Hello everyone!

Just wanted to ask for some advice. I'm a young Australian woman moving to Kunming in the first week of March. I plan to stay in Kunming for at least a year - quite possibly longer than that in greater Yunnan and may move on to Shanghai or Beijing in a year or two for a couple more years there.

At the moment I am currently going through all of my belongings back here in Australia and wondering what kinds of things to send over there.

Besides the obvious things (favourite books, warm socks etc) I was wondering whether any other expats had any advice on any really useful things to bring over? What are the things you bought with you that you were really really glad that you included? What are some things you wished you'd bought with you becuase you can't find it there in Kunming?

Any advice on what to bring (and by the same token... what NOT to bring!) would be greatly appreciated!

Also, I'm looking for a lovely light-filled and safe apartment from the beginning of March, preferably something that ISN'T in a high rise, so if anybody has any information on that I would love to hear about it. Best way to get in touch with me is email misseward@gmail.com

Thanks greatly in advance for helping me,

Xiexie

Misse Ward

You should bring language learning books from there. Over here you will only find. Chinese-English. If you are going to teach then bring books from there like grammer books and ESL books. Also bring packets of index cards. I haven't been able to find them here believe it or not.

Thanks! I'm not going to be teaching english (not for the first year at least) but maybe it would be smart to bring some materials over anyway...

Depending on your size bring plenty of clothes and an extra pair or two of shoes. It's hard to find find stuff if your bigger or taller than most Chinese. I second the index cards. I have looked everywhere for them.

I would love to buy a couple of extra packets of Index Cards and swap them with some people in return for a little introductory tour of my new home? If anyone is interested email me misseward@gmail.com or add me on facebook under the name "Hayley May Ward" and we can talk!

You are NOT gonna have ANY problem finding people to be "your friend" over here. Just add a seperate post specifing what you are looking for and you will get responses. If your looking for a certain age group or people that are fluent in english and chinese, etc...

Chocolate, the chocolate here is either rubbish or more expensive and limited than what can be bought in Australia, even considering the exchange rate. Next time they put Cadbury on special go in and buy up big. Unless you are particularly large/tall, I think bringing over more than the bare minimum of clothing is a waste of time. I've been back and forth between Australia and Kunming for more than 6 years and as far as clothing is concerned, all I've found necessary is the clothing my back (keep in mind it's Winter here), a good supply of strong good quality cotton socks and 2 pair of good quality walking/running shoes. There's plenty of clothing available here at much cheaper prices than can be found at home. As a western woman you may also want to bring over some bras, Chinese woman tend to be small breasted. Bring your laptop, extras such as printers, monitors, etc. can be bought cheaply here. I found when I was teaching, the school expected you to teach the textbook provided, no matter how boring/poorly written it may be. I used to go through the textbook lesson I was obliged to give, as quickly as possible and then go on to lessons/activities I had downloaded off the web. I did bring over some English language books the first time I came but rarely used them and they were bloody heavy.I find it can smooth the way considerably if you bring over a few small gifts for the locals with which you may have to deal/work with. I usually go round Chinatown before leaving and buy 2 dozen jars of lanolin cream, if I need something special for a particular individual then I'll pick up a pair of sheepskin slippers, I also buy fish oil capsules for my elderly in-laws.

hey chill out - just trying to be friendly! :p

I mean, really? If I was that concerned about making new friends I would have actually put a post up looking for friends or whatever. Was just trying to be nice but maybe I'll shut my mouth from now on...

Thanks for the tips everyone though, really appreciated!