China

The one thing that is hard to get in China is access to an unmonitored internet! But apart from that, as I recall there is not a wide variety of food in the supermarkets, but then your taste may not be what the brother would enjoy.

A quick search came up with the following:

"If you pay a visit to a Chinese family, it is smart to bring gift for the hostess like a bouquet, cosmetics, or scarves. Toys, candies, books are good for the children if they have them. Some practical items might be a good choice. During the traditional festivals, you can bring wines, cigarettes, tea, candies, fruits, or some of your local products. However, there are some tips for you to note, which is considered to be unpropitious:

a. Clocks should never be presented as gift to others, especially to elders.
b. Pears can not be sent to couples.
c. People who are unwell may not be given medicine as gift.
d. Intimate items of clothing may not be gifts for friends of the opposite sex.!

Though I can't really imagine you would be taking him some underpants!

Thank you - I think they are all staying in a hotel in Shanghai, so luckily no hostess gaffs. So far I've bought him toilet paper washlets (no paper in public toilets), a UK to China adaptor, and 50 masks. Now trying to make sense of the mobile phone 'power banks', and getting him a Mandarin phrase book. I remember getting him a phrase book for the school trip, lost in the mists of time.

My son had lost a stone when he returned from the school trip in 2011 as he survived on rice and plain noodles - the main dishes the kids were offered were chicken feet, duck heads, sliced pig ear, and some unidentifiable dishes.

Shanghai is probably the most cosmopolitan city in China, so if they are staying there, they're not going to have many issues at all. I have friends who have lived & worked in Shanghai, and my husband has visited on business a couple of times and he loved it. Great architecture, restaurants (including Western ones!), bars, hotels, etc. I really don't think there's anything specific that he would need to take with him. Hope your son has a great time!

There is nothing you need in China that cannot easily be bought there.

Shandy57 I think your son was being a little dramatic over the food he was offered. Chinese food consists of many dishes and I have never been offered the selection he described !

The one and only time I’ve been to China was 2008. No food problems at all except getting food poisoning the day before my birthday and ending up in hospital.
But hey, that can happen anywhere ?
We went off piste several times eating in local eateries. All good ?

I’m not sure he will need a phrase book. Everyone out there now learns English, although they don’t speak it very clearly. I would recommend telling him to keep some bottled water in his room as I was once working at a university where the water regularly got cut off. I have never had any trouble with the food and always got vegetarian dishes. If you are a dressmaker get him to bring you back silk.

When we went to China we ate like royalty, and the bonus was that I lost a few pounds too. I put it down to the lack of dairy products in the food and swore to get a grip on my cheese habit once I got home. It didn’t last.

I can’t think of a thing your son would need to take to Shanghai, now that he has the adapter and phrase book. Lucky him - I’m sure he’ll have a great time.

Thanks everyone, my shopping is complete! It's somewhere I will never go because of the complete lack of animal welfare laws there.

Wildswan16 I have his photographs of the food somewhere ... I think the mass catering for 50 school children was provided on a very limited budget. No toad though!

How is he planning a visit to China with all the Covid Restrictions? Are guest visits allowed already? I thought that China is closed, maybe I am wrong.

The most important is to have a VPN because there are lots of restrictions concerning Google and everything western. And it is nice to have a WeChat account with money on its wallet or Alipay.
I don't really know what you can't find in China. There is everything. Western products can be found in Walmart if he doesn't like chinese food.

I'm surprised he's going to be able to get in. I had a job there, with a permit and visa and still was unable to go. Two Chinese students of mine were locked out of China for a year, due to restrictions.

However, IF he is able to get there, Shanghai is very multicultural. You can get any type of world food there that you may want. My favourite Mexican restaurant is there. INCREDIBLE tacos.

Shanghai also has loads of international supermarkets where you can get all the usual British (or American) foods.

The only thing I'd set up for him AHEAD of time and before he enters China is a very good VPN (Virtual Private Network) for all of his devices. Astril is good, but many prefer Express. If he has a good VPN he'll be able to access all his usual internet sites. Most Chinese also have VPNs.

And as Humbertbear says, ALL Chinese know some English. A lot function at native speaker level. A positive of China is that they LOVE foreigners and actively want to engage with them. The implacable stare is a bit off putting, but a smile and a 'Ni hao,' overcomes it 99.9% of the time. Finally, from your perspective, China is hugely safe. Very little crime and virtually none directed towards foreigners.

I am very surprised considering covid Shandy57, NZ have closed their boarders till next year.

I notice you say January and 1st February 2022 will be the Chinese New Year. Pre-covid, every year about 385 million Chinese try to go back to their family homes 15 days before hand and festivities continue for about a month.

It will be very cold but dry, some hotels may not be heated as much as they are in Europe. I lived in Beijing where there was a bitter cold wind, so I used to wear sunglasses to protect my eyes from the dust blowing round.
As for the food, don’t worry I think the Chinese were playing a special joke on the children, as even in the early 90s I ate well in the hotels in the major cities.

My Chinese students takes Swiss chocolate for her friends because it's apparently very expensive.