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| Travel Tips and Tricks |
| The following are from adoptive families that have returned from their trip to bring their little one home from China. May we benefit from the experience and make our own adoption journeys full of memories. |
| SQUAT TOILET IN CHINA |
| What they would do again |
| What they wouldn't do again |
| What to know about the air travel |
| Packing tips and advice |
| Get out of the hotel and see the sites, meet the people, and experience the real China. |
| Check with your agency to see if they have a problem with you venturing out on your own. Also check to make see if you will be able to choose what to do and what not to do. Talk to people on the streets. Ask for their cards/email addresses. You may strike up a wonderful new friendship. Pack lightly, launder often. Use Packmates. Bring very few diapers, you can get them as well as formula in China. Bring medications. Buy , Buy , Buy. Bring an empty suitcase or plan to purchase one in China specifically for your purchases. Eat the food. Go to your daughter's orphanage or the surrounding area. Let your agency know before you travel that this is important to you. Research your childs province in advance. What should you see there? What should you buy that will have meaning for her? Buy keepsakes for your daughter. Follow your daughter's lead. Skip sightseeing if you feel she would be happier just playing in the local park. Take her sightseeing if she enjoys the excitement. Bring a carrier with the intent that if you do not use it that is OK. Bring or buy a folding stroller for the long walks and sightseeing in China as well as the long waits in the airports. Buy local calling cards in China. Ask your facilitator to assist you with this. They are much less expensive than those you might bring with you. Try to communicate with people at home. They will love hearing about your trip and especially about your little angel. Bring a few extra gifts. It doesn't matter what. You will find people whom you never expected to have a special bond with and will want to give them a token of your affection. Take lots of pictures. Spend an extra day or two if you can afford it, before you get your baby, to see the sights and experience China without the stresses of adjusting yourself and your baby to the new life you are embarking on. It will help with reducing jet lag effects, too. |
| Bring so many clothes. The bus rides are cramped and you will be carrying it all around the airports by yourself. Once you get your baby, you will not have two hands free anymore. Bring so many diapers. Bring only enough for the first day with baby and the trip home. Buy the rest in China. Eat so many antacid tablets. Some people were eating 10 or more a day. Their tongues turned black. One or two before major meals was sufficient and many parents did fine without them at all. Purchase water from street vendors. Often this is water from the tap put in washed bottles and sold as sealed water. Buy only from established indoor markets. Wait to buy something in another city hoping to get a better price. If you see something you really want, buy it. Chances are you won't see it again. If it is something you can live without take the risk. |
| Airports in China are crowded and loud. The layout can be confusing. Personal space is not observed. There will be crowding, lack of any lines, pushing, cutting ahead (or trying to), and even shoving or leaning. Please don't be offended. This is just the Chinese way. Stand your ground. The airport is also not marked well. You may need extra time to find the desks you need, the lines you need to go through, and the gate you need to leave from. For international flights (ie you flight home) you should leave at least two hours at the airport to complete the check in process. Ask often any english speaking people you come across at the airport (or whatever your native language is) if you are going in the right direction and or in the right place for what you need to have done. If the check-in clerk doesn't speak your language, insist on speaking to someone who does. Most airports are very hot. There's no place to sit down until you get to the gate, so get through the process as quickly as you can and to the gate before relaxing. Carry your documents readily available. You will pass through numerous checkpoints. The documents you need to have in you hand or readily available are: Your passports Your tickets any other documentation necessary at the airport such as; your Departure card, your Immigration card, or your Passport Fee reciept. You may also want to have your child's adoption paperwork handy when you travel home with her. On the plane to China the attendants will give you a blank Arrival card/aka/Immigration form and a blank Quarantine Declaration form. You will need to complete and present these to the Chinese officials when you arrive in China. Remember to fill these out well in advance of landing as you will be less likely to forget and have a last minute experience with very cranky attendants. When you arrive in China, your guide will not be able to meet you until you pass through several checkpoints. At the first, when you deplane, a guard will check your passports and take one of the forms from you (the Quarantine form). The next checkpoint on the way out and to baggage claim will be more long lines. This is Border Control. Another guard will check your passports again and take your other form (the Immigration Form or Arrival card). After this checkpoint, you will proceed to baggage claim. The way may not be clearly marked. Either follow the crowd or ask someone. It is often not clear on which carousel your luggage will arrive. Check any carousel with arriving luggage, you will probably see others from your flight retrieving their luggage from the carousel you need to watch. If at all possible, it is helpful to rent or find a luggage cart at this point. Have your luggage claim tickets ready for inspection after you get your luggage. This is rarely done, but you should be prepared jus tin case. After you get your luggage come out to the main lobby and look for your guide. When you are traveling within or leaving China, make note that none of China's airports has curbside checkin or luggage. Be prepared to carry your luggage through the airports until check in. Most of China's airports have luggage carts, but they may not be readily available. Most of China's ariports do not have skycaps. Beijing is an exception to this. They recently added redcoated skycaps. There is a charge for this service. It is unlikely that your skycap will speak English. Your guide may not be permitted to pass through the airport checkpoints so be prepared to say your goodbyes prior to that. Be sure to understand what you must do after leaving your guide. Generally, when leaving, you must pass through these checkpoints or lines. Airport Fee. This is a fee you must pay whether domestic or international. It is a set fee or tax to help with the airport improvements. It is paid at a seperate counter window in the airport. For international flights it is 90 yuan. Check with your guide about the current rate before you leave him or her as this could change before you actually travel to China. It is paid in local currency. (note: you can pay this fee and get a reciept at the White Swan ahead of time). You will be given an Airport Fee reciept that you must hand over to a checkpoint guard in order to pass on to the next window to visit, the Check in Window. Check In- You will first need to determine which is the correct check in window for you to use. It may depend on the airline you are using. It is not unusual for the window being used for your particular flight will not be obvious until your flight number is posted on it. At that time there will be a rush of people trying to get to the window. Get in line as best you can and stand your ground. These lines take a long time but you will make your flight. Don't leave the window until all your questions are answered to your satisfaction. Ask them where you need to go next and ask them to physically point it out to you. Passport Check and Departure card: This checkpoint will check your passport, tickets, and if you are leaving the coutry, your departure card. This is a small 3 x 5 slip of paper that asks you your name, passport number, your occupation, and your signature. They are at a little table just before this checkpoint. Stop to complete one for each member of your party (usually you don't need one for the baby). Your passports will be examined and then you will be allowed to proceed to the next point. Security Checkpoint. This is where you place your carryons on an xray conveyour belt and walk through the metal detector. Once through double check the monitors for the proper gate for your departure. Gate check in : Most airports in China now have gate signs in English as well as Chinese. You may have to pass yet another checkpoint before you get to your gate. It's a good idea to check in again at the gate counter to check that you are at the correct gate, what time to begin boarding, and projected time of departure. When they begin boarding, you don't actually begin boarding the plane, but are boarded on a shuttle bus. This takes you around the tarmac and deposits you outside at the foot of the staircase to your plane. There is often a rush to get up the stairs, but, you have a reserved seat so don't worry about this. Wait out the rush and board in peace.' Once aboard the procedures are the same regardless of the carrier. Getting through customs in the US. You will pass through a passport checkpoint. You cannot go through the US citizen line, as you have an immigrant child to pass through with. Go to the non-citizens immigration line. They will check your passports and take your Declaration cards. Most airlines give these to you to fill out while you are in flight before landing. this is also where the US Immigration office will take your sealed envelope that you recieved at the US Consulate in Guangzhou, and open it. They will examine the documents and want to see you and your child. They will then stamp your child's passport again and this will serve as her permanent resident alien visa until the actual green card arrives in the mail at your home. She will now be declared a US citizen and therefore not need a green card or visa any longer. YOu then proceed to baggage claim. Most airports do not check your luggage claim ticket against your luggage pieces but you should have the claim checks out and available just in case they do. Now you may proceed through the US customs checkpoint and you are done. |
| Pack Light!!! Take only a few outfits for your child. There will be many places and opportunities to purchase adorable and inexpensive clothes everywhere you go. Bring only what you absolutely need to get through the first two days. Two or three outfits that are comfortable and the child can sleep in work best to make the transition less stressful as he/she will be relaxed and comfortable. PJ's work well as do onesies and sweats depending on the weather. Do a packing run through. Pack everything on your list. Put it in your car and then take it to the park. Practice taking it in and out of the car and pulling it around. Then add a 15 pound bag of potatoes to what you are hauling around. Pretend this is your baby. You will get an idea very quickly of how much luggage you want to be lugging around both before and after you get your baby. Don't assume your child will be in a stroller. Often times, the noise and confusion of the airport will make them clingy and fussy. You may end up carrying him/her every step of the way. When you are packing, ask yourself, "Is this something I really NEED or that I MIGHT need, or that it would be nice to have. " If the answer is that you MAY need it, or it would be nice to have, then skip it. just because you read on APC that you MUST bring a certain item doesn't mean you have to take anything and everything that's suggested. Use your instincts to decide what's necessary for you. Avoid bringing things just because you bought them for the trip and would feel like you wasted the money if you don't pack it. Consider going carryononly or close to it. If your luggage is lost, and you have at least one full change of clothing and a few bare essentials in a small suitcase or backpack that you carried with you, won't that be a needed relief? Plastic ties (seen often in toy packaging) to lock suitcases and baby nail clippers to cut them off. Nail clippers are allowed in carryon bags. Fanny packs instead of purses. Upgrade to Premium economy or business class if you can. Visa's instead of travelers checks. Easier to use and more portable. Cheerios, Cheerios, Cheerios. Low in sugar and other ingredients. Mini packs of tissues. Johnson's baby washcloths. Baby wipes. All in ziploc bags for easy storage and to reduce the number of leakables in the suitcases. Lots of ziploc bags. Taken out of their boxes, different sizes, packed whereever they will fit. Take antibiotics. |
| Little Known Tips |
| When you check into your room, ask that housekeeping come and remove the contents of the minibar. This frees up the refrigerator for your choices and removes the overpriced hotel stock. Walk to the 7-11 and fill up the fridge with water, cokes, whatever you need. A bottle of water that costs $5 (yes $5) from the minibar, costs about 30 cents at the 7-11 . Make a point to stock up every day. When housekeeping comes to pick up the contents of the minibar, ask for an extra thermos of hot water. The babies like their bottles very hot. Not warm, hot. It will save you the hassle of having to get the thermos refilled during a busy day or long night. Use the tongs from the ice bucket to dip bottle components in hot water to clean. Take an empty bottle to the buffets with you . Fill it with apple juice while you are in the restaurant for later. If you baby likes congee, bring a small container to fill for later. If you handwash your clothes, leave the exhaust fan on while you are out for the day. It will remove the moisture from the air and your clothes will dry faster. Put a piece of cardboard in the key slot to keep the electricity going. Get a pin for your credit card in advance so you can use the ATM for currency exchange. Also authorize charges from China to avoid having charges denied. You will need Yuan for the airport tax on the domestic flights to your child's province and to Guangzhou. Using the ATM in the airport is faster than standing in the line for currency exchange. You will also need Yuan for the baggage tax (per bag basis) for the flight to the US. The airport tax can be paid at the China Southern airlines desk at the White Swan prior to leaving for the airport to save time. See if this is available to you. Divide what you pack evenly between two suitcases to ensure that if only one case arrives, you will have enough for everyone to get by on. |