Thanks Denise , that would be great , really appreciate ,will be in touch once back in chengdu , see soon , Thanks - Ian

No problem Ian. Be glad to help if I can. I'll keep a look out for you and maybe we can meet up and I can introduce you to some of the other teachers too. See you in Chengdu!

Hi Denise , Katie pased on your blog to me , i will be in Chengdu in 2 to 3 weeks time , am coming to live there from land of OZ , Got married there two years ago but returned to OZ for work and so been going back and forth , miss my family so did a 360 in career and decided would love to teach so went about getting qualified , am excited for sure and my wife happy I will finally move and live in chengdu , hoping can catch up when i am there as although i love chengdu i am green to checking out teaching jobs as yet , be good to catch up with someone who knows the teaching scene there , hope you not mind if I drop you a line when i arrive , Cheers Ian

Thanks Erin.  Will be good to have another Erin here - my flatmate is called Erin and she is leaving to go home to the USA.  I just know you will love it here.  Most people do. Whatever you say about China, you either love it or hate it, there is no inbetween. I don't know of anyone who has hated it - it grows on you. I also look forward to hearing about your adventures in the Land of the Rising Sun!  Good luck with it all.  Denise x

Thanks for this post Denise- I'm sure China newbies are going to find it most useful! I know I couldn't cope without the essentials :-)

Great to hear you're staying in China- I look forward to hearing about the next chapter!

Take care (and Happy New Year!)

Erin

Forgot to say a hefty supply of over-the-counter medicines would also be a good idea; painkillers (paracetamol, Feminax, aspirin, etc), alka seltzer (don't know many who haven't succumbed to the dreaded hangover) and cold remedies (such as lemsips, etc).  These are all difficult to find here and the Chinese alternatives are pretty disgusting to take.

I would also like to remind those travelling with a 30kg luggage allowance that there may be a chance they will be taking internal flights, once in China, and the luggage allowance is only 20Kg.  I found myself paying an extra cost for my over-stuffed case!