RFI China

therunningwolf · 09-01-2014, 12:13

I believe this is the appropriate subforum to place this thread, if not mod's could you please move it to the appropriate place and forgive my ignorance.

My Sister has decided to adopt a little girl from China and is about 4-6 weeks out from going to pick her up. We have just now gotten the names of the cities that she is in and that we will have to go to to finish out paper work. According to the adoption agency a liaison will be present at all times to help along the way, but I don't care for putting all my eggs in a basket when it comes to my families security in a communist country.

My request from the members of this board is for any information that members here who have been to these areas can provide in regards to places to avoid, threat levels, safe area's for an American tourist(s) and emergency service provider locations along with any helpful general info of the area.

So far the adoption agency has told us the my niece is in Xuzhou city, and after picking her up the next stop is the consulate in Guangzhou. Does anyone have any current info on these areas?

blue02hd · 09-01-2014, 14:42

Also note, the information of your family members who intend to adopt is already out there. Second and third order checks have most likely been conducted. Accept it, move on. The Chinese have lots of manpower at their disposal.

Understand the travel requirements when you fly internationally. Passport? Visa fees? Lay overs? Streamline your packing, have necessary (but not excessive) cash on hand in the airports. Create positive communications with the US Embassy and nearby consulates that will be near to each location your family is traveling too. Maintain comms until all concerned have departed. Get contact numbers and distribute them to all concerned. No one has ever suffered from "too much comms". Research research research the locations to be traveled to. If you plan properly then this could be a great experience. If you fail to plan then the minor things will create stress in an already stressful situation.

Last point, consider the use of prepaid phones such as cheap Walmart Virgin or Straight Talk phones for the trip. Anything that has an International calling plan. This provides commo but denies third parties the ability to scan and break personal smart phones (with you remail passwords, finances, personal info) while traveling. It'll cost about 150.00 for a month, but the piece of mind is well worth it. Needless to say, leave behind laptops or IPADS that contain personal info as well.

I know you are probably already aware of all the points I posted, but hey, the internet is free, and you aren't being charged anything to read this post. Let us know when all goes well,,,

Blue

mojaveman · 09-06-2014, 19:54

You might also want to consider sanitation while you are here. China might be on their way to becoming the global economic power in a few years but it is still very backwards here.

Public restrooms, if you are lucky enough to be able to find one, are generally filthy. You might want to travel here with toilet paper, hand soap and a small hand towel. Also, be prepared to relieve yourself behind a tree if you have to.

If you are not good at eating with chopsticks you might want to bring some plastic western style eating utensils with you. You would think that they would be available here but I have yet to eat in a restaurant where knives, spoons and forks were available.

If you need any further information feel free to PM me.