doing laundry in China
 

I'll be travelling in China for a couple of weeks and will need to do my laundry at some point. I assume my Western chain hotels would charge an astronomical sum. If I'm in a well-travelled large Chinese city like Hangzhou or Suzhou, will there be a place that could do my laundry (or are "Chinese laundries" only an American thing? :) ). A self-service laundromat would be fine, too, but I'd assume that's less popular or pointless (cost-wise). Would there be same-day service? And would my hotel concierge likely be able to point me in the right direction?

I've had no problem getting my laundry done in Hong Kong before, but I would guess that the mainland could be a whole different story.

Thanks!

I almost never stay in western hotels, but IME hotel laundry service on the mainland is quick, efficient, and relatively inexpensive ($15-20 for a week or so worth of laundry). Nearly everything is pressed and folded very neatly and in some places your clothes are placed in resealable plastic bags (which makes packing very easy).

while i certainly endorse the use of (non-hotel) laundry services, it is worth mentioning that your hotel sink will do a pretty good job on things like socks and underwear. ~18 hours drying time is sufficient ime

You are right, hotel laundry services are usually pricey. I usually recommend my visitors to do their laundry on the street. There is some variation on the street shops. Some charge by piece, some by weight. The ones that charge by piece are usually more expensive. Also keep in mind that usually when you drop your laundry off, especially if it is a charge by piece shop, they will likely pull out your laundry one piece at a time and hold it up to look at it, and everyone else who may be watching too :) . So, if this makes you uncomfortable I would recommend doing underwear in the sink on your own or anything else that you don't wish the whole world to see. I once was helping someone at one of these places and they were mortified as their underwear was put on display piece by piece.

Thanks for the tips. It sounds like finding a laundry is doable -- albeit interesting. It seems to usually be that way when you travel abroad. I often forget some of the sights I've seen, but usually remember the strange laundry procedures! In Hungary, for instance, I could get them to wash my shorts but not my regular pants. I'll probably never figure that one out. :)

I'm a contrarian when it comes to packing light, I pack heavy. I pull out a freshie out of my suitcase on day 19.

That being said, I feel that I need to change for my upcoming China trip, mostly to handle irregular airline ops easily. So I appreciate this thread!!!

In genreal, can one expect 24 hour turnaround? If not, that's pretty limiting for non-hotel services, unless I want to make it a priority my first morning in town. Most of my stays are 3 nights, with early morning departures, except right at the beginning and end..

my strategy is to load up on socks and underwear, rely on blue jeans and khaki shorts to fill in the pants category, and buy shirts as i go along. of course, i bring a nice outfit or two as well, but for the most part, i can go anywhere in china for 3 weeks with an 18" rollaway.

clothes in china are cheap enough that you can pitch them after a few wearings and not feel guilty about it. but, i still try to keep my own supply of socks and underwear because finding quality product can be challenging.

Yeah, the odds of being comfy buying just any underwear you see are not high. But they're easy to handle in the hotel sink. :)

But travelling around Guangdong province a few years ago, we didn't find it particularly easy to buy adult clothing. Basically, unless you wear size medium or smaller back home, you're not going to fit into a lot of clothing geared for the domestic Chinese market! I recall buying some stuff in Hong Kong geared to foreigners and ex-pats, but would such a place be easy to find in the mainland?

It depends which bit of the mainland you're talking about. Beijing, Shanghai, Guanzhou = easy. Obscure town in obscure Province = not easy.

As far as socks go - you can buy them anywhere for RMB2. At that price you can treat them as being disposable.

And with it being summer drying time is pretty quick.

imo, any of our readers with active sweat glands would do best to shy away from chinese socks (regardless of how cool they look)

For my size to be commonly available, I would have to be in Samoa.

You'll be buggered in China then.

Though in fairness most of the tax collector folks that I know are are of Somoan proportions. A hearty dinner seems to be worth about RMB10,000l. :) Such things are 'negotiable' here. I think they use tailors though rather than regular shops. Obviously tailros offer a discount as well. If I were to suggest a discount on the tax-bill I'd obviously be being scurrilous (sp).

That said you convince the locals that you are an important Samoan they may build a nice new office block for you. Do a 'find text' for China on http://www.frommers.com/destinations/samoa/3037020543.html Such officials would, of course, be horrified if you were to suggest that China's foregin aid policy is trying to buy the vote of small nations when it comes to Taiwan related UN votes. I certainly would never adopt such a cynical attitude. :D

Dealing with your question about laundry turn-around time.

Much of it comes down to the drying issue. Solely in the interest of FT (honestly, I'm otherwise happy to have dirty socks :)) I have just conducted a scientific experiment, I hung my washing out 2 hours ago and it is now dry, which leads me to suggest that a same-day turnround should be quite possible.

Seriously same-day laundry should be no problem. You may well have to push for it but if you do it will be done. And no extra charge or tip will be due. ;D

PS - Peter N-H = I can't access the websites you link to in you signature. Is thsi a Great Firewall of China issue or a problem with my computer? From what I've seen of your posts you really know what you are talking about and I'd be really interested in whatever else you have to say

I realize my 18 hour estimate was way too conservative, but I was hoping to avoid a situation in which the OP was forced to leave a hotel with wet laundry.

IME two hours is usually sufficient. However, quality socks can be stubborn creatures (i.e. they tend to take [much] longer to dry).

You underestimate me. Not too mention it's a sunny day. :D My (er, high qualtiy 2RMB from the railway station socks) are pretty well dry as they come out of the washer.

In fairness I had a few very thick and heavy Western T-Shirts in my '2-hour selection' as well and they have dried.

Phillipas wondering just what he got into with this FT thing - I thought it was about discussing miles rather than my socks :D

The fix is to buy travel socks and underwear. I personally swear by the following -- not only does in dry in a few hours or less, but they take up far less space in your luggage as well.

http://www.foxsox.com/Catalog/SockDe...D=2115&c=BLACK

http://www.exofficio.com/product_det...b-026a9ca8e170