SirDude Posted January 18, 2011 at 07:56 PM Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 at 07:56 PM Hi, I am wondering if anyone has any experience with mailing / shipping Children's books from the US to China? I have been searching and reading everything I can find and now I am beyond confused. Some say there's no problem sending a "gift" to someone in China, other's say the books will be confiscated. It's clear the books are not pornographic or political, so I'm not worried about that issue. There's not expensive, but cost enough with shipping to make it worth not losing. I have been on the phone with companies like UPS, etc. No help there. Any help will be appreciated. SirDude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jessieweng Posted January 18, 2011 at 11:36 PM Report Share Posted January 18, 2011 at 11:36 PM The fact of the matter is that it depends how the post office is feeling that day, though 95% of the time your stuff will get through no problem. I live in China, and I've gone to quite a few different post offices there where they would refuse to send something, but then gone down the street to the next post office and it got through just fine. However, I'm talking mostly about sending DVDs and food, which are heavily regulated in terms of international shipment in most countries. While in China I've gotten tons of shipments of books from Amazon and friends regularly with absolutely no problem, even the most remote villages. I've never had an issue with that, and people have sent me books often. How many books are we talking about? A huge shipment might raise a couple of eyebrows, but really probably not. Your absolute best bet is to go with DHL if you have access to a DHL office, because while there really isn't much UPS / FedEx presence in China (they turn most packages over to local EMS), there are local DHL offices, so your stuff would be with one carrier all the way. Barring that, go with UPS and call it a day - again, I've never really had an issue shipping or getting stuff, so don't worry about it. If you can write the label in Chinese, do so - it has a much higher chance of getting there safely. Send the books, expect that they'll arrive, and if they don't, it'll be disappointing but not a disaster, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirDude Posted January 19, 2011 at 06:12 PM Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2011 at 06:12 PM Hi, Thank you for the reply. I do agree that if I sent them and they didn't arrive it would not be the end of the world, but money is tight, so I would rather not waste it on a "chance" they will arrive. As for your question, "how many books", just two large books. One is a US 1st grade workbook for math and reading. The second book has all the Princess stories from Disney with an audio CD that reads along with the book. Her niece is taking English lessons, so I thought that would be fun for her. Anyway, I am working on a plan to visit or study in GZ sometime this year, so I may just bring them personally. Still not a guaranty, but at least if they are confiscated, then I'll just be out the money for the books, not shipping too. Thank you again for the reply. Have a great day! SirDude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted January 20, 2011 at 12:42 AM Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 at 12:42 AM I'm going to go out on a limb and say categorically that maths and princesses are not censored. You'd need to be a pretty mean-spirited official to confiscate a book about princesses. Unless of course, he happens to have a 7-year-old daughter . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gato Posted January 20, 2011 at 01:07 AM Report Share Posted January 20, 2011 at 01:07 AM All bets are off in the latter case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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