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Frymark's Most and least helpful things we packed….
Most helpful:
NAPKINS (for eating)
Thermos for hot water More than 5 diapers
Hip Hammock
baby blankets 3-4
Saline spray (for baby)
Baby cold medicines (take alot!)
Instant soup/oatmeal (for upset tummies)
Baby hat (any season)
Ziplocks for dirty diapers
Pint bottles for mixing formula
Did not need:
Snack bars and snack food
American formula (take a few tubes)
Playtex bag/bottles
Excessive adult meds
Vortherms packing list (for an 8 month old baby)
Most helpful
*Backpack
*Baby carrier
*Red gift bags & red envelopes
*Ziplocks—different sizes
*Cotton backed vinyl tablecloth (for floor of hotel room to play on, or use as diaper changing pad,
toss when returning)
*Snack bars, oatmeal, soup packets (handy if stay in room with a sick child or adult)
*Rubbermaid container— Pack breakables on way over, wash bottles in, & pack breakables for
return.
*www.pandaphone.com—Panda Phone. Reasonably priced way to keep in touch with loved ones at home
or your guide in country. Make arrangements before leaving home and it will be at hotel when you check in. Leave at front
desk when check out.
We packed a small pharmacy of adult & infant medicine that we barely used. If you do overpack,
items can be shared with travel-mates or left at stores such as “A Gift From China” or “Jennifer’s”
on Shamian Island in Guangzhou. Other families can get these items from the stores at no charge. This is a good way to lighten
the load for the trip home. We were in Guangzhou the whole time and any infant items needed could be purchased within a couple
blocks of the hotel. Hotels and some shops have stroller they loan or give to you.
Sending gifts or having them bought?
With Alia’s 2nd birthday fast
approaching, we are trying to decide what to send back to the orphanage. This is something we want to do on each birthday. Recently I learned something about sending gifts and the problems that may crop-up. I am reprinting a post from OCDF regarding this.
There are other people besides them that offer gift buying and shipping to orphanages also. If you have used on or have any info please let me know so we can get it out there.
Here is our assessment of the usual process: 1. People spend a lot of time shopping for items to send. 2. People spend a lot of money on items to send. 3. People spend a lot of time preparing items to send.
4. People spend a lot of time and money to send the items to China (often times more $$$ in postage than the
items cost) 5. Items are assessed custom duty upon entry into
China (sometimes 200%). 6. The orphanage may not have enough money
(or want to spend the money on unknown items) to get the items. 7.
Sometimes the items go unclaimed at the post office. 8.
Sometimes, even if the orphanage pays the custom duty, the items have instructions in English or are unfamiliar to the caregivers
and are not used as intended. As you can see, it is not a very efficient method of getting goods from well meaning folks into the hands of needy
kids.
At OCDF we have come up with
a more efficient way for this process to work. Simply stated, we have sourced where in China to get the best brands
of the most common items needed in orphanages. You tell us what you want to send, and we will get the items to
the orphanage. Please see our webpage for all the details of this service: www.ocdf.org/orphansupport . We have
a staff member in our office who coordinates this program (along with all our other orphan outreach programs) and she'd be
happy to answer any specific questions you may have: marsha@ocdf.org . Ross OCDF - Beijing Office
What gifts to take to china...
Recently someone asked Jane of ODFC what to give as our gifts we take to China. For those that aren’t aware, Jane lives in China with her adopted daughter. Below is her answer to the question.
Focus on the orphanage and its needs versus it's staff/employees.
While they will appreciate your thoughtfulness, they will also appreciate things to help them do their job better.
Ideas for orphanage gifts:
1. Medical
supplies - thermal thermometers that read in Celcius, pediatric meds (buy in China), nipples for cleft babies, chewable vitamins, etc. Fever meds and antibiotics
for children should be purchased in
China so you know they will use them (they can read the directions).
2. Developmental
toys, mobiles, crib toys, busy box.
3. Artwork
from kids in USA (framed and ready to hang)
4. Music CDs
with kids songs and boom box (bought in China, 220 power)
5. Art supplies
for older kids
6. School supplies for older children attending school - backpacks, pencil cases, (see www.ocdf.org/orphansupport for a listing of typical school supplies in China).
7. Sponsor
child for surgery (putting a child one-step closer to adoption!)
8. Sponsor
child to attend school (insuring a child will escape poverty)
9. Computer
for older children (in China around $500).
10.
Sponsor dental or eye exams.
Ideas for personal gifts:
1. American
Ginseng (highly valued and very expensive in China)
2. Nuts or
other local products from where you live.
3. Flower and
herb seeds in a gift bag
4. Flowers
or plant (buy in China)
5. Adoption
jewelry
6. Golf style
shirt in size medium or small men’s (very few Chinese men will wear larger than a US medium)
7. Hand and
body lotions - whoever told you not to do this was nuts - it's really dry in China and all my staff when they travel to the
US bring back tons of things from Bath & Body Works for their friends/family.
8. Scented
candles (becoming popular in China)
9. Wine (director
if male, but not to female as gift - yes, I know that's a sexist statement but
culturally it's better that way)
10. CDs of
music
11. Candy -
chocolate is ok see below - covered nuts or raisins, Dove is a big seller in China as are Snickers, M&Ms peanut. Turtles
would be a good thing.
Please Avoid - t-shirts especially with saying on them, baseball hats (I've yet to see someone other than
a farmer wear a baseball hat in China on then only as a tourist - I want to know where all the hats end up that these orphanage
directors get - please don't do this!).
Think outside
the box - stay away from kitschy Americana - what would YOU like to receive if you did something nice for someone? I
recently gave an orphanage director a bottle of wine at a visit and he was happy as a clam! I once saw a corporate
VP give an upper mgt employee a pair of salt and pepper shakers (I though it was a great idea). BUT, try to not make the mistake
she did - the shakers she gave were of Mr. and Mrs. Thanksgiving Turkey. The poor recipient had no idea why he was getting
this weird dressed up bird shakers. It came across rather strange and then with
the long explanation about Thanksgiving and how we like to eat turkey (though the Chinese aren't real fond of it).
How to stay healthy on your trip to China
1. Most upper respiratory colds/flu/infections are gotten on the flight to
China (not after arriving). All that recirculated air. So, drink lots of water
(6-8 oz every hour of the flight and yes, pee alot as a result). Avoid alcohol. If you are seated next to a hacking/coughing
person you are doomed. Bring along a face mask to wear during the flight to keep from inhaling those germs - which will enter
from nose or eyes (rubbing - so wash hands with hand wipes or gel throughout the flight). A bandana can also help if
you don't want the mask "look". When I sleep on the plane I actually put the blanket over my head though I really wonder about
the cleanliness of the blankets!!
2. Water - drink plenty of it while in China - 8 glasses per day will help you stay healthier because you need to keep
your system removing unfamiliar germies as fast as possible. Remember there will be natural things in the environment that you have no immunity to.
Do not drink tap water, do not brush teeth in tap water, do not shower with mouth open. I firmly believe that these are
the source of most traveler's diarrhea. Bottled water costs 24 RMB ($3.00 US)
for a box of 24 bottles. Go to the local store and buy a box and use it. Bring
along powdered Crystal Light to add variety to the water. Safe nationally sold/distributed brands of water
are Robust, WaHaHa, and Watsons. Shower standing face away from the shower head and
that will remind you to not stand with your mouth open. Cover the faucet on the
sink with a towel when brushing your teeth so as not to dip/rinse your brush with the water. Fill a teacup with boiled water
(boiled for 10 min) or bottled water to rinse with and clean your brush with.
3. Chopsticks - use disposable chopsticks or wipe bamboo/wooden/plastic
ones with alcohol wipes (or buy a bottle of Baijiu - white liquor to dip them into). With 60% of the Chinese population having
Hepatitis B, C, D, E you'd not want to bring that home with you. Be sure to get your Hepatitis A and B shots 6 months or MORE before your trip to build immunity.
4. Fruit - eat a lot - eat fruit that is peeled - apples (with your own knife that you brought in your check-in luggage), bananas, grapefruit, oranges. The issue with sliced fruit at breakfast buffets is not the fruit itself but the water they are
sitting in, the knives used to cut them, and their peels. Wash fruit like apples and pears in your room with the boiled water
and you can eat them peel and all. Stay away from strawberries - really hard to clean those little seed holes!
5. Veggies - a lot like the fruit situation - don't eat raw veggies. Stir fried is fine - it will kill just about
everything. Cucumbers are often ok to eat as is pickled cabbage because of the VINEGAR - no vinegar? don't eat them. While Chinese cold dishes are nice - stick to
things like sliced beef, lotus with sticky rice, pickled cucumbers, pickled cabbage because of cooking or preserving techniques.
Unless you are staying at a 5-star hotel, stay away from salads (the biggest culpret is the dressing! as it is typically sitting
out ALL DAY from breakfast thru dinner without refrigeration). Mayonnaise is totally
misunderstood in China.
6. Avoid "street food" - where conditions are "raw" and cleanliness
is not a topic to start on.
7. Fast food restaurants - ice is ok - it's filtered at all Starbuck, KFCs, MacD's, Pizza Hut, and Pappa John's
in China.
8. Eggs and Poultry - do not eat any form of raw or undercooked eggs in China!!! All eggs should be well done - nothing
runny, no over easy, no sunny side up, no half-cooked omelets! Nada. Order your eggs fried over hard, scrambled, or omelets
well done (lao yi dian - meaning "a little old"). The buffet chef will know what you mean. Poultry is safe to eat as long
as it has been cooked at 70 degrees C or more and is not pink. Peking duck is fine, dishes that are stirfried are fine, roasted chickens should be fine. You can't get bird flu by eating an infected piece
of poultry anyway according to WHO (even if it were undercooked), but you can get salminella by eating undercooked poultry.
9. Other ways to stay healthy - (besides the exercise and sleep routine)
A. If you get diarrhea, take the time (if you can) to stay in the room. Do not take immodium
right away - that will only
keep all thebacteria INSIDE of you and nature is telling you it needs to get OUT. Start an antibiotic right away (most
traveler's diarrhea is bacterial so you are ahead of the game if you play those odds). Start to take peptobismol to settle
your stomach but basically (if you can), hang out and lay low for half a day. Food poisoning usually happens within 3 hours
of eating the food so that's always an indication to the person that it's something foodborne and it's wanting to depart.
Let it depart, take the antibiotic, then pepto to sooth the system. And, if you absolutely have to leave the room to travel,
take the immodium and antibiotic as a combo. An FYI - when bacteria gets inside
and can't get out, it looks for other places to travel - like your bloodstream and loves to hang out in places like your heart.
Thus, the recommendation to decide on that antibiotic early in the game. If it turns out to be viral and you've taken an antibiotic
- once in your life you can take it and it won't hurt (as long as you are not allergic). If you are prone to getting a yeast
infection from taking antibiotics, better bring along a diflucan tablet as these are not available
except at large international clinics/hospitals. And don't forget to eat some yogurt for your stomach.
B. I ascribe to the alcohol in China is a good thing club - as in "a beer a day keeps the doctor away". When I travel
and eat in places unfamiliar to me, I start my meal with beer or wine (if I can find or bring with me a decent bottle) before eating any food and I drink beer throughout the meal. While the alcohol levels in beer
are not very high, it seems to work. I've noticed over the 18 years of travel in China that those who drink beer tend not
to get sick as often as those who don't.
Don't get me wrong - I'm not one to drink much, but I've found it really makes a difference when a restaurant or
cuisine is not familiar to me, or the dishes are "challenging" and I need to be polite and try them. Grease/oil used in cooking
is a factor that often affects travelers. They get just from eating more veggies than usual, stirfried foods with high oil
content (like having grandma give you a spoonful of caster oil).
Jane
Drinking Water in China
There is a reason for “All the Tea in China”! For thousands of years, the water in most areas of the world
has not been safe to drink untreated. This remains the current condition in China. There are two basic solutions:
1) Use only certified safe water, and 2) Treat the water in some way.
The two classic solutions for treating water have been to supply additives that kill the nasties and boiling the water. The
most common additive to kill organisms in drinks is alcohol. The most common method of treating water in China is to
boil it. Boiling water does not counteract any unpleasant tastes so the next obvious solution is to mask the bad tastes
by adding some flavor. Now you know why they drink tea in China.
Tap water is not safe to drink even for
locals because it is marginally treated, but is not free of nasty organisms. If you travel to China you will have to
change your habits if you are used to drinking tap water or ice water.
Guidelines for water handling.
You
should find either a thermos of boiled water or a hot pot to boil water on demand in your hotel room. This gives you
the availability of potable/clean water if you don't want to pay for bottled water for everything. Just ask the clerk
in the hallway if you have any questions or a refill of the thermos. (The Frymark’s used the hotel boiled water
and never got sick — but we also bought lots of bottled water for “cold” drinks and put in the fridge.)
When
you use the bathroom you should wash your hands with soap and tap water. You should then rub on Hand Sanitizer.
The soap and water gets rid of most nasties and the Hand Stuff gets rid of the rest (hopefully).
DO's
Boil water you intend to drink.
Boil water you use as rinse water after washing baby
bottles etc. Keep bottled water in your hotel room and diaper bag. Keep a washcloth or hand towel draped over the
sink in your hotel room to remind you not to drink tap water. (Especially helpful when you automatically turn the water on
to brush your teeth.) Keep Hand Stuff with you everywhere you go and use it whenever you think of it. Take
as much as you will need for your entire trip.
DON'Ts
Don't ingest untreated water.
Don't
Wash your mouth out with tap water, even hot water in the shower. Don't rinse your toothbrush with untreated
water. Don't trust bottles where the lid is not secure unless you filled it yourself with bottled water.
(Rumor has it that some stands will refill the bottled water bottles with bad water—make sure the seal is intact.) Don't
trust iced drinks. Don't count on buying any Hand Stuff while in China. Don't expect to find ice water in most places. Don't
eat unpeeled fruit or fresh vegetables.
Taking a car seat to China
This is a subject that will start wars on an adoption board! Bottom line, its all about your focus. We all have a different one. If your
number 1 focus is safety—take a seat. If your number 1 focus is ease of
travel—don’t take a seat. I admire those that use the seats
on this grueling trip—and admit that we did not take one. No, I’m
not sorry, but I am thankful that nothing tragic happened.
Below are some tips
I have found on traveling with a car seat. I did not write these.
- When carrying the seat through the airport,
pull straps all the way out and use them to carry the seat. You can wear the seat like a backpack or hang the seat off one
arm.
- Attach the manual
back on what it originally came on. That way you won't loose it, and can easily refer to it.
- Since you will be
lugging the seat through the airport, minimize the other carry-on pieces that you will have. (Not realistic in my opinion!)
-Take advantage of
early boarding. That will give you more time to get the seat installed
and avoid bumping other passengers in the aisle. Similarly, wait until everyone else deplanes before uninstalling the seat.
- Install the seat
in the window seat. I think that this is a regulation. One lady had installed a seat in the middle and a flight attendant
made her move it to the window seat.
-Before installing
the seat, make sure that the airplane seat is fully upright. If the airplane
seat isn't fully upright, you will have to uninstall the car seat and reinstall it.
- Install the car
seat in the airplane loosely, not tight. Due to the way the airplane seat belt buckles in the middle, if you pull the belt
tight, the buckle will end up in the middle of the back of the seat, and can be extremely difficult to remove. The first time I installed the car seat in an airplane,
I pulled the seat belt so tight it took 3 flight attendants and a pilot to get the car seat out.
- The car seat will
elevate the child, so you might not be able to fold down the tray table in front
of her.
- Even if you child
normally falls asleep the instant she is put in the car seat, don't count on that happening
automatically on the plane. You don't get the same sense of motion on the airplane
that you get in a car.
- It's easy to forget
to check if a wet diaper is full when your child is sitting in a car seat for a long time, especially since her drinking schedule will be off. Make a mental
note to periodically check how full the diaper is based on how much fluid she drinks. Otherwise you will end up with wet clothes
and a wet car seat. (Yup, I'm speaking from experience.)
- If your child likes
to throw toys, pick ones that can be easily retrieved or pulled up with strings. If a toy is thrown or dropped, it might end
up under the seat in front or behind her, and can be difficult to retrieve. A child
in front of us kept dropping some
toys between her seat and the side of the airplane. Neither her nor mother could reach
them.
Travel:
About Money
RMB
Chinese
money is called Renminbi (people's money), or RMB. It is issued by The Bank of China and is the only legal tender in China.
The
unit of Renminbi is a yuan, with smaller denominations
called jiao and fen. The conversion among the three is: 1 yuan = 10 jiao =100 fen
RMB
is issued both in notes and coins. The paper notes include 100, 50, 20, 10, 5,
2 and 1 yuan; 5, 2 and 1 jiao; and 5, 2 and 1 fen. The coins are 1 yuan; 5, 2 and 1 jiao; and 5, 2 and 1 fen.
Note:
in spoken Chinese, yuan is often called as kuai and the jiao as mao.
Traveler's
Cheques
Traveller's
cheques provide a fairly secure way of carrying money. Remember to keep the record
of cheque numbers separate from the cheques in case of loss.
The
Bank of China can cash travelers' cheques sold by international commercial banks
and travelers' cheque companies in the US. Also the Bank of
China sells travelers' cheques for other banking institutions such as American
Express, Citibank, the Sumitomo Bank of Japan, to name a few.
Currency Converter
Money
exchange facilities for currency and travelers' cheques are available at major
airports, hotels, and department stores. Please note that hotels may only exchange money for their guests.
The
US dollar, British pound, Japanese yen, Canadian dollar, HK dollar, Singapore dollar, and Taiwan dollar are all exchangeable. Exchange rates fluctuate with international financial market conditions and are
published daily by the State Exchange Control Administration.
Keep
your exchange receipts as you will need to show them when you change
RMB back to your own currency. Cash rather than credit cards
is essential in remote areas and you
should carry sufficient RMB and travelers' cheques to cover your requirements.
Credit
Card and ATMs
At
present, the following credit cards are accepted in China: Master Card, Federal
Card, Visa, American Express, and Diners Card. Cardholders can withdraw cash from the Bank of China and pay for purchases
at exchange centers of the Bank of China, appointed shops, hotels, and restaurants.
However,
this applies only in major cities. Credit cards are not always accepted for the
purchase of rail and air tickets.
ATMs
that accept foreign cards are few and far
between. Do not rely on them as a way of obtaining cash.
Consult
with your bank to make sure that your brand of cheque or credit card will be accepted
prior to travel.
Currency
Regulations
There
is no limit on the amount of foreign currency and foreign exchange bills that
can be brought into China, but it must be declared to customs.
RMB
should be converted back into foreign
currency with the personal valid "foreign exchange certificate" before leaving China. Unused foreign exchange and RMB traveler's cheques can be taken out of the country.
Each tourist is permitted to take with them less than 6000 RMB.
Travel: Adapters, Converters and Transformers—
What do I need?
Adapters will allow
you to plug electronics into an outlet by changing the shape of the plug's prongs. Usually you will need these for China, but you can get one plug adapter that will allow you to
plug the regular 100 3-prong or 2-prong plug into it and on the other side will have the Chinese 3-prong plug (one straight
and two slanted prongs). This is all you need for your laptop computer and many cameras. The way you can tell if this is all
you need is to look on the recharging unit to see if it says 110/220 V and 50/60 hertz. If it has both listed on the power
supply, then all you need is to change the shape of the plugs.
Converters and Transformers are basically the same thing. This allows you to take devices that were designed for 110V (in the
US) and use them in China where it is 220 V. A US-made converter/transformer may still need a plug adapter to fit the prong
configuration in China (two straight prongs OR three prongs where one is straight and two are slanted). These should not be
confused with the Hong Kong style plug that is thicker and common to some European countries.
You will need a transformer
if your electrical device doesn't have the dual voltage controls internally
built-in. Determining the size of the converter/transformer is very important. Since you will be plugging a 110 device into
a 220 socket, you will need to step-down the voltage from 220 to 110 (there are also step-up transformers for plugging a
220 device into a 110 socket). The rating of the transformer or converter needs to exceed the wattage of the device you are going to plug into it. Otherwise, you are going to FRY the device or knock out the
power supply or FRY the wall socket, or all of the above. Most devices will have a wattage rating on it - somewhere on the
plug or the power supply or the recharging unit. Just like a lightbulb has 60W of power. a hairdryer, for example, has around
1500 Watts of power. Therefore you need to buy a converter/transformer that will handle that large a wattage (this will not
be a lightweight device - better to use hairdryers in the hotel or buy a 220 hairdryer in China). Any device that heats up
(curling iron, hair dryer, coffee pot, etc) will have a fairly high wattage rating. Be sure you exceed the rating with the size of the transformer or your device will end up burning out.
How to determine wattage
if you don't see the number listed? If you see Volts listed (like 110V) and you see AMPS listed (such as 15 amps) then you
can calculate Wattage. The formula is P=IE where P is power in watts, I is current
in amps, and E is voltage. Thus a 110 V x 15 amp device will need a transformer capable of handling 1650 Watts. In the Magellans
catalog they will have their transformers listed by wattage ratings.
A hairdryer that is travel
designed (such as a Braun travel hairdryer) will have a switch where you can select 110 or 220 V and you can put a two-prong
adapter on it.
In China the two-prongs
are usually flat but the adapter plugs will usually accept either flat prongs
or round ones. Wall outlets will have a place to put a two-prong device and a
Chinese 3-prong device. However, if your recharger is 110-220V which means you can plug it into the wall in China ok, you
will still need an adapter if one of the two prongs has a grounding tip (a bit wider than the other prong tip) because in
China the two-prong outlets are even in size and are too small for the grounding plug's prong.
Adapter plugs can be gotten
easily in China at local stores and most hotels will have them at the front desk. Transformers should be brought along.
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