whirledtraveler

I'm going to mainland China and I'm kind of curious about whether what I'll be able to take into the country. I don't want to go completely entertainment-less, but I've heard that they have very strict standards.. apparently ho-hum advertisements in magazines might be seen as porn, etc.

So, do I have to take my most bland books and DVDs? Ones with no political, sexual, or inharmonious content?

Has anyone had anything confiscated by Chinese customs?

bdschobel

I've been in and out of China many times and never even been asked about anything I was carrying.

Bruce

PTravel

In the dozen or more times I've been to China, I've never, not once, had my bags inspected or been questioned on their content.

I don't know what you mean by "inharmonious" content. Don't bring anything critical of the government, e.g. leaflets advocating democracy, independence for Taiwan, etc., though I'd think that would be common sense. Don't bring hard-core porn. Don't bring Falun Gong religious tracts. Aside from that, I can't imagine there being much of a problem with anything else.

China actively welcomes western tourists. It's not the Soviet Union -- they want you to come and enjoy yourself and leave with a positive impression of the country. Once you get there, assuming you're going to be in the larger cities, you'll be amazed at just how liberal, open, progressive and westernized everything is.

Never.

themicah

I've also spent a fair amount of time in China and have many friends who travel back and forth. I don't know anybody who's ever had anything confiscated by customs in China, and I've never even heard any stories of being searched.

Don't bring Falun Gong stuff and don't bring porn (i.e. anything a kid isn't supposed to buy in the US--Maxim and the SI Swimsuit Issue may arouse attention, but won't get you in trouble).

Pretty much anything else should be acceptable as long as you only have one copy. It's fine to bring your bible or your DVD of Brokeback Mountain. But don't bring a whole box of DVDs or books or leaflets promoting a religious or political cause--especially not if those materials are in Chinese.

whirledtraveler

Thanks for all the responses... that lifts a worry.

zlc

I think porn is now allowed as long as it was watched in private, however distribute of porn is still illegal.

On the other hand, going through custom and immigration in China is much faster than US now a days.

bocastephen

And more pleasant and courteous too. No fingerprints or mugshots, either.

Loren Pechtel

Roughly a dozen trips. Never once had a bag searched. The only time they've been looked at at all was once when they didn't make the plane, we came back two days later to pick them up. The baggage office is in the space between immigration and customs--to get out we had to clear customs. I'm wheeling this cart full of bags, my wife was a bit behind talking to the luggage people. I got to customs--I'm alone with a huge load of baggage, far more than airline baggage limits. This interests the customs guy, he's even more interested when he notes that we entered the country two days earlier. He starts sending the bags through his x-ray gadget. At that point my wife catches up and explains what happened (I had tried but he didn't speak enough English. She speaks native Chinese.) and that's that, he doesn't look anymore.

I wouldn't bring any Falon Gung material. I have brought porn on an external laptop HD.

Doppy

So far, based on this and other threads in this forum, it appears the porn is more likely to be a major concern of US customs, not Chinese.

Loren Pechtel

US customs cares about kiddie porn, not adult stuff. Ag has often had a look at our bags--but my laptop bag has never been opened.

Since I'm always travelling with my wife and she's older than me they obviously don't consider me worth searching for kiddie porn.

superbad

My first time to China (a couple years ago), I had a Caselogic folder full of CDs and DVDs. The CDs were full of (legal, incidentally) mp3's, with handwritten notes showing what was on each one. I got stopped at that last xray leaving the airport, and the screener flipped slowly through the case, seemingly reading the titles on the CDs. She smiled and handed the case back to me. I think she might have glanced at my magazines too.

Unless you've got some pretty extreme tastes in books and movies, I wouldn't worry about it.

Doppy

My point was that so far we've only heard stories of the US government searching people's computers, not the Chinese government.

lvnvflyer

I was in Beijing last week; we had no problem on the way in and no one looked at our (numerous) DVDs, or our portable player, or any books or magazines. At the hotel, the public computer available to guests had a posted request that no porn or terrorist sites be downloaded. However, just fyi, on the way out of the country, one of my travel companions had a small bottle of liquor in her carryon confiscated....that is not permitted. However, numerous DVDs, watches, pens, etc., made their way thru both chinese and us customs without question.

PTravel

Just to clarify the liquor issue, it must be put in checked luggage. However, you can purchase liquor at the airside duty free shops and carry it on board. Go figure.