FIRST TIME Travelling to China - Need packing advice/tips

[EOS]

Hi everyone,

I will be travelling to China in October and need some packing advice/tips. I am really excited and am already making lists of things I need to take. My girlfriend told me that I will definitely need some "stomach medicine" as she thinks the food will make me sick.. I habe no idea what type of stomach medicine I will need though.. It also made me wonder if there's anything else that would come in really handy that I wouldn't have thought about packing myself.

All advice/tips extremely appreciated, if anyone is interested as to where I am going.. I will be in Chengdu,

[ZoxGuo]

Actually stomach medicine is not so nescerry, but if you want to try some food of barbecue stall or something in the street, better take some.

Eh of course, Chengdu is a place where people really keen on spicy food, almost every restaurant are fulled of spicy food, so how about some medicine that can control collywobbles?

[Lin You Le]

Why you will need a stomach medicine? Which of kind disease do you have?

[johnk]

The answers to this really depend on you.

Where are you from?

Have you travelled much? and if so to where? ... China is very different to Europe, but so is India and South America.

How long are you going to China for? ... there is a big difference between a week long trip and a year at a university.

What are you going to do there? ... travelling with a tour group and staying in upmarket hotel is different to backpacking in rural villages.

 

I have been to China a few times for up to a month at a time. I never felt a need to pack anything special.

The stomach medicine advice sound typically British to me.

Strange food never bothered me, but if you are not used to eating different foods then taking stomach medicine may be a good idea.

 

 

[shuoshuo]

Install a VPN.  That would be necessary.

[大肚男]

I would take some peptobismol fir foid trouble.

Also, if you smoke, bring your own cigarettes. I was a smoker, the First time I went to China, and Chinese cigarettes for not hit the spot.

Also, take some toiletries, such toothpaste. You can buy them, but quality is pretty low.

Another thing, make sure to bring shaving blades, as they're pretty hard to find

[大肚男]

Should be "peptobismol for food trouble"

[shuoshuo]

Chengdu is in Sichuan... known for hot/spicy foods.  Try to eat at clean places and avoid street food if you are sensitive to that kind of thing.  Better yet, avoid Chinese food altogether if you feel it's not something you will be able to handle.  The other responses here are convincing me that Chengdu is in the middle of nowhere.  As I have spent all my years in Shanghai, but have visited other parts of China (not Chengdu), I do find it hard to believe that there are no supermarkets or large stores in a city such as Chengdu where you will be able to buy shaving blades, imported toothpaste and cigarettes if it ever comes to that.

 

My advice - unless you take certain medications or you are reliant on certain foods: free fall.  Isn't that part of the adventure?

[EOS]

Thanks for the replies everybody. My girlfriend is actually Chinese, she is the one who told me I should bring "stomach medicine" as she is convinced Chinese food will give me stomach trouble.. I do rememner watching a vlog on youtube that said the same thing.. So the advice here has been a little reassuring, maybe I won't need it.

johnk, I am from Australia, I have not travelled much at all outside of Australia (only to England many many years ago), I will be going for 3 months, me and my girlfriend will be renting an apartment in Chengdu while I am there, nothing too fancy but fairly new from what I understand. She will be working so I'll probably spend my time exploring, taking photos and eating.

I don't smoke so don't have to worry about that.

shuoshuo, I have been told by my gf about the spicy sichuan food, eating is one of the things I am most excited about so I'll basicaly be jumping in head first. I swear 99% of the things my girlfriend eats you wouldn't even be able to buy in Australia lol.

I'm not too concerned sbout the toothpaste, razor stuff I'm sure it eill be fine like you said.

The only medication I plan on taking is Panadol (I read Chinese painkillers aren't very good?) and Ventalin for my asthma.... Another thing my girlfriend is concerned about is my asthma and air pollution, I'm sure kt wkll be fine though I'm not very sensitive, usually just get asthma when I get sick.

[ChTTay]

If you have a Chinese girlfriend, who will be with you, then she could take you to see a doctor if you did end up getting food poisoning. It's very easy. They would likely just prescribe some antibiotics to clear it up and a bunch of Chinese medicine which you could choose to take or not.

I've found Chinese painkillers to be fine.

If this is your first time abroad you might encounter going to the toilet too much (bring a "stopper" like immodium) or not going at all! In which case some herbal/natural laxitive might help you out. I don't mean food poisoning but things might just not agree with you. It still happens to me sometime and ive been here 3 years.

If you use a razor that isn't electric it might be tricky to find new blades. I'd bring enough with you. You can find blades im sure but maybe not the right ones. I was in Chengdu recently and there was at least one western supermarket with imported food and toiletries. Equally, Chendu has some pretty good western restauramts if you miss western food. There's 'The Book Worm" which is a cafe/restaurant/bar and bookstore. Also a load of other western restaurants and cafes. Theres a chengdu blog/site you should check out but i cant recall the name.

Im not sure what Oz plugs are like but If you are bringing a lot of electronic devices (iPad, laptop, camera etc) that need charging then you will need adapters. You could consider bringing an extension lead with three sockets on it, then plug that into the adatper, then the whole thing into the Chinese socket. That way you would just plug all your stuff into the extension as normal and its bein "adapted" at the wall socket. Not sure if that makes sense... Haha I found having an adapter with USB sockets in it has been extremely useful too. I picked one up for British plugs in Hong Kong that had three usb ports on it.

Good luck, let us know how it goes.

[imron]

Im not sure what Oz plugs are like but If you are bringing a lot of electronic devices (iPad, laptop, camera etc) that need charging then you will need adapters.

The three-pronged Chinese plugs are just the Australian plugs upside down.  Voltage is also the same so in most cases you won't need any adapters and can just plug things in (I say most cases because you might occasionally encounter somewhere that only has flat 2-prong holes).

 

I've found Chinese painkillers to be fine.

Chinese painkillers are going to be fine, but the peace of mind of having a brand you trust and are familiar with can be a good thing - especially if say you find yourself with a headache at 2 a.m. in the morning.  Having something on hand and ready to go can save a lot of hassle.

[Lin You Le]

If you get sick or uncomfortable, I  strongly recommend take Chinese medicine, not western medicine, its healthier and have more effect than western medicine to these kind of problems. Don't just use painkillers if you don't know the reason you get sick, or can be worse.

[shuoshuo]

Ah... in that case, don't forget your inhalers.  Apart from that, you should be fine.  Lots of panadol/paracetamol types of meds in China, I actually really like the types they have there because they work fast. Esp. 芬必得.

[bande]

I second the recommendation for Imodium. Laduzi hits without fail during every china trip. Also, extra deodorant is helpful because it can be hard to find.

[Lu]

You can absolutely buy razorblades in Chengdu, I've bought a razor in a little corner shop. Chengdu men have beard hair too. Never bought toothpaste there but I can't believe Chengdunese don't brush their teeth, so unless you're peculiar about which brand you use, no need to bring extra.

You'll probably get some amount of stomach trouble (because really, you don't want to not eat the food there, Sichuanese food is great), so stomach medicine is not a bad idea. But you generally shouldn't get all-out food poisoning, just try to avoid the very dirty restaurants. (And even then. The only time I got food poisoning in China was after eating at a perfectly nice Vietnamese place catering to expats.)

Download skype before you go to China, if you don't have it yet. The version you can download in China is a version that the government can listen in to if they want. They probably won't be interested, but still.

If you have large feet or wear large clothes, make sure you bring enough shoes & clothes to last you three months (three months isn't that long, so that shouldn't be a problem).

Not sure what else, except for the general travel tips... Bring a copy of your passport and store it somewhere else than your actual passport. Don't get ripped off by taxi drivers, ask your GF what's the best way to get from the airport to the city. Don't fly on a Sunday or Monday if you can avoid it: many shops are closed on Saturday and Sunday, so if you plan well you have the opportunity to do last-minute things (bank, shopping, post office) if necessary.

Chengdu is a very nice city, enjoy your time there! And make sure you go to Sanxingdui, it's really interesting.

[ChTTay]

"You can absolutely buy razorblades in Chengdu, I"

Blades yes, but are they blades that fit the razor the OP is bringing. I cannot but blades to fit mine properly apart from at an Expat supermarket.

I guess i should just buy a new razor...

Anyway, it's not a big deal. Just but a new razor or disposable one for a few months.

Just wanted to chime in i guess. Haha