Use Baidu translation app and WeChat or Alipay for payment. Stateside version works too. Expect very high International shipping costs.
However, you can find 99.9% of anything you seek on China's version of Amazon, called Taobao, and often less expensive. Be mindful of "fakes". JD and Aliexpress are also great sites for online shopping in China. The only items I was unable to find on the Chinese sites were a couple of ultralight trekking pieces. Plus, why give more money to greedy Jeff Bezos!?
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I know, I know, I know... I have seriously slacked on my blog the past few months. Soon, you will learn why! It has been a rough-ass start to the school year. November marks my 8th month in China, and it seems a month, a week, and sometimes a day does not pass with some kind of insane drama in the form of struggle, misunderstanding, daily tasks-too-hard-too-accomplish-here, work problems, injury, or illness! AAAAGH! But yes, I still love China! Despite that fact that I lazed around during the entire October vacation (1 week), and only left the house twice to venture to the grocery store, I still managed to capture a case of bacterial bronchitis. This took me down for the month, and I only stopped coughing, finally, last week. I missed 7 days of work during the worst two weeks and spent a hellalot on doctors, seeing as I refused to visit the People's #1 Hospital (should be called the "#2" because it was as clean as that!) where care is provided for all citizens free of charge and treatment there is covered by my school. After I broke my arm --oh yeah, on September 11 I slipped on the way to work and snapped my ulna. I told my friends and coworkers to let me bleed out on the street before I am ever taken to that hospital again! Seriously! Envision the overcrowded, dirty prisons and jails of the USA and that is Chengdu's People's #1 Hospital. I was sure I would catch hepatitis or something worse by sitting on the waiting benches, or that I was instantly getting cancer from their circa 1930s x-ray machine. Was I being transported back to The Great Leap Backward era? Ugh! Anyhoo, there *is* excellent healthcare available at clean, modern hospitals and clinics where the staff speaks English, and the care provided is almost comparable to that which I received in Korea (Korea's social medicine system and health tech easily surpasses the US, and that is from 2013!). I found that care from Dr. Leo and his staff during the bronchitis spell! Of course, for that high-quality care in a clean space, one pays out of pocket and the cost is triple of what I would have paid at the "#2 Hospital". Understand that this triple-the-cost amount is still a fraction of what I would pay in the US, where the "healthcare" system is run for-profit by the insurance companies so that their boards and CEOs can get rich from Americans' illness and injury. I will describe the cost and detail the horrid #2 visit in another post. And so, my arm had just about healed when I came down with the worst bronchitis in history. I was a hair away from the bronchitis worsening into pneumonia, but the Doc took chest x-rays to ensure it was not pneumonia. What resulted from harsh coughing 24-hours per day for the entire month (despite taking 20 pills per day - I am not exaggerating!!), was torn rib cartilage/intercostal muscles that prevented full breaths or more than an hour of sleep for two weeks. My new TCM recommended cupping, which nearly cured me and ended 96% of my pain. Last night was the first night I slept without waking frequently due to chest/rib pain!! It is currently mid-November and I have been either ill or injured since the second week of September, so I am hoping the run of bad luck has worn itself out! In the meantime, here is a brief synopsis of latest events in the Life of G: the communication issues in class have been resolved so the environment is much more positive; winter weather has descended into the basin that surrounds Chengdu (40-50F) resulting in maximum air pollution (as happens every winter); I am seeing a new TCM and drinking interesting herbal decoctions; I am planning for a Thanksgiving potluck with friends and coworkers, a visit from my friend Captain Andy (who has sailed over from Turkey and is currently traveling overland from SE Asia to China); I am deciding what I want to do for our 5-day Xmas holiday; I am making SCUBA vaca plans in Indonesia for next year's Chinese New Year Holiday; I am still organizing my apartment; and I am trying to get my discipline and positives habits of regular exercise going again after all this time off!
More soon! |
Having......gallivanted across Paris, I have made it to Chengdu! As of 2021, I am headed back to China, this time to Shanghai! Archives
March 2021
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