Travel Kit

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to create a page to recommend some of the books and other things that have been almost life-saving for me during my time in China. Below you will find tools that will be essential for you to have a successfully, hassle-free stay.

What I brought: (Click item for link to Amazon)

• Fodor’s China (5th ed.): The best guide book on China. It has maps, pictures, restaurants, hotels, etc. Everything you could possibly want to know. It covers each region of China and has pretty good detail. I would recommend getting more thorough individual books for specific areas you want to spend a lot of time in (as I did for Shanghai). But this book is essential if you are going to go to China. It also provides a starting point to figuring out what you might want to get more information on.

• Frommer’s Shanghai (4th ed.): You may find it odd that I didn’t go with Frommer’s or Fodor’s for both the China and the Shanghai book, but I carefully reviewed each of them at the book store for what I was looking for. I found the Fodor’s China book to be higher quality than the Frommer’s China book, and I found Frommer’s Shanghai book to be higher quality than the Fodor’s Shanghai. I also compared the Lonely Planet versions and did not find them to be as good as the ones I am recommending you. When picking books I looked for which one seemed the most up to date (most current), which one had the most thorough information, which one I thought was organized the most logically, and I looked for any special features (such as Frommer’s Shanghai has several walking tours that include the best sights to see in 3 days). Trust me when I say that I did my homework.

• Mandarin Chinese At A Glance: (Phrase book and dictionary) The best thing about this book is that it is a pocket guide. I took it everywhere with me in China for whenever I needed to look something up. The sections are color coded on the side of the book so you can find what you need instantly and there are two dictionaries at the back for Chinese to English and English to Chinese.

• Chinese Phrases for Dummies: This book was very useful because it had phrases phonetically spelled alongside the proper Pinyin way to write them. The pocket guide above did not have the phrases phonetically spelled so I would not always be able to get them right, but the advantage to the pocket guide was that it was small, color coded for quick access, and had two dictionaries. This book was much more useful for when I wanted to look up the right way to say something, especially when it was a few chapters ahead of what I was learning in the Pimsleur audio.

Audio:

• Pimsleur Mandarin Chinese: I listened to these lessons on my MP3 player before coming to China and during my stay there and it was the easiest most effective tool for learning Chinese. All of my friends in China complemented me on my pronunciation of the words and were impressed with how much I was able to learn in a short time. I recommend books for picking up particular phrases you want to know, but if you want to learn to have a conversation go with Pimsleur Mandarin. I’ve looked at alternatives to Pimsleur and trust me when I say that it’s the best out there.

Other:

• Undercover Travel Pouch: Get one of these for each person going with you, it’s a good idea for several reasons. The pickpocketing rate is very high in China for one, and if you have to carry your passport with you, you do NOT want to have any chance that it will be stolen. Getting your passport stolen opens you up to a huge hassle and identity theft, also if you get in trouble with the law (by mistake) and don’t have your passport to show that you are an American or other citizen… you will be pretty screwed. My father had someone unbutton his back pants pocket while we were in a Museum in Shanghai. The last reason is that the highest bill in China is the 100 Yuan (RMB) bill, which is roughly $13 American. That means if you go to the bank and get $300-400 US converted to Yuan (which I had to do), you will be carrying around thirty 100 bills. You don’t want to leave that wad in your pocket.

Things I should have brought

As I think of them I will update this section with things I later realized I should have brought with me to China.

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