Someone started a thread like this in the Japan forum. And it's been pretty much of a success. Perhaps now is not the best time to start a thread like this in the forum (because I think winter pretty much marks the end of "tourist season" for most people). Still - since I have some random questions - and there will be some tourists - and a fair number of business travelers over the winter - I'll give it a try.

I have read that Hepatitis A and B shots are recommended for travel anywhere in China. Should we get them?

The airline people told me I didn't need a visa for China if I was going there from the United States for less than 15 days. True or not?

I've also read that we should carry our passports during our daily travels in China (some tourist places seem to require that you show your passport). Is a photocopy of our passports satisfactory in this regard (so we can leave our original passports back in the hotel safe)?

Also - an idea I had which might be of value to some people. It is recommended that people from outside China only drink bottled water when traveling in China Having been to countries like Egypt before - I don't know whether the water in countries like Egypt or China is "bad" per se - or whether water in different countries just has bugs that people from outside the countries can't tolerate. Whatever (this is a practical - not a health care/political point!) - I like ice in my drinks in my hotel room in the early evening. And plan to bring an ice tray so I can make ice cubes using bottled water in the mini bar if possible. Worst that happens - I can't make bottled water ice cubes (no freezer section). OTOH - plastic ice cube trays are small and very light - easy packing. Robyn

1) What? Citizens of Japan, Brunei and Singapore can visit visa-free for up to 15 days, but US citizens generally need a visa.

There are a few airports - PEK, PVG, CTU, and CAN - where US citizens (and those of many other countries) can stay in the city for up to 72 hours, and there is a group package deal regarding Hainan island and not needing a visa, but for your trip, you definitely need one.

2) You're supposed to carry around the passport with you, but getting stopped by the fuzz/robbed is highly unlikely. I always carry it around, particularly if I'm going to buy a train/plane ticket, but I'm not sure about the tourist attraction aspect that you mentioned.

3) Drinking the water in China augurs no good news. I'd always look for a hypermart - eg, Carrefour or Tesco - and grab a liter from an unpacked box, or one that's way in the back of other bottles on shelves.

3.5) Hypermarts are good places to make change. They rarely give you guff. Also, I look for old, worn bills as opposed to new ones, because I've had much less issues with counterfeits that way.

Heh, it's always a good time to start a random questions thread. To yours:

1) Hepatitis A you should absolutely get. Frankly, you should get this even if you never leave the USA. Nowadays Third World food and water comes to you. Hep B is more of a judgment call since it is a blood-borne virus not from food/water, but I would recommend it. The Twinrix combination vaccine is for A and B and saves you a few injections; ask for it. If your insurance won't cover it, local county public health departments in the US do give these at more reasonable cost than a private travel clinic. It is a series so make sure you look up on the CDC website the schedule and get started early. Once series is completed, protection is considered lifelong.

2) As Bento said, you need a visa. Airline personnel are talking out of their butts unless your passport is from Japan, Singapore, or Brunei.

3) Supposedly you should carry your passport around but I refuse to do so and leave it home and carry a photocopy instead of information and Chinese visa page. Exception: if planning to purchase a plane or train ticket or do in-person banking or money exchange, you need the original passport. Just keep it in a safe place that's not pickpocketable. And keep a second photocopy of it and the Chinese visa page in the hotel just in case of loss or theft. In the extremely unlikely event that the Chinese police start randomly stopping tourists and checking passports, you just tell them it's at your hotel and if they are that interested, they'll take you back to the hotel to look at it.

4) You should stick with bottled or boiled water (as in hot tea) while in China. Get bottled water for cheap at any supermarket to augment the complimentary water from the hotel. In major cities I do selectively partake of ice in my drinks: major hotels, better restaurants and bars, western fast food restaurant chains...never had a problem. Generally ice in these places is safe, machine-made from purified water, and the cubes will be the little uniform cubes or cylinders. I avoid ice in smaller towns and local restaurants. There, better to get a cold drink in a can from a cooler. If you are staying in nice hotels, forget the ice trays and just stop by the the hotel restaurant or bar on your way back to the room and have them give you a bowl/bucketful for your evening in-room cold drinks.

Visa--as others have said, you need one.

Water--drink bottled. At least the locals understand and normally won't try to fob off tap water as boiled.

Passport--Over the years we have spent something over a year on the ground over there. In that time we have never been stopped and asked for our passports or registration papers (we stay with relatives and thus must register with the police. If you're staying in a hotel you don't need to worry about this.) However, I routinely need my passport in order to use an internet cafe--although enforcement of this varies from city to city.

If you're old enough to qualify for old-age discounts you want to bring your passport along. These days they accept foreign passports as proof of age at tourist sites.

Great information ^. FWIW - the airline agent who told me about not needing a Visa is the same one who got us the super FF award tickets that weren't on the website. Perhaps she doesn't have a clue - but that seems to have at least partially worked to our advantage. And we have plenty of time to get a Visa (have to renew our passports first).

WRT the hep A and B vaccinations. Noted that it's good to have them and will get them. My husband and I are on Medicare. Medicare covers the hep B under Part B (which we have). Our Medigap policy should cover the Medicare co-pay/deductible. The hep A vaccination is covered by our Medicare Part D (drug) policy. To what extent - I don't know. Sometimes coverage for shots under Part D is a lot less than what a particular provider charges for them. I'll have to look into this (will ask my husband to do so - this is pretty much his department).

Note that the hep A vaccine comes in both a "dead" and an "attenuated" form. Attenuated virus vaccines are not recommended for people with immuno-compromising diseases like multiple sclerosis (which my husband has). I'll have him call his primary care and MS docs (both at Mayo here in JAX) - and find out the vaccine that's best for him. Guess he should probably get medical clearance too - see if there are any contraindications to the trip. Don't want to put him at risk. I've taken a quick look at the medical stuff - and it's pretty much over my head:

http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbo...ised-travelers

This worries me a little. More than Golden Week. Will have to check things out with our doctors.

Also - good thing I asked about this now. Takes a while to get the necessary shots.

Doubt the water will be a problem. We should be able to get bottles at the hotel. If there's a problem - we can always buy some. Carry it around with us.

What's the senior age in China? In Japan - it was often > 70 (or there were no senior discounts at all - too many seniors!). We are > 65 and < 70. We'll make multiple copies of our passports before we leave. And ask the hotel concierge whether the originals are necessary or whether copies will do when we go out on day trips.

China is starting to look somewhat more complicated than a place like Japan. Robyn

On passports, my personal approach is to carry it everywhere, in China and in other countries. I keep a scan of it on my iPhone and in email in case I lose it.

In China I don't use hotel safes for electronics either . . .

Re: vaccines, unless your husband is taking CAMPATH1a (alemtuzumab) for his MS, there shouldn't be an issue getting HAV/HBV immunization (even then, it's fairly safe, but less likely to be effective), but of course, do talk it over with your physicians. Hep A is a very real risk in China, and there is also a lot of Hep B in the local populace, but as a tourist, you are less likely to be exposed to it. Live typhoid vaccine (not needed if sticking to cities), however, would be a no no on campath.

As others have said, drink bottled water, but do note that good restaurants (the type you are likely to go to), the free water is safe to drink. Foreign branded bottled water is really, really expensive in China, and I just feel ripped off paying for it. As noted, ice in 'fancy' places is safe.

Rest seems to have been covered by others.

tb

Be aware that local hotels in China can have shocking food handling practices. For that reason, I stay in major American chain properties.

Don't even think of drinking tap water, brushing your teeth with it, etc. The cost of bottled water at convenience stores, which seem to be everywhere, is so low that it's not worth the risk, even if a place tells you that the tap water is purified. Nicer hotels provide a lot of bottled water every time they service the room, although the stuff in the minibar can be expensive.

Just be aware that a few tourist places do not allow you to bring in water. This happened to me at one museum in Shanghai on the Pudong side and also at Shanghai Expo. Sometimes an unopened bottle of water is permitted but not one that has been unsealed.

Our resident doctor here (TB) has given us all clearance to brush our teeth using tap water and I don't believe there have been any unfortunate incidents as a result.

For short-term visitors, I would recommend using bottled water, if available -- more for psychological peace of mind than anything else.

And I have to admit I use bottled water when visiting somewhere new (in China, and other places, e.g. African nations).

tb

I've had a museum want me to take a swing from my water bottle, I've never had it banned.

Doubt our 2014 trip to Asia will be in China - but I'll keep following this thread - since a lot of it applies to most of Asia.

I checked about the Hepatitis vaccinations. The Hep A is definitely indicated. It's not easy to get an answer from anyone on what our Medicare Part D covers. But the price at Walgreens for 2 people is about $400 (2 people - 2 shots - each about $100). Walgreens will bill insurance - and then we'll owe anything Medicare Part D doesn't cover. Costco - which is usually the cheapest where we live - doesn't carry the vaccine.

Hep B - well we don't plan to have sex with new partners or do drugs or get blood transfusions - etc. while traveling. So we'll probably skip this one. Medicare Part B will cover this shot if you're at high risk of Hep B (for whatever reason). Note that I don't know the procedure for proving you're at "high risk".

I don't think we'll be in any typhoid areas (I'm pretty sure our trip will wind up in Singapore). But - as for any live/attenuated vaccines - they are in general not recommended for people who are immuno-compromised - including people with MS (although the "prevailing wisdom" tends to change from year to year). In all situations of course - it's best to consult with one's doctor. If one lives in an area where a particular disease is a big problem - and the vaccine is attenuated - well - even if you're immuno-compromised - the vaccine may be be safer than getting the disease. It's a very personal cost-benefit analysis IMO.

BTW - I don't understand why water at "good" restaurants would be safer to drink than elsewhere. Just like my husband and I both got sick as dogs after eating raw veggie salads at a very high end restaurant in Cairo. Robyn

P.S. I have never worried about brushing my teeth with any kind of water. Because you spit the water out when you're finished.

Agreed that this is overkill, at least in the major cities. Drink bottled water and avoid super-sketchy-looking ice, but don't worry about other uses of tap water.

IMHO, the risk of tap water contamination in Tier-1 cities is somewhat overstated.

Because it is not in fact tap water, but purified water of some sort offered for free. Boiled water is also arguably safe everywhere, though long-term, chemical contamination is a concern.

This is not at all smart for many places where the risk of water-borne pathogens is significant�think Bangladesh or the Congo or very rural areas without proper water treatment facilities. You may spit out most of the water, but this is not certain to prevent infection.

Thankfully, as mentioned above, the majority of areas in China you are likely to visit do not fall into this category.

Sorry, but you're passing on an awful lot of misinformation here.

No, absolutely not necessary.

Not true. Americans need visas to travel to the mainland (there are exceptions for transiting and for Shenzhen if you're visiting from Hong Kong).

I've always left my passport at the hotel in my travels through China. I've never been asked for my passport at any time, except when entering the airport or checking into a hotel.

The water in the major cities in China is, generally, just fine. However, the different mineral content can cause stomach upset. It's generally a good idea, however, to stick with bottled water.