just generally convenient if you have to travel: with PDFs you can still access your sources as long as you're carrying a laptop.

I wouldn't know a good place in Wudaokou where they do this, but then I never lived there, so I'd appreciate it if anyone more familiar with the area would share some suggestions.

[gougou]

I just sent a box of books to Germany two weeks ago. It was around 500 RMB for the slowest option (2-3 months) for what should have been close to 30 kilo - they just gave me the biggest box they deemed suitable for books and I filled it up with books to the rim.

Obviously, I can't comment yet whether they'll arrive, but I'm hopeful

[amandagmu]

Oh, yes, well I plan to have them scanned. I just don't trust the hole-in-the-wall places unless I'm watching every move. But that was indeed my plan: take them there, scan to PDF, then ship off. I have two hard drives for storage. Taking all precautions!

Thanks for the info on the boxes to Germany - I was just picking something up at the post office from kongfz.com and checked out the newest prices. Seems to be 5kg for 100 RMB and then 20 RMB per kilo after that, 水运 / water transport via the slow method you mention. I think I'll send the papers, after scanning, and less critical books that way, carry the most important with me, and send anything I'll need sooner via 空运 / air transport. That was something like 200 for the first 5 kg (I think? for the slower air transport; fastest as 240 or 250) but then I think 40 RMB per kilo thereafter.

Thanks everyone!

[gougou]

Just an update on how things worked out: I ended up sending three boxes in total. I didn't expect to receive anything this year, but they've all arrived already. The first one I got almost a month ago, and the last one (which I posted mid-October, I believe) arrived this week. The boxes were a bit beaten, and some of the books were a little bent, but nothing got lost or broken. Thumbs up for China Post!

[noony1990]

Hi, I just posted my stuff back this week with China post. It was cheap and surprisingly easy. Even a non Chinese speaker could easily do it.