Advice for those traveling to Chongqing

I've noticed that several families will be traveling to Chongqing in the near future and have asked for advice for those of us who have been there and done that. So ignore this post if you aren't going to Chongqing. Also, I traveled with our agency, CCAI, and the choices our agency made (about where we'd stay, for example) may have influenced my advice.

1. As soon as you get your referral, order uncirculated $100 bills. Take $6,000 with you. I did not do this. We didn't really have an extra $6,000 lying around until close to travel time, so it wasn't like I could just collect it far in advance the way some families did. By the time I got around to it, my bank didn't have time to order it for me. They were willing to order it because it was for an international adoption (I explained this to them). They offered to expedite at a $70 charge, and I balked. In retrospect, the reduction of anxiety would have been well worth the $70 fee attached. Instead, my mom drove all around to different banks to collect the best $100 bills she could find. We brought $3,000 in very clean bills. But the $3,000 is just the orphanage fee-- there was another $800-and-something in other fees, and I didn't have clean $100 bills for that, so I used traveler's checks. I would not recommend this. They were new to the bank, which didn't want to take them initially. It took years off my life. Ultimately they took the travelers checks, but money would have been easier. Also, uncirculated is better because the bank won't reject the money. One person in our group at $800 worth of bills rejected. Fortunately there were people in our group who had extra money and could "trade" the bills (the hotels are less picky, but they don't exchange thousands of dollars worth at one time).

2. Bring an umbrella. It generally rains daily in Chongqing. We were there in August, and it was freaking hot. I actually used the umbrella for shade once. (We actually didn't get any rain because there was a drought.)

3. If you are with CCAI, they have switched to the Golden Resources hotel from the Hilton. This is because of its location. There is much to walk to from the hotel, and an underground 24-hour Vegas-style area. If you are staying at the Golden Resources hotel, bring a sheet or a tablecloth because even though the hotel was recently renovated, the carpeting is gross. We used the tablecloth on the floor of the hotel so we could play with our daughter.

4. Bring DVDs of some kind to watch on your lap top or DVD player. The hotels have HBO, CNN, and BBC (there are more channels in Guangzhou). And the American channels go out with some frequency.

5. Bring a baby carrier. I personally am against strollers if you can get away with the carrier for attachment reasons. Your guide will recommend against using a stroller or facing the baby outward in a carrier for at least the first couple days. That said, our child was a big girl (over 20 pounds when we received her), and I literally couldn't carry her around on me all the time in the heat-- it was just too much (she is almost 20% of my body weight). If you are going to buy a stroller, buy them at the grocery store. It's less expensive than the department stores. The grocery store under the Golden Resources hotel has them for the lowest price.

6. Bring a "milk compact" and a thermos with you. You will need both. Also, bring nipples with x's cut in them because the fast flow nipple holes are not big enough to fit the formula mixture, which gets stuck and frustrates the babies. We didn't use our bottle brush or our tongs because we sterilized it all with boiling water after rinsing it. We had three nipples and three bottles, so we weren't sterilizing immediately before use-- we waited for the water to cool off before touching any of the stuff.

7. Bring a fitted crib sheet to use in the crib, and a blanket. The hotel stuff is okay, but you'll be glad you have the fitted sheet (at least I was).

8. You don't need a lot of toys-- a few simple ones will suffice, and they take up a lot of space. You will be mostly interacting directly with your child for play anyway. The department stores all carry sassy toys and the like, so you can always take the baby there to see what she likes. Just be aware the department stores don't take credit cards (I think maybe one does, but only Visa).

9. Buy enough formula to get you back to the U.S. to transition. They do have baby formula in Guangzhou, but the selection is very limited.

10. At least half the babies in our group got constipated. Bring baby prunes, pears, and peaches. Bring glycerine suppositories. Bring mucinex (for a stool softener).

11. You can buy diapers and baby wipes. We brought 12 diapers and only used 6. We only used them to travel. They sell pampers and huggies, but we used sealers and they worked just fine.

12. If your child is in yunyang chenxiang SWI, they will take pictures on your disposable camera and return it to you. You can get the photos developed in Chongqing (and should) inexpensively. If you wait, they might be hurt going through the x-ray machine. If you send a sassy photo album with your pictures, the orphanage will share it with your daughter. I think this really helped her transition.

13. Be prepared to see the nannies and orphanage director the day after they place the child with you. They came to say good-bye to the girls at the adoption registration center. I thought it was good for the girls to see their nannies happy for them to be with us, but I think it upset some other parents, so you should be aware of it.

14. Some people used flashlights to read and such while their children were sleeping. We didn't have much of a problem with this-- Marcie had no trouble sleeping with the TV on, so we opted to just leave a light on in the hotel hallway instead.

15. The fruit and ice cubes at the hotel (Golden Resources) are safe. No one got sick from ice in their drinks at Pizza Hut, McDonalds, or KFC, either. Oh. Or from Starbucks. In fact, no one got sick from ice anywhere, as far as I know-- I think everywhere boils before freezing. Jason even ate squid on a stick twice and was no worse for the wear.

16. If you are blonde, be prepared to be touched a lot. People will ask to have a photo with you and want to touch you. If you are traveling with your American children, be prepared to be swarmed more than otherwise. Apparently it's considered good luck to touch American children, particularly boys. Prepare your kids for this (it's not unfriendly, just surprising).

17. If you stay at the Golden Resources, there is loud music three times a day (once in the morning and twice in the evening, I think). This is for the qigong exercises and also for the fountain show. None of the babies who were on that side of the hotel had problems with this.

18. You'll get a list of specific information about your child before meeting her. Read it closely and see if you have other questions. Our daughter had a cough-- another parent asked if it was the beginning or end of a cold and learned it was the beginning, which was good info. I wish I had asked when her last bowel movement was and what it meant that they were "regular" (three times a day, once every three days-- what?).

19. When you are in markets or taxis, especially in Guangzhou, remember to check the money to see if it is real before you walk away. Someone in our group was given a fake 50 RMB.

20. If you want to buy a cute Asian-doll, they have knitted ones at the Charity Store in Guangzhou. There are maps of the shops in the area. And Jennifers has all sorts of "free stuff" (like medicine and baby prunes) if you find yourself needing some in Guangzhou. I thought that was a really cool service.

21. Remember to bring cold medicine for yourself. My whole family caught a cold. Also, if you have bangs, consider bringing a headband of some kind. I know that sounds whacky but something about the water made my bangs not curl like they usually do when I dry them, and I had to use a headband just to keep them out of my face most of the trip.

22. Don't forget to bring a hat for the baby. And sunscreen for you and the baby.

23. If you have allergies, like hay fever, bring claritin for yourself. I got sinus headaches from all the smog (and I live in Southern California, so you'd think I'd be used to it!).

24. Our packing list told us to bring 4-5 baby outfits. I wish we'd brought more like 8. The updates on size they sent were really accurate, though, so use them as a guideline confidently. (And you can buy clothes there if necessary.)

25. A word on the laundry. The hotel's service is ridiculously expensive. The woman we sent our clothes to did a decent job, but she didn't get sweat stains out of some clothes, the clothes were pretty stretched out, and everything was stiff. We ended up buying tide soap bars in the grocery store and washing clothes in the hotel bathtub, then hanging them in the room in sun to dry (usually dried in 24 hours). This also allowed us to wash new baby clothes before putting them on Marcie. My mom bought some quick-dry clothes and her stuff dried over night. I know they make underwear like that. Just in case you are interested.

26. The hotels will provide you with converters for the power outlets, but we found they weren't actually necessary-- we just needed the plug converter, not the power one (I hope that made sense).

27. If you are going to rent a cell phone, I recommend Lotus Travel's Panda phone over JC travel's. The customer service is better and more clear. I was really glad to have it in China because we were 15 hours ahead and left a 3 1/2 year old at home. When it was a good time to talk to him (evening, before bed), we were usually out and about. Having the cell phone made it so we could reach him easily. We found phone cards easily in Beijing and Guangzhou, but didn't find any in Chongqing (though I'm sure our guide would have given us one if we needed it).

28. Have a second set of eyes go through all your paperwork to make sure you haven't forgotten anything you need (like the affidavit of traveling parent regarding immunizations, which you'll need for the U.S. visa).

Ok. Those were obviously in no particular order. I'm sure I will think of more odds and ends, but that's a good start. . .