Essential Information before you Travel

Passport: Required; make sure it is valid through 6 months after the end of your trip.

Visa: apply for a 12 month, multi-city visa through Kenny. Confirm with Matt and Jewell.

Insurance: International Student ID Card (ISIC – through STA Travel, at MU). Confirm with Matt and Jewell.

Vaccinations: http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/destinationChina.aspx

Routine – MMR, DPT, flu, chickenpox, polio, etc.
Hepatitis A and B
Typhoid
Rabies
Japanese Encephalitis

Malaria: chloroquine (in rural areas) [insect repellant: 30-50% DEET]
Dengue Fever: cases have not been reported anywhere in China, but anyone traveling to India or anywhere in Southeast Asia, there have been cases. There isn’t a vaccine, but bring insect repellent, clothes with long, baggy sleeves, mosquito netting, etc.

Notices: See the above CDC link for travel and safety notices about Bird Flu, malaria, and other recommendations for safety.

Currency/Exchange: yuan - 3/19/08: $1 = 6.845 Chinese yuan

Money: Most places in Chengdu do NOT accept American credit cards. There is an ATM near campus.

Weather
In June: Average temperatures: 82 high / 68 low. Average rainfall: 4.1 inches.
It will be warm, humid, often rainy (but July is worse!)

IPO 24 Hour Emergency Number: +1(602) 220-1372

Other Notes
Traveling to Chengdu, China, be sure to bring a roll of toilet paper with you. Or several small travel Charmin tissues (found in drugstores). Paper products are at a premium in Chengdu and the language building has squat pans but no tissue. BRING, too, hand sanitizers; a few power bars.

Get a card from faculty housing that tells of your location – it’s easy to get lost on the campus and you'll need the card to explain where you want to go.

There is a grocery store on campus where you can purchase bottled water, food, and toiletries. Near campus are many good fruit merchants.

Travel light! Aim to pack what you can carry. There will be laundry services in Chengdu (and elsewhere, though more expensive).

Call bank and credit card companies to inform them you will be out of the country and using your cards abroad, so they don’t freeze them.

ATM – in China, the order of numbers is reversed.

At LAX, you have to walk outside to the international terminal, or take a bus there. You may consider looking up the layouts of the airports you will be using in advance.

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