I might be moving to China....and need help!

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Forum -> Inquiries & Offers -> Moving/ Relocating

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amother

Wed, Jun 29 2011, 10:50 pm

There is a possibility, that in a few months we will be moving to...china!

While, it is definitely exciting, it is very scary and I have tonz of questions to ask. So if any of you live in china, lived in china, know anyone from china etc, could you help answer some of my questions? Thanks:)

1. I'm more of the natural sort and don't give vaccines to my children until they are older and I feel that their immune systems can handle it. Because of that they are both behind on their vaccines (ages 2 and 6 months). Are the any vaccines or shots that they should definitely have before heading over to the far east?

2. Carseats. We will not be owning a car and therefore will have to rely heavily on the taxis there. How does it work with carseats? I'm very strict when it comes to carseats and can't imagine putting my dc in the taxi without carseats. So, how does everyone else do it?

3. I was told that the winter there is COLD. Can someone elaborate? I went online and it looks freezing:-& how equipped are the houses for dealing with such weather? Do they have proper heat?

4. This move will probably only be temporary-as in 2 years. So we might move into a furnished appt. How gross is that in terms of mattresses? I'm feeling grossed out but my dh says it's the same as sleeping in a hotel. Is it?

5. Youtube, blogger, facebook etc are sites that are blocked in china, due to it being a communitst country and they don't allow any social networking etc... What about imamother???

6.That's it off the top of my head. Is there anything else that I should be aware of? And for everyone else reading this, can you think of any other questions I should be asking?

Thanks:)

lamplighter

Wed, Jun 29 2011, 10:54 pm

I think where in China might make a difference. You can contact the Chabad shlucha there, she is really friendly and has a community full of people just like you (living there for a few years for business or what have you).

Happy18

Wed, Jun 29 2011, 10:55 pm

The only people I know who lived in china lived there over 15 years ago. So that wont help.
If you want I can find out if they still know people who live there that you can ask.

cip

Wed, Jun 29 2011, 10:59 pm

their are shluchim in biejing, shangai, and some other cities in china. you can get their contact info. from chabad.org.
they should be able to answer.

amother

Wed, Jun 29 2011, 11:31 pm

OP here

The shluchim know us personally and we are not ready for our move to be public yet. Therefore, I prefer to ask here anonymously.

Can anyone help me?

sarahmalka

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 11:10 am

For the vaccination question: I too am very selective about what shots I get for my children. And I would get them the recommended CDC vaccinations if we were living in China. I don't know what all the recommendations are, you can look on the CDC website and type in the specific city, as region is important when considering vaccines. Off the top of my head I would say Hep B is important, and maybe Hep A (even though normally I wouldn't get these- but you 100% don't want your child exposed to Hep B, and you might not want your child to get a diarrheal illness like Hep A even though it's self-limiting, b/c who wants a dehydrated child needing IV fluids in China???!)
There's a great book by Dr. Sears on vaccines with recommendations on how to support the child's immune system before and after vaccinations. That might help you feel better about any shots you get. Again, I would do the vaccinations when there is a very real threat of infection- this coming from someone like you who is selective and cautious about vaccinating my little ones here in the USA.

Raisin

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 11:13 am

saramalk, I am neautral on the vaccination front, but your post does kind of prove that non vaccinators are relying on the vaccinators for their childrens health.

lkwdmommy

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 11:23 am

amother wrote:

OP here

The shluchim know us personally and we are not ready for our move to be public yet. Therefore, I prefer to ask here anonymously.

Can anyone help me?

I am sure that the shluchot are the epitome of discretion. Can't you call them and tell them that your move is not definite, and you don't want anyone to hear about it? The only way to get the best answers to your questions is "straight from the horse's mouth" so I would think asking the people who live there would be the best route to go.

Hashem_Yaazor

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 11:34 am

Raisin wrote:

saramalk, I am neautral on the vaccination front, but your post does kind of prove that non vaccinators are relying on the vaccinators for their childrens health.

No -- Hepatitis is contracted from contaminated food (A) or bodily fluids (B), not a communicable disease from unvaccinated people sneezing around town. Hep A IS more of a concern in certain locales, including Asia, due to food prep, etc from what I remember (I didn't really check into this well)...it's not like MMR where you think people are relying on other to vaccinate and not spread measles or what not to your kids.

intrigued

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 11:37 am

There are ways in China to go on the websites that are banned. You just change the IP Address. Look into it.

Hashem_Yaazor

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 11:40 am

They're called proxies. Some of those are also blocked in China, so you have to play around to see what works for you.

ysydmom

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 11:42 am

For carseats they make ones that fold up into backpacks I recomend getting those here before you leave. They can use them on the plane as well. Very convenient and easy to travel with. As far as vacines why don't you ask your Dr.?

shoshina

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 11:49 am

1. Vaccinate. If its for two years, your oldest will be in some sort of playgroup/gan yes? Do you want to risk measles or mumps, both of which are prevalent in China? Worse, do you want your options to be non-vaccination or vaccination by a Chinese doctor/with Chinese drugs? There were tainted vaccinations in China that gave people hepatitis, particularly in Tibet, which is one of the reasons I would strongly advise to GET VACCINATED here and not there.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/New.....36471

2. Where in China? Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong all have places that are up to the normal western standard of living. If you will be more remote (aka non-coastal) things will be different. This is for both the apartment and temperature question.

3. There are proxies for getting around the firewall, they are extremely user friendly.

4. Use the backpack car seats as others have recommended, and learn how to explain it in Chinese or the driver will just start as soon as you're in the car.

Mrs Bissli

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 12:25 pm

I used to travel to China fairly frequently, and know quite a number of expats there.
As Shoshiana said, which city in China makes a BIIIG difference. In terms of Jewish amenity, HK is definitely the best (beats OOT communities and some European countries in terms of kosher retaurants etc), followed by Shanghai and Beijing.

Healthcare: most expats go to private western hospitals. Make sure your DH's expat package includes medical evacuation (may sounds serious but simply means you have an option to go back home for surgeries, childbirth etc) for all family members.

Carseats: Probably a wise decision not to drive in Shangai or HK. Beijing is more widespread, you might want to consider evntually driving (also main streets are wider and easier to navigate). Taxis are cheap, but drivers don't speak english (with exception of HK, Shangai is mixed). I haven't seen anyone installing carseats when they hail a taxi. Come to think of it, I've never seen anyone installing carseats in NYC yellow cab or London black cab for that matter... HK and Shanghai have very good subway network. Beijing also has pretty good subway system though distances between stations seem to be longer.

Weather: In Beijing, winter is BRUTAL. It's very dry, cold, air gets dusty, you're likely to get sore throat. On the other hand, Shanghai/HK summer is CRUEL. THink 100F/30C+ temperature with 80% humidity. Shangai/HK is in the southern coat so you do get typhoons though usually nothing too serious.

Furnishing: most expats in Asia move into furnished apartment. I never thought it was odd or gross. Firstly you do use your own mattress cover/protector then sheets.

Computer: You CAN use facebook, internet. Not sure about facebook because I don't use one. It's not prohibited, but is just censured/monitored. So you should be ok accessing imamother so long as you don't post repeated rant on free tibet and Falun Gong.

On minor notes, do you have children in school age/nearing school age during your stay? Do you need to think about schooling options? I'm making an assumption it's for your DH's work, and he's going to get some sort of expat package. Can he get home leave annually? COLA (cost of living adjustment) to his salary? I also strongly recommend his company get both of you language tutors, preferably BEFORE you actually move there. (Having said that 2 yrs are no where enough to be fluent in Mandarin/Cantonese).

Please feel free to PM me if you want more info.

ChossidMom

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 2:28 pm

I have a frum, online acquaintance in Beijing. Her first name is Leora. I don't think she's Chabad but I'm not sure. If you are interested I can try to find her email address.

Tamiri

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 3:02 pm

Op if you are really into your health as your vaccination stance would indicate, I suggest you find out where you would be living and then read about the air quality in China's cities. Just reading about it is enough to make you sick.

amother

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 6:05 pm

Here is a secret to getting free flow unrestricted internet in China:

Get a 'sling shot' proxy connector. The one I used when I was in China was Anonymizer (google it). It needs to be loaded outside of China, because their site is blocked in mainland. If you have it, you can access FB and any other website you want.

anonymom

Thu, Jun 30 2011, 9:55 pm

You can get mattress covers that are bug proof airtight and zip all around the mattress.

nylon

Fri, Jul 01 2011, 10:11 am

HepB is endemic in China. BTW it's possible to catch it from family members (they think it may involve saliva or the mucous membranes), which is why public health groups in Asian-American communities push the vaccine.

Ruchel

Fri, Jul 01 2011, 11:55 am

I had FB and Imamother, or I would have died! Wink

I LOVED China. And believe it or not, you WILL slowly get used to the language!

I advise you to take some Chinese (Mandarine) lessons, if only just for words, small useful sentences... I took a semester in uni, and years later when we went, some of it came back!

Nothing gross with furnished per se, it's indeed like a hotel! Meaning it depends on where you are...

If you don't wanna call the shluchim, call Ohel Lea (the MO kehila) or Shavei Israel ?

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