Beijing What to Pack

Luggage and bags: I always pack a light backpack to wear during my excursions and tours. They come in handy when you end up picking up something you don't feel like carrying and they are great for toting your bare essentials.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: On tours, definitely wear good walking shoes or sneakers! You'll be doing plenty of walking for sure. Throw a light jacket in your pack, especially for the Great Wall tour (it get's chilly, especially in the early months) and wear lighter clothing for when it turns warm.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Always, always, always carry toilet paper with you. WC's in Beijing range from the "one star" squat toilets in hideously grotesque bathrooms, to the "four star" western toilets in the fancy hotels.

Don't count on finding many of the 4 star ones around, and be aware that 1 - 3 star toilets do not have toilet paper!!!!

Photo Equipment: My suggestion is the lightest, most compact camera you can carry. I had one of Sony's smallest digitals and it was a godsend!

Miscellaneous: Always bring bottled water. Don't even THINK of drinking water out of a glass or drinking water with ice cubes floating in the glass, unless you know for sure that the source for both were definitely from a bottled source.

If you don't heed this warning, it will only be a matter of time before you get the "curse of the bad water" which can really ruin a trip.

Miscellaneous: If you want to visit Beijing, bring a good City map.

I had bought the Beijing Lonely Planet map (green one) (5,99 US $) at the Adventure Fair in Gent. It is a laminated map with one big city map and several extra maps like The Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Badaling Great Wall and Greater Beijing.

The second map (blue one) , Peking/Beijing map, Berndtson & Berndtson was given by a friend who visited Beijing in 2000. This map was better then the lonely Planet map as it was more detailled (1:24.000), it was also laminated, it also had the Metro lines, the Beijing area with The Great Wall locations, detailled maps of the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Fragrant Hills and Chengde. (www.mapmyway.com)

Luggage and bags: Just enough to accomodate the things that you will be bringing . You can always get unexpensive extras for your purchases. Forget about bringing an empty extra bag for your purchases.

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: Depending on the season but definitely good walking shoes. Clothes are plenty and not dear so just bring enough and buy them in Beijing.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: You can get your basic needs easily. I wanted to bring toothpaste with me but lucky i didn't cos i got it at Watsons for a fraction of what it cost me back home. Only bring any special medication or toiletries. The rest you can find at Watsons or other stores...you might even find something you couldn't find back home.

Luggage and bags: In summer the climate can be very very warm and humid, so pack light...

In the winter it can be very chilly (I have experienced around -10C)... so pack your pullovers and heavy coats (or buy them in Beijing) :-)

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Bring your medical supplies since in China there are not so many western drugstores.

Photo Equipment: For sure....

Luggage and bags: If you are flying within China, there is a weight restriction of 20 kilos per person for checked luggage. You can carry up to 150 kilos, but you will be charged extra (not a lot) for the overage.

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Kleenex and anti-bacterial wipes. For restroom use. A must take! Our family doctor also gave us Rx's for Lomotil and Cipro in case we contracted a stomach bug. We never did, but it was comforting to have along.

Photo Equipment: Remember to take enough memory cards for your digital camera. I ended up taking over 1000 photos in 18 days!

Luggage and bags: You will fill all the space you have, even if you thoguht you were not into shopping. Either you bring the biggest suitcase from home, or you buy one here in Beijing. Perhaps a light soft bag would do in addition to your smallish suitcase or back pack.
You can get day packs in Beijing very cheaply.

Miscellaneous: Most of us will always try to use up all the local currency before we leave the country in order not to have small change that become useless when return to home country.

Do not forget to put aside 90 RMB per head for the Airport Departure Tax which you have to pay in cash ONLY in the airport.

It will not be straight forward to do currency exchange (small amount) when you are at the airport.

Miscellaneous: For God sakes don't buy a sword and then check it as luggage when flying! Mail it! I know someone who checked his new sword and had it confiscated at the Korean airport. He can't get it back unless he gets permission from the local police detachement (and we live over 5 hours away from the airport).