Fellow Virtual Travelers,
The last China story you heard from us was about the buried Terra Cotta Warriors found in 1974, near Xi'an, China. These are the life size terra cotta replicas of the armies of the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. We sent that story almost a year ago (April 2013)!
http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/archaeology/emperor-qin/
We've had many questions since then, about how does one prepare for a trip to remote regions of China?
Simple answer: Everything you might possibly need, 'cuz there is no Walmart nearby.
Complex answer: Don't try to pack the night before you are scheduled to leave on your trip!
Vaccinations: Depending on where you go and what time of year you're traveling in China, you may need to prepare weeks in advance to protect yourself from unknown bugs:
http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/traveler/extended_student/china
Packing list: Medicines you might need (aspirin, Excedrin, cold, flu, bandages, bandaids, anti-septic salves, disposable ice packs, moleskin for blisters, sunscreen, aloe vera), vitamins to maintain heath (multi, magnesium, potassium, b-complex, probiotic, electrolytes, resveratrol, GreensFirst and AloeCran drink mixes), chopsticks, shower curtain and rings, duct tape and bailing wire for repairs, scissors, powdered coffee and creamers.
Snack bags: Since we tend to hike a lot on these adventures, we are often not near any food sources for 2 meals per day. As such, we pack 1 snack size bag of granola/nuts mix per person per day and 1 snack size bag of dried fruit per person per day where hikes are planned. Of course, it's imperative to have M&Ms in constant supply. Peanut and milk chocolate. Also flavors like Mint, Peppermint and Raspberry! Even then we typically lose 5 - 20 pounds each on these adventures!
Water and water purifiers: The best rule of thumb when traveling in China is that no water source is safe to drink. Unless it's in a sealed bottle. Some of the areas we travel don't have readily available bottled water vendors, so we bring with us water purifiers or filters. Our favorite are pump water filters like the SweetWater or Katadyn.
Electronics: This is the complicated part, due to the mission of our trips. Documentary and now book writing! Computers and chargers. Cameras, batteries and chargers. Phones and chargers. An American style surge protector, pigtail adaptors that allow plugging in more than one unit per plug. A transformer to change Chinese current in to U.S. voltage. A Chinese style surge protector. Memory cards for your varied equipment, card readers, external drives and thumb drives for backups. DVD's and DVD burner also for creating backups.
Power Conversion: China-220v/50hz -> US-110v/60hz. If you don't hook things up correctly, circuit breakers start to trip off in the hotel. Trust us. So we take this picture as our memory schematic.
Clothes: Keep to a minimum. Depending on when you travel, bring layers to battle the colder evenings and nights. Pants: 3-4 pair per personShirts: 4-5 per personSocks: 5 pair per person Hooded sweatshirt: 1 per personRain coat: 1 per personShoes: 1 pair of proven walking shoes. Never, ever wear a new pair of sneakers! You'll get blisters in no time and will wish you'd packed moleskin!
Compartmentalize the luggage contents: As we tend to travel to multiple locations on one trip, we learned to buy small, clear bags to pack related items. This bag holds pants, this bag holds shirts, this bag holds charging equipment, this bag holds toiletries. That way you can quickly find the item you need and repack in a hurry. Then the next time you look for something, you're not digging through a disheveled heap to find something.
Chinese Translator: Regardless of where you travel, it is likely that you'll find yourself in a place where no one reads or speaks English. As such, we recommend hiring a national and local guide to take you throughout the country. We also brought an electronic translator that even speaks the words. We had a lot of fun with that when we ran into people who didn't speak English but we needed to ask questions of (like when Dennis was looking for his yellow-haired wife - turns out there is no word for blonde! They laughed and immediately pointed in the direction they saw her! Guess Anita doesn't blend in as well as she'd hoped!).
Communications: Prepare in advance to communicate with friends and family in the U.S. We plan on two modes of communication: 1) iPHone with the AT&T international package (this allows unlimited texting) and 2) email. For email we have the email list set up with admin access via numerous email accounts, ranging from yahoo.com to gmail to hotmail. Because you never know what you might and might not be able to access from within China:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_websites_blocked_in_China
Part of communications is keeping a diary of sorts. What happened when, with whom, what was discussed. Were there actions items on anyone's part? Are they to be done in country, or when you get back home?
Gifts: It is customary to bring gifts for those you visit. Anything from an English book about the area you're from, to a silk scarf, to small candy bars, to a high powered pocket size flashlight, to American postcards, to a Colorado calendar or a hand made gift (like an Apple iPhoto book with your own pictures and stories).
Security: Always carry a high-powered flashlight on you at all times. Carry a pen and paper at all times. Make copies of your passport, travel visa, drivers license and credit cards. Carry a copy with you and have your travel partner also carry a copy, in case your documents, etc are lost or stolen. Always keep an eye on your traveling companions, always be aware of who is around you and what they are doing!
On October 30, 2012, we sent an email to our list, talking about our friend Victor who lives at the most remote mountain, Wudangshan. How we'd met years before (we were looking for an English book about Wudang in the bookstore where he worked), re-established connection via email and how he served as our guide at Wudangshan in 2012.
We asked him again during the last trip, if there was now an English book about Wudang's history to buy. His answer was, 'No and so you must come back next year and we will write this book.'
We laughed! Well, we're not laughing anymore. Instead we're packing for spending 3 weeks in Wudangshan with Victor to get the stories, legends, folklore, myths and history of Wudangshan for the first ever English book about martial arts in this area! Wudang is the birthplace of Chinese Tai Chi history, dating back 5,000 years. That is the same timeframe of the Egyptian pyramids!
So here is where we'll be, from about the middle of April to about the middle of May 2014!
Shaanxi and Hubei Provinces:
http://www.maps-of-china.net/province/shaanxim.htm
http://www.wudangchina.com/index.htm
Shiyan City (pronounced SHEE-an) is at the base of the Wudang mountain range and is not to be confused with Xi'an (Xi'an is pronounced shee-ON), which is north west and where the Terra Cotta Warriors are found.
Wudangshan is one of the more remote locations, so internet access will be minimal. Before we leave we will be sending a test email to this list from Anita's iPhone. Though even if that works in the U.S., it may not help us stay in communications with you while we're in China. We promise to do our best to keep in touch as we can!
We just met with the Lunt Security Team, who will be taking care of Sherlock and Dr. Watson (our two kitties) and watching the house for us.
Now off to finish packing… Less than two weeks before our departure!
Blessings,
Dennis and Anita