sending a letter with delivery confirmation from the USA to China
 

I'm wondering if somebody could provide me a quick recommendation on this:

I want to send a letter from the USA to China and receive "official" confirmation that it's been delivered. This is cheap to do when sending a letter within the USA, but seems to add about $14 to the otherwise 98 cent postage if you're sending a letter from the USA to China.

Does anyone have a recommendation on a more affordable way to do this, or is the choice "hope it arrives" or pay the money?

Thanks.

FWIW

small parcel with tracking

You can ship up to 1lb to China for about $6-$7 if you drop off
in San Gabriel. Otherwise for door to door from anywhere the
cheapest I found with FEDEX tracking is $12.98. These are
faster than USPS.

USPS

is $13.45 priority mail with tracking
and $29.00 express mail with tracking

That's the price for USPS tracking overseas -- not specific for China. Other options listed by poster above.

tb

The only reliable way to get confirmation of delivery is by using a private service such as FedEx that keeps complete custody all the way to delivery into hands of the recipient. Yes, pricey, I know. Even worse news than you wanted to hear. For anything critical (legal documents, passport, credit card, etc.) this is the ONLY method I would recommend, except for hand delivery if you have a trusted intermediary that happens to be going to China.

Anything going by USPS gets delivered into China Post's hands, and then delivered internally in China by China Post. USPS can make all the promises and guarantees they want, but in the end, they rely on China Post to make the final hookup and carry out the tracking. If your letter is going to be delivered to a business address, then I'd put the odds as better than if delivered to a residential address. But I've learned enough over the years to not trust inbound China Post for critical stuff, nor their "tracking". Outbound seems to be better.

China Post does have an EMS service that is similar to USPS Express services and provides tracking. But from the US side, I'm not sure how they can structure the transaction so it feeds into China Post EMS instead of China Post standard. Maybe that's the $29 service listed by poster above--worth asking about. But at that rate, you're probably looking at close to FedEx pricing. If little difference, I'd go with the private carrier.

Fully agree. EMS tracking works, just they are slow. Go with FedEx, UPS, or DHL. Expect to pay more though, but it works.

Thanks. I guess you've got to "weigh" the cost vs. the trouble that happens if the letter gets lost.

I hate EMS, if they say 2 days it take 2 weeks. My experience with them thus far. They haven't lost anything yet but if something is time sensitive, use FEDEX or UPS.

Because of some ancient international postal service agreement all items sent by one country's postal system is delivered by the recipient's postal system. Like every system it is only as strong (reliable/secured) as its weakest link.

That is why businesses and important personal timely items are shipped by private (UPS FedEx DHL) who are 100% accountable door to door.

Getting signature confirmation is quite costly due to the additional handling at both end whether it is postal or private and one should be prepared to pay for it if it is that important.

About how long does it take for a first class (98 cent) letter to make it from the USA to a major Chinese city (assuming it makes it)?

From the USA west coast to major Chinese east coast city, generally about 10 days. From east coast or smaller town (i.e SE USA), two weeks. Add more time if going to a Chinese city further inland. This assumes standard air mail, non-express service. All incoming mail is subject to search by Chinese Customs, but for small envelopes that pretty clearly contain only a document, usually are not opened/searched. Usually it is speedier sending outbound intl than receiving inbound intl.

Thanks!

In the days when we sent letters it was about 1wk from the western US to Shanghai or back.

You *USED* to be able to get a cheap service that made the recipient sign for it--we used it for anything more than a simple letter as anything else didn't get there otherwise. It's gone last I knew, though. It's been years since she wrote, though.

I had a package from Lhasa to Shanghai take 2 days longer than the "should arrive by time, ended up having to change flights and hotels. Thus, I don't count EMS reliable anymore. When I called them to find out why it was delayed, all I know is that it just "hasn't arrive yet."

Reliable yes, on time not 100% sure.

I've NEVER had a problem with letters not getting to China (or to the US), takes anywhere from 14-21 days in my experience.

Speaking of China Post, it has an online tracking, except that it's not updated on a timely basis (hence, accuracy ??) for Registered Mail & EMS via its system, with specific tabs/links for items destined for USA (see link)

http://track-chinapost.com/

A cautionary note posted at the bottom is a big WARNING flag for the next 6 to 8 weeks (actually, it will probably extend into next February with the Lunar New Year)

Due to the Christmas Rush, China Post Airmail Parcels in this season are generally delayed by 1 to 3 weeks compared with regular season.

I had a small package mailed with tracking # (RR sequence) from Guangzhou/Guangdong 2 weeks ago & it was delivered to my designated NY area address mid-week (great) and signed for. Yet, to this date - there's no tracking info online and/or updated as signed for.

At about the same time, another small package with documents were registered mail with tracking # (RA sequence) from Hong Kong Post (postal) and delivered in about 10 days. Its movement/progress was tracked as it departed, sorting, arrival & zone to delivery - very useful & my "agent" can easily print proof on their end, without waiting for my SMS/email confirmation (at both USPS and HKP)

Funny thing is that both systems are integrated into USPS's online tracking but China EMS just didn't work, period - not the first time either.

As for choosing among the specialists, my understanding is - unless things had changed - for faster delivery, DHL is preferred due to their flight/delivery scheduling & networks abroad and rates a notch lower vs. FedEx or UPS (but with fuel surcharges likely going higher, if not already)

Ordinary airmail letters from here to Shanghai and other major cities generally will arrive between 7 to 12 days from the East Coast - the challenge is getting an official confirmation. Those "little" postcards used for proof for the US senders have a tendency to get "lost" or misrouted - using the online tracking system is generally adequate for me. It's just somehow, the USPS and China Post's synergy and integration of the tracking system aren't working well (yet).