Making a cross-country move back home is difficult enough, but when you’re facing the prospect in a foreign country it can be extra daunting. Not only do you have to deal with everything that you would normally associate with a move – new job, new house, new neighborhood, new schools, movers, shipping (ok, back home this one would be more like driving a U-Haul for 18 hours straight), but you have to make the move in a foreign language, utilizing a foreign infrastructure with many unknowns. Here’s some advice for those contemplating, or dreading, moving across China. While many people are understandably nervous about moving to China, moving to a new city in China can be just as challenging. You arrived in China with two suitcases; now you have boxes, lots of them. Here’s how you make it happen while hanging on to your wallet and your cool.

Photo: gruntzooki

Have an idea where you’re going
It is probably not a good idea to turn up in a new city with no idea what part of town you’ll be living in or what is available nearby. You will also need a new place to stay. If you’re transferring to a new city, your new office or school may be willing to do the preliminary legwork for you and help you find an apartment. While this might mean committing to a place sight-unseen, it also means that you won’t be stuck apartment hunting in a new place where you are not certain of real estate prices or which areas are more or less desirable. When we moved to Beijing I originally wanted to choose an apartment on our own, but browsing the internet from Kunming did not give a full picture of what was available in Beijing, and I underestimated the sheer size of Beijing and was looking in entirely the wrong places. We eventually allowed my company to find a place for us and someone from my company acted as a proxy and signed an interim lease for us. While the place was not ideal, it worked in the short term and when we were more familiar with the city we were able to move to someplace we liked better. If you have school-aged children, this is the time to ask questions about the schools in the area and figuring out how far the school is from your new hood. As with back home, where the kids go to school can end up having a big impact on where we eventually decide to live.

Sell what you can
Although most expats in China tend to travel light, it is pretty amazing the amount of stuff you can accumulate over the course of a year or two in the same city. Most apartments in China come furnished so you don’t have to worry about lugging your sofa or bed across the country, instead, fob them off on someone else. Anything that is not absolutely essential, either consign to the trash heap, or sell off. While back home we may bring our belongings from one place to another, consider that when you move you will be paying a shipping company by weight, and any non-essential will add to what you eventually pay. So think long and hard about what things are worth the cost of moving them from one end of China to each other. Trim your DVD collection, hold a book sale, and donate old clothes to charity. With many things in China being so cheap, there is really no need to transport anything that you do not consider absolutely essential.

Choose a freight company carefully.
You have several options when shipping, the most cost effective being either shipping by train or choosing a freight company to do your shipping for you. Shipping by train is cheap and reliable, but one major drawback is that your stuff will arrive at the train station and you will be responsible for moving it to the final destination. A freight company will deliver your stuff to any address, but you run more of a risk of your belongings being damaged in the process, as they will be transported by truck, and sometimes multiple trucks. We used a freight company to ship seven large refrigerator sized boxes of stuff from Kunming to Beijing. The problem was that the boxes apparently broke and the company repacked our stuff in what essentially amounted to bags. While the damage was not heavy, there was damage. The upside is that the cost of all this shipping was pretty low. We paid about 700RMB for all seven of the boxes. When researching a company you’ll want to find someone who speaks Chinese to help you, and you’ll be looking for 物流 (wu liu) company. China Railway Express has a website (Chinese only) and they have offices in most major cities. They specialize, of course, in train freight, but also offer ground and air shipping services and the site includes a price list for all major cities.

Deal with your pets
When we moved from Kunming to Beijing, we brought our cat. This was actually a much larger hassle than we’d anticipated. First, your animals need to have up to date immunizations. Second, you need to find a company to transport your animals. Airlines vary greatly on their policies: some, like China Eastern, do state that if you show up 3 hours in advance they can make arrangements for your animals to fly; others do not allow it. I turned up at the airport with our cat and was approached by someone from a shipping company who saw me with my animal and offered to transport it. Since the airline counters were being decidedly unhelpful, I decided to go with his company. The cat’s plane ticket cost almost as much as mine and she ended up on a later flight, which meant trips back to the airport. The cat was also not sent directly to the airport, but to a station where they made sure she was clean and healthy – a ways away from the main airport. My husband was given the task of picking up our cat from the airport and had to make several fruitless trips before he finally found the right place and retrieved her. My husband still complains about the hassle of bringing the cat. I am lucky, however, that my animal was a simple cat. Friends of mine who owned a very large Husky dog were discouraged to discover that transporting their huge dog from Kunming to Shanghai would cost nearly 10,000RMB, and were forced reluctantly to leave the dog with friends in Kunming. The best advice I can give regarding pets is to think long and hard about your future in China before adopting them in the first place, as moving them around is not easy, but once you have them it is hard to give them up.

Settling in
When you finally arrive at your new destination it will be helpful to start making connections with people, whether they be locals or other expats. Other foreigners will be able to give you tips about where to get certain hard to find items, or where the best burger in town is. Surf the internet and visit the City Guides for useful advice about your new location, and don’t hesitate to get out and explore. When I first moved to Kunming, I used to get on the bus and randomly ride through the city to get my bearings and see if I could find any hidden treasures along the way. A friendly smile will go along way and you’ll soon be on your way to feeling comfortable in your new home.
 

Related Links
Moving to China: How to Settle In and Start Work
Relocating My Life: My Epic Move From Kunming to Beijing
Moving to China: How to Settle In and Start Work

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