Shalimarp3

I am planning on bringing in about 64 textbooks. English, Math, Science, and some American History books. From what I read, it seems that they are mostly concerned about the distribution of books (ie. That they are going to be sold and are not for private use). I will have a letter from my Employer stating what the purpose of these books are for and why there are so many of them (They are for different grade levels, and each grade level has 2 books for each of the 4 subjects. So that's 8 books for just 1 grade level, and there are 8 grade levels total). So with the letter explaining all this, do you think there will be an issue with getting the books into China? I was planning on bringing them with me when I fly over and just checking them at the airport like luggage. My employer also considered just paying to have them shipped over, but I figured that the same distribution question/issue would arise and that it would just look much better if I have the books with me, along with the letter, and also my teaching work visa stamp to show them that it is all legitimate. What do you all think?

thursdaysd

Who is your employer, and why is s/he not the one worrying about this? Or, more to the point, whoever you're taking them to in China? How can you possibly expect a bunch of travelers to know what Chinese custom's officials are likely to do when confronted with 64 books??? I would expect them to be concerned about content - e.g. any references to Tiananmen square, but I know I'm no expert.

Shalimarp3

My employer is worried about this. He is the one who brought it up, because I had no idea that there was restrictions, limits, and banned items that I couldn't bring into China. So when we were discussing all of this, he is the one who said we may have a customs issue because of the number of the number of books. I started googling subject and ran across this website, to which I saw someone asked a similar question regarding this back in 2007, and "travelers" on here gave that person answers, so I figured I would post my question here and get an answer/opinion/suggestion as well. These are textbooks for children, that I hand picked and will be teaching from. Anyways, thanks for you not so helpful comment.

Kathie

If you have a contract with a school in China, they should take care of this.

That said, often schools don't want to bother with this. And when you go through customs they may or may not search your luggage, it's hard to know.

kja

I don't know if you'll get an answer, but you might try posting on The Oriental-List:
http://members.shaw.ca/pnhpublic/Chi...hor%20for%20OL

Shalimarp3

The school already has textbooks. This is something new that they want to try. Basically they want to give the students an American education using the same textbooks that American students/teachers use. Since they have no experience at all with American education, they are asking me about it, what I think, which textbooks would be good, etc. I'm just going to call the embassy in town on Monday and ask them about it.

thursdaysd

Maybe they should read "The Smartest Kids in the World" (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/25/bo...the-world.html -  which I'm half way through), before deciding they want an American education.

And don't be so quick to shoot the messenger.

Shalimarp3

I agree with you on the American education part. They don't like the current ESL material that they have been using for years, and would prefer to try out American textbooks instead. They have a vision that is focused on providing their students with a better education than they are currently getting, and I am all about supporting a vision that impacts children's lives.

And I wasn't "shooting the messenger." I was letting you know that you gave an unhelpful response full of unnecessary questions marked with accusatory and condescending undertones and would've just suffice for you to have not responded at all if that was going to be your reply to my question.

thursdaysd

I think you missed my point. American edcuation is FAR from the best in the world, which is the point of the book.

You also missed the point of my initial reply, which was that you were asking in the wrong place.

kja

Independent perspective: I thought thursdaysd asked on-point questions and that you "shot" her for doing so.

It might be to your advantage to at least try to imagine the potentially constructive aspects of any responses you receive and to at least entertain the idea that the "undertones" you think you detect are not intended, and certainly not when the comments you are getting are from someone as well-travelled and culturally savvy a poster as thursdaysd.

And a word-to-the-wise: As you approach work in a different culture, it might behoove you to assume the best of people and their communications and to look for the kernel(s) of wisdom they convey -- no matter where those people are.

Good luck!

filmwill

Give me a break, guys. The OP asked a somewhat travel-related question on a travel forum. You're treating them as if they asked an insurance question on an engineering forum.

Not that far-fetched. Lighten up.

Shalimarp3

ThursdaysD: I did not miss your point. As I said, I agree with you. However, I am a product of an American education and have a degree in Education and therefore I have the personal experience and training that has allowed me to see where the system has failed, where it can be improved, and how I fit into that. Obviously my employer is not attempting to throw out the Chinese education that they students are already receiving and substitute it with an American education. That is not feasible. No, they just want to give their students an extra advantage so when they getting ready to apply to colleges in the US, which the majority of them will do. They will be able to put on their application that in addition to their regular studies, they also received education in American History/Social Studies/Language Arts/Etc. To the parents of these students in China, America is where they believe their children will find success. So what's wrong with speeding up their assimilation by supplementing some American education on the weekends? Absolutely nothing. Also, you assumed that I was asking this question in the wrong place, probably because you have never seen anyone ask this question on here before. But, as I stated to you in my first reply, I googled my question, which brought me to a post on here where someone asked a similar question 7 years ago and received answers. So, was I to assume that given the lapse in time, that the people who frequent this website, no longer has any experience whatsoever with bringing a large number of books into China? No, it could not have been possible that someone would perhaps move to China and have a large book collection that they wanted to bring with them? Maybe even shipped books to relatives/friends in China before? No, it probably would've have been better for me to just to make that assumption, than to attempt to find help regarding a travel/customs related issue, on a travel website, that answers questions regarding travel, which inevitably involves customs related issues.

See the original post I am referring to here: http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...into-china.cfm

Granted, this was regarding more content that number of books, however given that fact that a lot of people seemed to have had experience with this, tells me that there wa
Kja: Not trying to seem like an a**hole or anything, but your "independent perspective" is not actually independent, meaning free from bias. The fact that you know that ThursdaysD is "well traveled and culturally savvy" indicates familiarity with this person, which prevents any possibility of non-impartiality. Just FYI. But thank you for your kernel of wisdom.

Thank you FilmWill

Shalimarp3

***Granted, this was regarding more content that number of books, however given that fact that a lot of people seemed to have had experience with this, tells me that there was some familiarity with bring books into China that a lot of people had, and that there could be a small possibility that someone may have encountered or experienced a problem similar to mine.

thursdaysd

Oh, for heaven's sake, get over yourself. Out of here....

JPDeM

This is not like a traveler bringing 2 or 3 books to read or give a friend. This quantity is considered importing.
Your duty-free allocations is "Personal articles which will be left in China up to a value of ¥2,000 for non-residents." I assume that the books are worth more than $300 so you need to declare them.
About the books. You cannot bring "any publication (print, audio or video) directed against the public order and the morality of China"

Shalimarp3

Thank you JPDeM. That's exactly the type of information I needed to know.

temppeternh

Addressing merely the practicalities, as you exit the airport your baggage is given a final X-ray, and if even a single sizeable book is detected (assuming that they are paying attention, which certainly isn't true much of the time) you are likely to be searched.

What happens next is more a matter of what causes least inconvenience to the officer doing the checking rather than any rules or regulations. If it's convenient just to take them away and brook no discussion then that might happen. On the other hand, waving a teaching visa and a letter (assuming it is in Chinese, and covered in official stamps) may provide the excuse not to bother further and to let you go.

In my most recent experience the officer paid attention to a book I'd picked up on Hong Kong on nothing more controversial than Tang dynasty tri-glaze ceramic horses, and still looked pretty leery of it, but as I was able to explain in Mandarin what it was, he let me through after a few minutes.

In short, this is a bit of a lottery, and may be connected partly to size. The average novel gets through with no difficulties at all. But something larger, and possibly Biblical, attracts attention, as does having a large number of volumes of the same size, which looks like an intention to distribute.

Shanghainese

I suggest you accept your employer's offer of paying to have the books shipped over, he is local and will have more ways than you can imagine to dealing with the issue. And please don't ask him how.

JPDeM

I flew into China too many times to remember, mostly Beijing and sometimes Shanghai, and my luggage never went through the X-ray machine. Having said that, if you are supposed to declare something, it is better to do it.
I know an American who lives in Beijing and goes back to the States 3-4 times per year and always brings back a frozen turkey. He has yet to be bothered.
I think that it is mostly the Chinese who are sent to the X-ray so that they can collect taxes of the often huge amount of shopping overseas.

temppeternh

> I flew into China too many times to remember, mostly Beijing and sometimes Shanghai, and my luggage never went through the X-ray machine.

You are living a charmed life beyond the wildest dreams of others, since everyone else has to off-load their baggage onto an X-ray machine immediately before exiting to the arrivals hall of every single major airport in China.

Or perhaps you haven't been back for quite some time?