Dragon Festival in St. Paul, Minnesota

Dragonboat races aren't just for China and the coastal cities: for 12 years the Dragon Festival in St. Paul, Minnesota has been celebrating the vibrant and growing Asia-Pacific culture here in the Midwest.  This year's event took place July 12-13, right in the thick of Minnesota's festival season. The venue as always is Lake Phalen Regional Park, where a number of dragonboats are permanently stationed for practice through the warm season.

The Twin Cities area is home to a number of businesses and educational institutions with deep links to Asia, and many of them sponsor dragon racing teams, such as Wells Fargo, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Seagate, Hormel, and Target. There are also community and family groups who participate. My daughter's school, Yinghua Academy, also had a team this year!

Team booths

The racing is really a chance to get friends and family together for a day at the lake 

Many corporate sponsors also set up advertising tents. Political candidates' teams were out in force, as well as local cultural centers and gift & bookshops.

Wells Fargo makes a really strong / cute effort to tune its messaging to specific cultural audiences.  The company has also just recently opened its first office in Beijing & they brought materials used to kick things off there to show folks here in MSP.

In addition to the boat races and vendor / sponsor booths, there were also a number of stages for performances and fun-fair activities for kids.

The festival has consistently advertised and gotten PR from local media - free events are always popular but it is nice to see strong turnout from the general Twin Cities population (also helped by the diverse participation among the racing teams.)

Practice sessions took place during morning hours, and competitive heats in the afternoons.  Competitive matches would be between two teams, two races each, best time overall advancing to the next tier. There would be four boats on the water at any given time so you would get to see a race every five minutes or so; one pair racing while the other pair paddled back to the starting point and rested... 

From the shore it was easy to hear the drumming and chanting of the race teams

And plenty of excitement for each heat!

Food of course is terribly important when celebrating Asian culture! I think back to our first visit in 2006 and being disappointed at the range & quality of offerings -so was thrilled at the diversity available this year!  Food trucks are catching on in MSP & were here, as well as a half-dozen local East and SE Asian restaurants.  Two different places selling bubble tea! 

We need to get some of these guys into the Minnesota State Fair! They all certainly proved they could crank out high-quality tasty dishes for a festival crowd.

"A Passage to China" at the Mall of America

For six years now in April, the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN has hosted "A Passage to China," a 2-day festival put on by Minnesota's Chinese Heritage Foundation and local newspaper China Insight. This year's festival involved over 45 organizations & businesses - some there to sell merchandise, others to talk about programs they put on, and others to grow membership.

There were demonstrations of cooking, dance, martial arts, singing, painting, calligraphy, and many other crafts - kids received a "passport" and would get a stamp at each booth they visited, then redeem the stamps for a necklace or bracelet.

It was great to see so many Asian faces and hear so much Mandarin in one place here in Minnesota - and it was heartening to see so many non-Asian faces watching the performances with interest and walking through the booths with their kids!

My dear daughter had a fine time, of course. Now that she's a little bit older and able to speak in Chinese for herself, she got a lot more out of this year's presentation:

Having the Starbucks in the background makes it more authentically Chinese ;)

Moulding-your-own Terracotta Warriors

Little Warriors for sale...  we're holding out to get a life-size one for the garden in the backyard

We stayed for a number of vocal performances and dance numbers

Paper-cutting, a traditional folk craft from Shaanxi province - it can get amazingly intricate.  (She did not pay any attention to the American Girl shop just beyond :)  )

Book Review - Exploring Hong Kong by Steven K. Bailey

This travel guide recently appeared at my local Barnes & Noble and immediately set itself apart from the traditional books on its shelf. After leafing through a few pages I recognized Mr. Bailey’s approach to travel writing had much the same spirit as what we are trying to do here at weninchina.com.

The book is oriented by geography much like other travel books (Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, New Territories, etc.), runs a similar page length (just over 180 pp) and price ($14.95). However, it is different from the usual Fodor’s or Lonely Planet guides in two important ways: first, it does not go into any depth on which restaurants / clubs / hotels are in the must-see-and-be-seen-at category; no HK Disney reviews; and no interviews with local tastemakers. (After all, despite its recent 2009 copyright, these things change in a blink in HK.) Second, the author uses very specific activities - such as riding the Travelator from Central up to the Mid-Levels, hiking down from Victoria Peak, or crossing Lamma Island by foot - as a framework to tell longer stories of the history and people of Hong Kong.

And instead of trying to cover every neighborhood, Steven goes into depth on a narrow set of places that a first- or second-time visitor may be more likely to explore. His chapter on Victoria Peak, for instance, runs 22 pages. Steven also dedicates multiple pages to specific enthusiast activities that I’ve never seen in traditional guides - airplane spotting, train watching, military history, law enforcement, and several more. (I learned about a pair of excellent airliner-watching spots that I’ll have to try next time!)

Another unique and handy section is dedicated to activities especially appropriate for hot and rainy days, that kids and parents can all enjoy.

There is a thoughtful emphasis throughout the book on how to get around Hong Kong quickly but inexpensively - often including walking directions from MTR stations or ferry terminals (as that’s how the locals really move about).

Photography in the book is by Steven’s wife, Jill Witt, and is of high quality, although I’d have liked to see much more to accompany and illustrate the conversational text. There is some repetition in the book’s “how to get there” sidebars as well, although not noticeable if you aren’t reading the book straight through. Maps of local neighborhoods give the basics but could be a bit more fleshed-out (although if you’re also using a conventional guidebook or one of the many free maps you can get in HK, that is perhaps not a big issue.)

Overall, the book strikes the tone of a friend who lives in HK and wants to take you to the things people don’t see when in an organized tour group - often just a block off the ‘beaten path’ or around the corner of a building. My family’s experience holds this to be true, too - we found Victoria Peak to be a much more relaxed and friendly place once we walked to the back-side of its shopping center so our daughter could ride on the playground equipment and we could watch the Pacific Ocean - or in walking along the footpath on the side of the mountain almost to ourselves. Along with the expected and still-exciting activities like riding the Star Ferry and watching the evening laser light show on the harbor, Steven shows us the quieter and less-stereotyped vision of Hong Kong that is no less fascinating.

If you’re planning to spend three or more days in Hong Kong, even if you have been there before, this book is highly recommended reading, especially for families.

For other reviews of media, products, and services around travel in Asia and understanding Asian culture, visit http://www.weninchina.com/Reviews/Reviews/Reviews.html

Our Hong Kong-related articles can be found at:

http://www.weninchina.com/Travel/Hong_Kong_Stopover.html

http://www.weninchina.com/Airports/Hong_Kong.html

Book Review: Lost on Planet China by J. Maarten Troost

I originally read this book when it was released in hardcover back in 2008, but seeing the softcover version on a display last weekend at Barnes & Noble triggered me to go back and revisit it. I remember liking the book the first time through; how would it hold up?

Troost - who’s been published in the Atlantic Monthly and the Washington Post - doesn’t want to be called a “travel writer”, as his other books about exotic locales were written after living for extended periods among regular citizens in places like Vanuatu and Eastern Europe. While ‘ethnography’ might be a more-appropriate word for his other two books, here this books’ entire premise is Maarten traveling from place to place in China over several months, having wacky adventures, and writing a small essay about it. That’s a travelogue, and because he visited a different city each week he just doesn’t achieve the depth of cultural understanding found in his other works.

I’m not knocking the approach; if a publishing company wanted to make me an offer like that I’d jump immediately. (I even have an itinerary sketched out, and essay outlines for all the other parts of weninchina.com.) But then again I’m not trying to write a humor book or a picture of a people in transition.

Now, having read through the book again, I’ll still say it’s a fast-paced, fun, light read. There are 24 chapters, but the tone Troost uses is dry and conversational and one could finish the whole book in less than a week of evenings after the kids have gone to bed.

Looking over the notes I took, however, gives me the idea to make a Chinese Travel Channel Special Bingo - Troost hits all the obligatory observations and statements you’ve seen in every documentary and guidebook. Here are my entries for Chapters 2 and 3:

• Crazy driving / astonishing traffic
• Children peeing in inappropriate places in public areas
• Food made of animal bits we don’t eat in the West anymore
• The Cultural Revolution was really evil
• Blowing Noses
• Crossing the street is dangerous
• Chairman Mao
• Crazy ads on TV
• Luxury goods on ostentatious display
• June 4 is a mystery for Generation Y
• Smog in Beijing / dust storms

He circles all the way around the country, out through Shaanxi and Sichuan onto Tibet, then down through Yunnan to Guangzhou, up through the Yangtze Delta and finally into the northeast, ending with a boat ride along the Yalu River at the North Korean border, wishing to go back to the States.

I have to compare this book now to Kosher Chinese reviewed in an earlier entry. Both books are alternatingly funny and poignant, both are light reading, but Lost could have been Kosher if Troost had stayed put in one place for a couple months instead of taking the Grand Tour and hanging out with other Westerners. Take for instance how each author covers the gap between Han and non-Han ethnicities: Lost shows the absurd ‘surface’ of Han tourists in Yunnan having fun looking at Westerners interact with Bai people, whereas Kosher follows several young hill-tribe girls in Guiyang over two years, gets to know them and shows how the cards are stacked against them even though they keep trying. Both stories are true, but the latter one really helps you learn about what’s actually going on.

A book of just ‘surface’ observations can be fun, but too much at one place starts to feel like snarking, even though the author has only good intentions. Lost on Planet China is ultimately a highlight reel; a spice to add to your reading meal - entertaining in controlled doses, and with a balanced diet of other China media - but not a standalone dish.

For additional media and product reviews about China, its culture, and traveling around Asia, visit http://www.weninchina.com/Reviews/Reviews/Reviews.html

Book review: Chinese Folk Tales, Volume 1; adapted by Zhao Jie

Our daughter is now attending a Mandarin immersion school here in the Twin Cities, and each Friday is a library day. For this past week’s reading she chose this compilation of 8 short stories, printed in both Chinese characters and English. Published in 2005 in Beijing by Dolphin Press, this softbound book features full-color traditional illustrations on every page (which is why our sweet kindergartner chose it.)

These are legitimate and old folktales, although we aren’t told from when, what part of the country, or what religious/political order. They aren’t arranged with any particular theme or arc; each story is self-contained, and there’s no discussion by the translator or publisher to help non-native readers understand the context and “moral” of any story. Having read *some* Chinese history I can identify a few characters, but these stories just raise questions and leave me with nowhere to go to learn more.

The second issue is with the quality of the translation; this was clearly done in Beijing, in an academic setting, quickly, by someone (or a team of someones) who hadn’t spoken English conversationally with Westerners. The vocabulary swings from college-level to preschool-level without warning, phrases are awkwardly stuck together, and dialogue sounds like it came from the 1960’s. Characters are not clearly identified, and titles are not explained. Word choices are often dull: several stories refer to “devils” when we would use more-precise words to describe monsters, like demon, phantom, or satyr. Another story tries to explain how the Jade Emperor severely and negligently fouled setting up how the rain would fall, causing extreme flooding, but the words used literally make it sound as if he made a .03% accounting mistake.

The third issue with several stories is the almost random inclusion of implied or outright violence - political retribution, attempted assassination, and choking death. And let’s not forget the story of Yan Song, who basically prostituted his daughter to the Emperor’s court in order to gain political power (although that word isn’t used, the meaning is still there.) While I know Chinese society has adapted differently and is used to a different level of behavior - and that we can’t judge the past through today’s morals - the book is clearly intended for a Western audience.

Parents will need to pre-read each story before telling it with children - to use age-appropriate words, think up explanations and questions to get their child’s response, and to decide how they’ll phrase what goes on in certain scenes to still convey the main idea without getting dragged into explanations they don’t necessarily want to have at that time / age.

Was the book interesting? Yes, I learned more about a few New Year’s traditions, and heard a story about one of Taoism’s Eight Immortals that I found quite funny. But is this a book I’d recommend? No; for a casual read with kids, or to try to learn more about Chinese stories and customs, there’s just too much work for not enough insight.

For more reviews of media and products to help you learn more about Asian culture, click on http://www.weninchina.com/Reviews/Reviews/Reviews.html

Book Review: Dreaming in Chinese by Deborah Fallows

Deborah Fallows is the wife of Atlantic Magazine columnist James Fallows, and this pair, most notably for our readers, lived in China (Shanghai and Beijing) for three years. They traveled to many places in the country and interviewed many leaders, expatriates, and regular Chinese citizens, while also keeping house, shopping for groceries, and doing everything else normal people do.

Deborah’s PhD is in linguistics, so she was naturally inclined to pay attention to not just what people were saying, but how they were saying it. As she struggled to learn Mandarin (not enough preparation time in the States before moving to China; had to dive into the deep end of the pool when she got there) her observational skills were sharpened even more just to function in society at a basic level.

As she eventually got her head around the language she noticed how the language itself was affecting how people interacted with each other. By immersing herself in a different society, learn Mandarin, and talk with all kinds of people, she was able to test the question, “do our thoughts drive our words, or do our words drive how we think?”

After about a year of living in China, she started drafting essays to explain what she’d learned, using a particular word or phrase to illustrate a broader concept about Chinese society. This book is a compilation of those essays, 14 chapters in all, plus a question-and-answer section and pronunciation guide at the end.

Don’t mistake this for an instructional textbook; it’s much more a meditation on how everyday people get along in China, and how a Western stranger can start to make sense of all their different voices. Having said that, the book is an excellent complement to any language-learning you may want to do. She has chapters that explain tones, pronouns, and homonyms more clearly than almost any other source I’ve read, and the guide at the back of the book helps you clearly say nearly 200 common words and expressions. And the information and references are extremely current (hardcover was published in 2010; the paperback edition which just came out has updated web links for further reading.)

Each chapter is a quick read of 10-12 pages, and her writing style is relaxed and conversational. Spending time with this book is like having a cup of coffee with a good friend who’s just returned from Asia with a bag of little gifts just for you.

For other media and product reviews about Chinese culture and travel, visit http://www.weninchina.com/Reviews/Reviews/Reviews.html

Family-friendly airport guide: Seoul - Incheon

Our third airport guide released this week is for Incheon Airport, near Seoul, South Korea (ICN).

There may not be another large airport quite so purpose-designed to make the connecting experience for families as smooth as at ICN. Play areas and nurseries are generously-sized and located throughout the facility. An astonishing number of food choices will satisfy any picky eater. There are TV lounges to zone out and Korean-culture activity centers for hands-on creative fun.

Flight transfers are simple, with a simple security check and close-by gates. Stopovers in Korea are also easy in either direction, as visas are not needed for kids with an onward flight. And Seoul has nonstop service to more places in China than any other foreign airport.

Our Incheon guide can be found at: http://www.weninchina.com/Airports/Seoul_ICN.html

The Mid-Autumn Festival is coming soon!

Our 80th article has just been posted at weninchina.com - talking about the stories, foods, and celebrations around the Mid-Autumn Festival.

This holiday is very easy to blend into Western family life - grilling tasty meats, having friends and family over, sitting outside around a bonfire on an autumn evening to enjoy the full moon and twinkling stars. You may already be doing this, not realizing you're celebrating a tradition going back over 4,000 years!

The stories behind the holiday are the stuff of action movies and romantic tragedies. Read all about it at http://www.weninchina.com/People/Mid_Autumn_Festival.html

Book Review: Kosher Chinese by Michael Levy

Mike Levy was a language-arts teacher from Philadelphia suffering from a crisis of faith post-9/11. Wanting to use his talents toward a Big Global Purpose, he found himself in the Peace Corps in 2005 assigned to rural Guizhou Province teaching English at the university in Guiyang, getting paid the same subsistence wage and living in similar apartments as the local professors, and figuring out everything on his own with no outside support, for a two-year tour.

The 29 chapters go by quickly in a conversational and often funny tone, similar to a Bill Bryson or Sarah Vowell travelogue. Outside of a few weeks' training in Chengdu, Mike doesn't get to travel outside Guizhou, but that gives us readers the chance to really settle in and view an area that will never see a Hollywood film crew or breathless Travel Channel documentary.

As Mike gets to know his fellow teachers, his students, and other local kids, we get to hear the personal stories and decisions from real-life people with real-life ambitions, problems, and responsibilities. Should a professor put substantial money into buying an apartment, and can she find a mate when she makes more than most men? Will a talented and dedicated masters-student from Guiyang, knowing she has no career future in her home province, be able to find a future in the costal cities? What will the fates be of twin sisters, bright and hopeful and thirsty to learn, but born as ethnic minorities and living with their grandmother because their parents have migrated to the coast to find work?

Guanxi and party politics, ethnic contrasts and Chinese stereotypes of Westerners are all shown matter-of-fact, but the people are never shown as villains, just everyday folks doing what they've been taught or repeating something they've heard. It's a refreshing contrast to sensationalized mass-media China reports that never take time to have an authentic conversation with citizens, or who never leave Shanghai / Beijing / Hong Kong.

For those of us with children from China, this book strikes a powerful nerve as we can easily see our daughters and sons in the situations Mike relates. Would my daughter have faced a childhood of having to collect plastic bottles for the recycling money, or working in a back-alley kitchen, sleeping on a cot because home is too far to walk and she couldn't afford bus fare?

My little girl has an unbounded future. Reading this book reminded me of how much of an honor it is to be her father, and how much I owe it to the kids left behind to make sure she has the ability to pursue any dream.

Kosher Chinese is a 2011 release, available in softcover at a retail of US$15. Well worth a read for adoptive parents, for travelers heading inland, and anyone wanting a better understanding of everyday life in modern China.

Squat Toilets Scare Us?

Perhaps one of the reasons why Western families don't often consider taking a trip to Asia is the fear of the squat toilet. Is it that you might fall on a dirty floor with your pants down? Is it the lack of privacy? Is it confusion about which way to face? Is it worrying about piddling on your legs?

Well, those are actually very good reasons.

However, nearly any place a traveling family is likely to visit or stay in China will have "Western" toilets available. Of course, like any trip to a Western country or state, that's no guarantee of a happy experience.

We have a new article posted to help calm your fears about toilets, explain the "sitty vs. squatty" debate, show you how to use a squat toilet, just in case, and give you the words to say and characters to look for.

Video - Tram Ride from Central to Kennedy Town

Here's another video we've just edited based on footage from our Hong Kong trip last November.

Hong Kong is a vibrant, multi-layered city with something unique and interesting in every neighborhood. A great way to get to know the place better - for very little money - is to hop on one of the iconic double-decker trams that run across the north side of Hong Kong Island. They're not fast, but that's not the point: the view of everyday street life can't be beat. You can see every class of citizen, every kind of shop, the glossy to the mundane, all from your open window seat.

The trams are crowded in the financial districts but loosen up as you get further away from Central. By the time we reached the end of the line at Kennedy Town, we had the whole upper deck to ourselves. It's a great way to spend a few mid-day hours; you can hop on and hop off if you see something interesting - your Octopus transit card is happily accepted, and there are trams every few minutes.

Family-friendly airport guides

The big children's playspace in Terminal 2 at Chicago O'Hare Airport.

For many families, the adoption trip to China may be their first time across the Pacific or even out of the country. Even for experienced road warriors, a flight home from Asia may take them into an unfamiliar airport. Combine that with serious sleep deprivation and taking care of a new little person whom you've just met and are still trying to bond with, and you may not even be able to find your way through your own hometown terminal.


We're starting a new series of articles at weninchina.com to guide you through the primary North American gateways to Asia. We'll talk about your arrival, how long it will take to get through Customs, where your connecting flights are, and the features of the airport from a family-travel perspective. How are the restrooms? Where can we sit quietly and decompress? Where can the kids blow off excess energy?


This season, we've already posted guides to Seattle/Tacoma, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and Chicago O'Hare, with Portland OR, and Vancouver BC next on the list.


If you have suggestions, feedback, or want to share your stories with other travelers, please leave a comment here or email us at weninchinainfo (at) mac (dot) com. Hope you find these new guides useful.

Here's a tip!

In honor of National Adoption Day, we'll cross-post another column just published on weninchina.com. View the full article here for additional resources and links.  With 55 articles, dozens of downloads, and hundreds of links, weninchina.com is ready to help you prepare for your adoption trip to China!

Tips on Tipping

If you read various travel websites and guidebooks, you’ll find conflicting information about giving tips in China. Older sources - pre-2005 - tend to say there is no tipping, ever (as is still the refreshing custom in Japan.) Sources aimed at upscale travelers imply that they should give similar gratuities as they would in the West. Most sources, however, tend to not give any clear advice.

It is true that Communist ideology as practiced up to the 1980s would have discouraged front-line workers from providing exceptional service for monetary reward. Standing out from the rest of the brigade would not have been smart, and there wasn’t disposable income for that kind of behavior anyway. And across Asia, there is a strong cultural norm of selfless hospitality, which has discouraged the idea of tipping. However - and we haven’t seen any tourist resources talk about this - Chinese society has indeed had a long tradition of giving small gifts to those who provide service. The twist on the idea is that the gifts have been given to business associates, government officials, or those of higher social class as a way to cultivate guanxi. (We talk about the kinds of small gifts you’ll want to consider bringing in a separate article.)

Tipping for hospitality workers is a new idea to the mainland, and it has spread in direct proportion with the exposure an area has had with Westerners:

• In bigger cities, foreign chain hotels, fancy restaurants and expatriate bars, and “tourist traps,” there will be more of a tendency for workers to expect gratuities from Westerners.
• In smaller towns further away, at Chinese-brand hotels for local travelers, and neighborhood cafes, workers may not have any expectation or familiarity with the concept of tipping.

Will workers refuse tips? Probably never.  Will you have an awkward moment or two? Yes. Just like back home.

What to plan for

Your adoption agency will brief you on how much to budget for lump-sum gratuities which will be distributed to tour guides, drivers, and your local contacts. These people are providing specialized, highly-focused service, and we all want to make sure they are fairly compensated.

For bellhops, porters, room service, and laundry delivery, have 5 or 10 yuan ready to discretely hand out. (If you haven’t had a chance to change currency yet, one or two US dollars will suffice.)

At restaurants, a service charge is usually added to your bill. If you want to, you can leave 3 to 5% on the table. (Compared to the 15-20% customary in America, it feels like you’re cheating, but there’s no need to feel guilty.)

Fast food restaurants - no tipping, just like everywhere else.  At coffee shops, however, keep your eyes open for a tip jar. If there is one, watch what other people are doing (a few coins is probably sufficient.)

Not that you’ll see many, but when you inevitably go to the Friendship Store, you’ll see a washroom attendant there in the restroom. Leave some small change or a small bill.

Taxi rides are very inexpensive compared to the US or Japan. While most guides say there’s no need to tip, there’s no harm in rounding your fare off to the nearest 5 or 10-yuan bill.

Should you tip in US dollars?

Older resources would say yes. We are saying no, use local currency. The dollar isn’t worth what it used to be, and there’s something kind of patronizing about it. Plus, while the hotel staff can readily exchange USD for RMB, your barista will have a hassle converting foreign money into something useful.

What do I say?

• Nothing, just a smile and nod. You’re both probably a little nervous, anyway. 
• “Keep the change” translates as loo zhao ling chEEn bah
• “Good service” translates as lee-yung HOW deh foo woo
• Or, just go with the all-purpose “thank you,” SHay shay

What else works?

If you receive truly notable service, don’t be shy about expressing your appreciation. Smile, especially in front of management! Tell your fellow travelers, and give the place repeat business if you can. Finally, post your recommendations on message boards, your blog, and with us at weninchina.com.

Swine Flu / H1N1

Note: excerpted from a more complete article at our home site, weninchina.com.  Check out our new content - packing lists, tipping advice, essential Mandarin phrases, and more!

Easy to get, easy to spread. Be careful.

The Spring 2009 outbreak of the H1N1 flu strain sent Asian countries into crisis mode immediately. Initial efforts in China and Japan focused on isolating people believed to be carrying the disease, especially those traveling from Mexico. It is now clear the virus had already spread around the world before governments were broadly aware.

Now that the initial wave of the disease has passed, we have learned that the virus passes more easily than the typical flu, over a longer period of time. You can infect other people before you even start feeling symptoms yourself, and for a few days after you start feeling better.

We have also unfortunately learned that while this strain seems no worse than typical flu among adults, and that the elderly seem to have some degree of immunity, children are affected with severe symptoms far more than the normal rate.

Asian countries, having borne the tremendous cost of the 2006 SARS epidemic, are especially sensitive to the potential of mass disease. Their governments are under immense public pressure to take rapid, concrete action at the first sign of trouble, even if later on such action looks far out of proportion to the actual threat. 

In case your area is closed off

With H1N1 now widespread, enforced quarantines against entire airplanes or hotels are not effective, and there have not been recent news articles about these tactics being used against the flu. (But, there was a town in western China shut down in Summer 2009 due to a plague outbreak, so that is an option for authorities to use if they feel they need to.) 

However, in the event that an outbreak does become severe enough that local or national governments do have to close off the area you are in – which could be just your hotel, or even your city – do not expect special treatment just because you are working with the government on your adoption. (Local officials are likely going to be stuck in their apartments, too.) As a foreigner, you’re going to want to keep a low profile and stick to your hotel. Comply with any directions you are given by Public Security or hotel staff, and rely on your local adoption agency representative’s advice.

If the delay is several days, get in touch with your airline to let them know you’ll need to make changes for your trip out of Guangzhou. They will understand your situation and help as best they can; carriers in Asia have had to become flexible about dealing with these kinds of events.

What you can do to prevent getting sick – and to protect your child

• Be immunized with the H1N1 vaccine as soon it is available to the general public in your area. If you are traveling in Fall 2009 – Winter 2010, ask your travel clinic or family doctor if you can be on a priority list, as your child will certainly be at high risk.
• Also get the standard flu shot, if you have not already done so.
• Wash your hands often, and use hand sanitizer (gel or wipes) liberally. Be sure to include sanitizer as you pack for the trip.
• Maintain a healthy distance from family or coworkers who show flu symptoms. You cannot tell from symptoms alone which strain a person is infected with; not that you want the “regular” flu, either.)
• Get plenty of rest, exercise, take fresh air, and eat a healthy diet. Adequate sleep has also been found to boost the effectiveness of the flu vaccine.
• If you feel fine, there’s no need to wear a face mask.

In case you do get sick on the trip

• Talk with your agency rep as soon as you start feeling symptoms (fever, runny nose, coughing, sore throat.) He or she will determine if you need medical intervention.  From personal experience – my daughter and I both caught it in October 2009 – I can tell you that the onset of symptoms happens almost instantly: a rush of fever, nausea, and lack of appetite. 
• Try to isolate yourself as much as possible. If the weather is nice, fresh air and sunshine will help you mood as well as your immune system. In case of smog, definitely keep inside.
• Sneeze into your sleeve, or keep plenty of tissues around. Face masks help somewhat in this case to keep you from spraying more virus into the air.
• Get plenty of sleep and fluids. (The soups in China are exactly what the doctor ordered…) Use ibuprofen (Advil) or acetominofen (Tylenol) to keep your fever under control.
• Only travel if absolutely essential, such as for signing paperwork, and use a mask in public for such trips. Skip the sightseeing, not that you’ll feel well enough to do it. 
• With luck, the fever will break in a couple days, but if your condition worsens, call the hotel front desk and ask for medical attention.

The Makings for Another Interesting Meal

Start with a good base of Szechuan-brand Bean Sauce; go for the HOT stuff!

Roast Eel Chili in the handy serving tin

Stock up on Sea Cucumber - right next to the squid.  Remember to look for the Forzen variety, not the frozen stuff.

First, the jokes.  Aren't they awfully small to try to extract from the poor fish?  Oh wait, that's not it. What, they take a melon baller to the fish meat?

Now, the reality. I've actually eaten these in Beijing. It's ground-up fish mixed in with flour to make kind of a tiny dumpling. They're a little smaller than marble-size; you have to chew them a bit and they have a stronger fishy taste than Westerners are used to. Good way to incorporate protein and use all the fish, I suppose, but it did make the teenage daughter of one of our fellow families barf. Oh, watch out for tiny fish bones.

Probably not something I'd put on the "must try" list...