Things to bring to China if thinking about moving here

[grawrt]

@ ChTTay

 

Yes I do, I live on the BLCU campus. Thank youu so much. I thought it was non-existent because all of the girls I spoke with in my dorm that cook apparently all brought everything from back home (including lentils).

[abcdefg]

A small voice of respectful dissent.

 

Finding stuff you would like to have in a new place is a learning opportunity. It forces you to quickly acquire new vocabulary and to actually communicate with some locals as best you can. You don't have the luxury of being able to fuss around and get everything perfect. You must interact; cannot stay isolated.

 

You struggle; you jump into the deep end of the pool. This makes you learn to swim or drown; makes you stretch and grow. The frustration involved is a useful spur in one's flanks that makes the horse trot and gallop instead of just amble along.

 

I have a good friend who traveled many years for the US State Department and lived 3 to 6 months at a time all over the world. He was supplied with all "back-home" wants and needs right off the bat by his generous employer, supplemented as needed from a nearby PX or the Diplomatic Pouch.

 

He never pined and yearned for his favorite brand of peanut butter or chocolate chip cookies; never had to set out on "treasure hunt" quests to find something local and similar. He did his assigned job, but learned very little about his new environments, always sort of existing inside a comfortable "American bubble."

[Johnny20270]

He never pined and yearned for his favorite brand of peanut butter or chocolate chip cookies; never had to set out on "treasure hunt" quests to find something local and similar. He did his assigned job, but learned very little about his new environments, always sort of existing inside a comfortable "American bubble."

 

 

Thats a very good point actually!

[ChTTay]

@gwart

 

If you are after Indian spices and ingredients there is a small grocery/corner shop in Sanlitun that has a very wide selection of goods on offer including dried pulses, beans and bags of spices.

 

It's at the place where the main bar street meets 'Sanlitun village' shopping complex.  I don't know the shops name but it looks like a normal, small Chinese shop that would sell drinks and junk food. In fact it is mostly all spices and ingredients. You may be able to find it by searching online in Chinese or maybe even in English.

 

I have no idea how my friend found it but he took me there one day.

 

D-Mart is probably more convenient for general/common imported ingredients though.

[grawrt]

@abcdefg~ You're right. When I first got here I hunted around more, but now I've gotten a bit lazy. Maybe tired of getting strange looks like when I continuously kept asking around for yogurt with no sugar inside and kept getting these looks like "whyyy? why would you want that?". I still ask around now but some things are very hard to ask for.

 

@ ChTTay, Thank you again!!! I wasn't looking particularly for indian spices but I love the selection they usually have (and especially the dried beans). I'll hunt around for it this weekend, it sounds like a fun little place.