Just a word of caution to anyone traveling outside of the U.S. who thinks the Embassy will help you -- FORGET IT! Having just seen the American Embassy in action I can tell you that unless it is something that is going to get the media's attention they are of absolutely no help what so ever. My parents and grandfather were on a tour of China when my grandfather became ill and had to leave the tour and was hospitalized. Within 36 hours my grandfather had passed away and I called the embassy from Chicago to try and receive some assistance for my family in China and was met by a typical American response -- "we are aware of the situation but there is not much we can do"<BR><BR>The American government might as well be upfront and tell you they will not help you unless there is media coverage involved or unless you are preaching Christianity to non-Christians and are kidnapped.<BR><BR>

I'm sorry about your grandfather but that is what travel insurance is for. I don't know what you expected our embassy to do.<BR><BR>A lot of US citizens seem to think the government is supposed to take care of everything and that they have no responsibility for anything.

Totally agree with 'sorry'. What did you expect the embassy to do? I really don't want to sound morbid but, I don't want my taxes spend on transporting your grandfathers body.

In response to "sorry" and "sorry":<BR>I would not expect the embassy to pay for anything, but I would expect them to provide information re. transporting the body back home, and to assist in completing the necessary paperwork and navigating the Chinese beaureaucracy. I would also expect them to provide legal assistance in the event of an inquiry into the cause of death, should that become necessary.

In regards to sorry -- my family did have travel insurance and no I was not looking for the government to pay to ship his body home. I was however looking for them to provide assistance to my family as far the language barrier, medical(was he receving proper treatment or not) and what companies to contact to transport him home. <BR><BR>I do hope that you never run into this problem.

Margie,<BR><BR>I understand your frustation but really the embassy is not to blame. There is no doubt that they'll do their part such as certifiying that your grandfather passed away etc so that the body can arrive in the US without problem. Everything else should be handled by the hopital, local public security authorities and the airline that would transport the body. As far as language barrier is concerned, you can use the local travel agency or hire a professional interpreter. Plus most hospitals in China have staff who can speak adequate English. In short, the embassy has no responsibility for all that. Normally, travel insurance policies would cover some misc. expenses such as phone calls, taxi, meals etc, up to a certain limit per day.<BR><BR>It is understandable that people tend to overreact when things go wrong, that's why a cool head is so important under such challenging circumstances. You come here to bash the embassy and yet you don't get a whole a whole of smypathy. Now you see why. Again, very sorry that your grandfather passed away...

Most funeral homes know or will get the necessary information you need regarding paperwork etc. So basically you need a funeral home in the country where the person passed away and the country to where the body is being flown. Unfortunately I had to arrange this a while back and it went smoothly once the two parties had been contacted.