China 1st Trip Ice, Luggage & Other Questions!
Apr 28th, 2007, 07:55 PM
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China 1st Trip Ice, Luggage & Other Questions!
Independent Travelers-- my husband and I will take our first tour ever this summer- to China. Some questions for starters:
I am an ice freak. Can I expect no ice for the duration? Do moderate (4 star) hotels offer ice (for westerners) as ours do?
We want to shop for miles, but have in-china flights until 1 day before leaving from Shanghai. With luggage restrictions, will we have to limit ourselves until after the last domestic flight?? (that would be really hard for us to do.)
Anyone used Chinaspree? Anyone done the Best of China and Hong Kong? Would love to hear from you!
Thanks much to my fellow travel-junkies.
kimberly & jeffrey
sebastopol, california
I am an ice freak. Can I expect no ice for the duration? Do moderate (4 star) hotels offer ice (for westerners) as ours do?
We want to shop for miles, but have in-china flights until 1 day before leaving from Shanghai. With luggage restrictions, will we have to limit ourselves until after the last domestic flight?? (that would be really hard for us to do.)
Anyone used Chinaspree? Anyone done the Best of China and Hong Kong? Would love to hear from you!
Thanks much to my fellow travel-junkies.
kimberly & jeffrey
sebastopol, california
Apr 29th, 2007, 08:43 AM
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I came across a few 7-11 stores in China where you could buy ice. I stayed at a cheaper hotel so don't know if a 4* will have ice.
Lots of things to buy there but remember overweight luggage can be VERY expensive ($20-$30 a kilo on some airlines!). Be careful of fakes in China. Hong Kong has even more stuff to buy but remember, Chinese settlements back home like the one in San Francisco will have exactly the same sort of knick-knacks and things at often very little more cost.
Don't miss the museum in Shanghai.
Lots of things to buy there but remember overweight luggage can be VERY expensive ($20-$30 a kilo on some airlines!). Be careful of fakes in China. Hong Kong has even more stuff to buy but remember, Chinese settlements back home like the one in San Francisco will have exactly the same sort of knick-knacks and things at often very little more cost.
Don't miss the museum in Shanghai.
Apr 29th, 2007, 01:07 PM
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If you don't want to pay the overweight penalty, you have to limit yourself to the last city. Don't know what you want to shop for, try first to make a trip to SF Chinatown and browse the stores (my fav is Shanghai Bazaar), albeit the prices are not dirt cheap like in China, but gives you an idea of the merchandize. Then when you are in China, you can buy buy 2 extra bags, shop selectively and fill them up.
I think your concern about ice is what kind of water it is made out of. Remember water in China is non-potable, and I'm not sure if hotel ice is made from purified water. I've even heard of tourists getting sick from brushing their teeth with tap water. I recommend staying on the cautious side, I'm China-born, but I stay away from ice and salads every time I visit. I peel all my fruits too when I'm there but not the gravensteins when I'm in Sebastopol!
I think your concern about ice is what kind of water it is made out of. Remember water in China is non-potable, and I'm not sure if hotel ice is made from purified water. I've even heard of tourists getting sick from brushing their teeth with tap water. I recommend staying on the cautious side, I'm China-born, but I stay away from ice and salads every time I visit. I peel all my fruits too when I'm there but not the gravensteins when I'm in Sebastopol!
