Health essentials for travel to China in August

[LimeHotWaterBottle]

Just trying to put the basics together for 22 DS going to China later this month, Beijing, Chengdu and Lijiang being the main destinations. If anyone's been there I'd appreciate any recommendations for insect repellent, etc. Any other advice would be gratefully received.

I always travel with Jungle formula for mosquitos other than that I didn’t need anything for China, my family went last year.

This is a good source of reliable information: travelhealthpro.org.uk/country/49/china

I always take - looks slightly crazy when I write it out

Bug spray - jungle juice
Imodium
Steri strips
plasters
small wound dressings
anti histamine tabs and cream
paracetamol/ ibuprofen
sudofed
strepsils
dulcoese
throat spray
small scissors and tweezers
eye wash/ sterile water in a small tube
antiseptic wipes
antiseptic cream
hand gel
burn gel pad (hot coffee anyone)
latex gloves
micropore tape
bandage

I’m travelling as a family and over the years I’ve used everything except the bandage. I don’t take loads, just enough for a few days so we can get to a pharmacy.

I’m pretty sure the pseudophedrine in Sudafed is a strictly controlled substance in China.

Vaccinations up to date?
I lived in China for 12 years and unless I was going somewhere very rural I would just have painkillers, antihistamines, plasters and antiseptic wipes and perhaps Imodium if going on a long bus trip.

I think for me it’s the faff of finding a pharmacy ‘immediately’ when on day trips and the like, not access to stuff.

Contact GP about travel jabs, I think we had 2 or 3 jabs (obviously depends on if he's travelling in cities, in countryside, etc) also make sure he has travel insurance

Make sure he downloads Alipay and Wechat, and adds his bank cards to the apps before travelling. Make sure he has an esim for data. Everything is done pretty much via alipay, you can book a didi (like uber), train tickets, metro tickets, order food, buy tickets to historical sites, and pay for everything - which is great in theory, but if he has no mobile data can make life unnecessarily difficult.

Not a bad list but Sudafed isn’t allowed into many countries. Carry all meds in original packaging including the leaflet you get

I would add

lemsips
rehydration satchets
suncream

and excellent medical insurance that covers direct billing and repatriation

It is, but a small quantity in original packaging shouldn't be an issue. I used to buy Contac NT in China when I had cold/flu and pretty sure that has pseudophedrine in it.

Small packets of tissues for the toilets.

I wouldn’t overpack - the places you are going to visit have many 24 hours pharmacies - you could also order anything like medicines on WeChat mei Tuan and they will be delivered to you anytime within 30 mins.

I agree about not over packing but it's not realistic to think a foreign tourist will just casually order medicine online in the middle of the night.

I'd take some Imodium as I'd always get steered towards Chinese meds if I had a stomach upset and the efficacy was not always what I hoped for!

I'd emphasise what someone else said, you need to get at least one of WeChat Pay or Alipay set up before you get there. And having data on your phone is essential, so get an e-sim. I've used the ones available on trip.com but there are plenty of alternatives.

I'd emphasise what someone else said, you need to get at least one of WeChat Pay or Alipay set up before you get there. And having data on your phone is essential, so get an e-sim. I've used the ones available on trip.com but there are plenty of alternatives

This. Although we had both WeChat and Alipay we never needed WeChat, absolutely everywhere took Alipay. Got our eSim from Jetpac.

Recommend taking toilet paper and always carry it when out. Most public toilets didn't provide it IME. I got some coreless ones with no inner cardboard tube so they took up less space in a bag.

The toilet paper is not usually in the cubicle, it’s in the area with the sinks and you need to grab some before you enter the cubicle. However, I do agree that it’s always useful to have your own!