Suggested Things to Bring
Winter: click this Summer: click this
Change Currency at Bank of China in NYC
Before departure, you should change money at a Bank of China branch in NYC.
1045 6th Ave., (at 40th St.)
New York, NY 10018
Tel: 212-935-3101
Business hours (Mon – Fri): 9:00 am - 3:30 pm
Please note: Do not change money at any airport, as the rates are too bad and they also charge a $10 service fee. You can also change money at the Beijing hotel or with the tour guide after we arrive or you get cash from an ATM in China (only Chinese cash in Chinese yuan).
Immunization
As we told the past participants, you should check the WHO (World Health Organization) website for information about vaccines and other health related issues for travel to China. In the past, we did not require any shots to make the China trip, and we do not require any shots for this trip, either.
This site has general information:
If necessary, you should also consult your doctor.
The cities we will travel to in China are very safe when it comes to health, food, and other accommodations. You will be surprised to find that those Chinese cities, while preserving the traditions very well, are, in fact, quite modernized.
Laundry Matters:
In China, there is no self-service Laundromat like ones we have here. Here is what you can do.
We suggest that you bring a good-size laundry bag with you. There is one laundry place just a few minutes walk from our hotel in Nanjing, by China Medicine and Pharmaceutical University, on the street between Xuanwu Lakeveiw Hotel and Westin Hotel (with Starbucks and International Plaza)—we will walk you there soon after our arrival in Nanjing. Put a tag or sign on your bag with your name. You just drop it off and pick it up next day (give them 24 hrs). Their prices are the best. This is what I normally do, like many other students.
You can wash those small items in your bathroom and hang up in your room if you do not have too many items at one time. But be careful about this: do not break the hangers or other things in the room; do not make your room look messy.
In the Nanjing hotel, you can also ask for laundry service: normal prices in US$ are: a T-shirt ($2), an underwear ($1.2), a shirt ($2.3), etc. You give your laundry in the morning (normally before 10:00 am), by filling an order sheet in your room and leaving it in a bag, and the maids will pick it up when cleaning the room and get it back to your room next day (or in the evening of the same day with rush service by paying extra). It is about the same in other hotels.
In hotels in our first two cities (i. e., Beijing and Xi’an), if you want to do the laundry, you should do it as soon as you arrive, because it takes about 24 hours to get it back; the hotel can also do it as rush service, with additional 50% charge. You should ask when the laundry can be brought back in your room, so that you get it back before we check out of the hotel.
On Hunan Road, also a few minutes from our hotel in Nanjing, there is a nice laundry place, called Fornet. The prices there are also reasonable, most small articles for about $1-2 apiece.
Fornet Laundry, Tel: 025-8321 6869
Address: 2 Hunan Road
http://fornet.com.cn/page/Default_en.asp?pageID=130
More coming soon....
