Americans traveling to China must have a visa, so we applied for ours in late July, since single entry visas are to be used within three months of issue. Time allowed to stay in China is thirty days for most visas. The procedure involves sending two China visa application forms completed and signed, one passport photograph, a valid and signed passport (valid for six months beyond stay), with at least one blank visa page, and your visa service’s reservation form.
Our travel agent, Mary, suggested that we use CIBT, Inc a leading travel document specialist and expediting service. She supplied the registration forms and took Polaroid pictures of us for the visa. The cost was $75 per person. There were horror stories this past summer about people having to cancel trips because the US passport and visa issuing process was backed up and we were a little apprehensive about getting our documents on time. CIBT’s online site allows you to follow the progress of your application through each step. Luckily, we received our visas quickly.
The last item on our to-do list was packing. Although we could take two bags weighing no more than 50 lbs on our international flight, the baggage limit for the five internal flights was one bag weighing no more than 44 lbs. (Excess baggage charges can be very high in some airports). In addition, bags with external pockets had to have locks on every pocket. The Chinese government has strict regulations regarding carry-on luggage as well. The maximum allowable weight is 10 lbs, and the maximum allowable dimensions are 17” by 12” by 10”, including all wheels, handles, etc. On on-tour flights we could also take a small size handbag / purse, one coat or blanket, one umbrella or one walking stick, one pair of crutches and one small camera or binoculars. Since the buses have limited storage space inside, and the underneath storage cannot be accessed during the rides except for emergencies, we each needed to have a light weight bag for our day trips.
In accessing our current luggage inventory which was quite extensive, we decided that all of our larger bags were rather heavy, and limited as we were to 44 pounds, we decided to gain more room for clothes by purchasing the lightest weight luggage that had good wheels and handles and wasn’t black (to identify our bags quickly at the carousels). We also didn’t want to spend a lot of money, since we had so much luggage already.
After much searching on the Internet, we found a three piece set by Heys called XCase XL that claims to be ‘the world’s lightest luggage set.’ It has a semi-hard polycarbonate shell with no pockets, an interior devoid of most of the weight-adding compartments, expansion capabilities, telescoping handles and inline wheels. The price on sale was a little over $200. And I loved its color choices: turquoise, pink, orange, and red, besides the ever popular black and silver. (Don said, “You decide, but no pink!”). I picked the turquoise. Don settled on the 26” case. He always packs less clothing and fewer shoes than I do. I took the 30” case. We couldn’t take the 20” carry-on due to China’s airlines' size limitations. We each chose a small, no wheels carry-on from our collection and Don took a camera case that could be a day bag for the bus. I decided to take a roomy black nylon zippered handbag that had multiple pockets inside and outside and a long adjustable strap that would also be my day bag.
Now that we had the luggage dilemma out of the way, we turned to the problem of what clothes we would need for the trip. The travel pundits always tell you to take clothes that you can layer, but we didn’t want to use a lot of our weight allowance on outerwear. I had purchased a suede jacket which I wanted to take, but it was rather heavy. So I decided to carry it with me on the planes and as the weather was generally mild or hot in China, I only wore it one day. I packed two sweaters, one white and one black that I could use for touring or at night for dinner.
Then there was the raincoat quandary. If it rained really hard, an umbrella and my jacket or sweater wouldn’t be enough protection. I went back to the trusty Internet and found a company, Renovere Raincoats of New Zealand, who makes very lightweight, waterproof reversible raincoats in a variety of colors. I ordered a hip length style with matching rain hat and hood in turquoise and black. (On the trip I wore this coat as a wind breaker as well — a wonderful investment!) The raincoat and hats were rolled and packed in a little travel bag that easily fit in the suitcase.
Shoes are always a big concern for me because I have a hammer toe that often rubs a blister and my feet tend to swell when I am sitting for a long time. Therefore, I usually travel with quite a few pairs. But, because of the weight limits, I had to pare down. I wore a nice pair of black leather Velcro strapped , Mary Jane style walking shoes with rubber bottoms that didn’t look like hiking boots or sneakers. I also packed a pair of sturdy beige sandals with adjustable Velcro straps that I could wear over socks for when my MJ’s got tight and two lightweight pairs of dressy flats, black patent and cream, for formal occasions. I left out slippers this trip but several of the hotels supplied them in the rooms.
We were told that all of our hotels and the riverboat would do laundry for us though not always dry cleaning, though, so we only packed clothes for about 1/3 of the trip. We washed underwear in the rooms when we were staying for more than one night. Daytime outfits for me were washable blouses and tees (long or ¾ sleeved), and lightweight slacks (no heavy jeans) in mostly dark colors that could be worn for more than one day. For most evenings, I changed to slightly dressier tops though sometimes we arrived late to the hotels and just went right to dinner in our day clothes. I also brought two quite dressy tops and washable crepe pants for formal events which consisted of welcome and farewell dinners and two dinners on the cruise.
Page Five of Yin and Yang on the Yangtze>>
