24-Hours Before your Flight to China

NOTE:
This is a literally published the year before COVID changed travel around the world.

How nice it was that one of the main things we wanted to ensure we had before heading out the door was deodorant hahaha

It is available in China but it isn't cheap. 
__________________________________________________________________________________

Here you are-on you way. A new adventure beginning, China. 24 hours to go, let's quickly check everything we absolutely MUST HAVE: Passport, money, clothes. Yep, all that is literally on my person during that list run-through.

Really, everything else from here on, is "needed" for whatever personal/hygiene/preference reasons, but whatever lets do another list run through:
-Advil/Tylenol
-Feminine Products
-Deodorant
-Cellphone (unlocked for international use)
-Suitcase
-Backpack
-Appropriate clothing based on purpose of travel

Really everything else from here on, not really things that are impossible to find in China. If for a short length trip, this is really all you need, longer trips could entail more based on the reason for travel.

Well, for the sake of this article, let's say you have everything you need. What's next. Go to the airport 24 hours early? No. Will go out and smoke a joint or do a line of cocaine of the rear end of prostitute before leaving? Hopefully not.

Head to the city the airport is located in, get a hotel room, enjoy a nice BATH-yes, a BATH. When you get to China, this is not really a thing as much as one might actually expect. This could very well be your last bath for a long time (unless you frequent bath houses or find an apartment/hotel with a bath).

Get the BEST cup of coffee you can find/enjoy. This is a growing industry in China, but it'll be awhile till you find something to appeal to your sophisticated taste.

Get the BEST beer in town, try to enjoy one last cup of your favourite craft beer or "hometown brew" as in China, this is a growing industry, but certainly a very niche market.

Make sure you have a VPN. You can buy and download VPN's in a heartbeat/moment's notice, however you cannot buy or download it in China.
-->Note if you go with a VPN...go with Astrill

Make sure your cellphone IS unlocked, you can all your cellphone company to unlock/check it for you.

If you have a beach, lay on the quiet morning beach one last time-beaches in China are NOT anything like the ones in North America or Europe-honestly though.

Take one last breath of countryside area. Your quality ranges from OK to Coal on a regular basis, its quite inconsistent (getting better), but there is a reason China is building 30 storey + air filter towers in Xi'An and Beijing.

24 hours huh? Well, its the little things you miss. Whatever that may be to you, make sure its how you spend your final day in Canada, some people come back immediately, others wait a whole year before visiting home again. Make it an easy to adapt to adventure by relaxing on your way out, arriving in China after rushing to leave home, doesn't really give you a positive first impression when you are tired, sweaty, gross and then confused as you just arrived in a place that you find it difficult to communicate "toilet" with people even (again, its getting insanely better, however-there is the occasional instance).

Safe travels, good luck!


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