Travel Technology - First Trip to China...Advice Needed

Making my first of several trip to China in a few weeks - Beijing this time. Was hoping to get some tech advice.

Was planning to use Skype to save phone call costs. Any other recommendations? Will have my Igo juice for the flight. And my dual power converter for when I'm there. Am I missing anything?

Thanks!

If your power plugs are 110/220 then you won't need the converter, and most of the hotels we were in had a universal wall socket, so you won't even need your adapters to be taken out of the bag.

Some hotels have British-style power sockets, in addition to European pins and US blades.

I rented a phone from Pandaphone (www.pandaphone.com) and bought time from them ( refundable if not used). The provide a calling number within China that allows you cheap calls to the US and elsewhere. I highly recommend them.

I guess it all depends on what hotel you're planning on staying at. The few I stayed at it was a crap shoot in terms of getting a high speed connection. Some even offering dialup for pennies an hour! You may want to use a regular phone for voice communication.

I think you have things covered with regards to power! Don't forget most modern laptop AC adapters work with voltages up to 240VAC, so a converter may not be necessary. Check out the specs on your power adapter, maybe the only thing you might need is a plug adapter.