PACKING LIST FOR INDIAN STUDENTS PLANNING TO STUDY IN CHINA

When I first time googled about the packing list to China, all I could find was, all the articles which western people have written and sure, they were helpful but there were many things which I, as an Indian, felt wasn’t enough and when I went for the first time, I came across a lot of shocking things and felt like I wish someone who is an Indian would have told me about.

Now, coming from a country like India, I have to admit, we have very different needs and requirements when we are going abroad. So, I thought why not make a comprehensive guide on what to pack from an Indian Perspective.

China can be really different and intimidating country when you visit for the first time especially with no language skills, so it’s necessary at least you are packed up with everything you will be needing over there. As a student, I know how we always want to save money on a lot of things, so I have made this guide keeping in mind the money factor too.

This list is majorly for the people who are moving to China for 5 months or a year or more. I have included all the items which you will not get in China or it’s better to take from here as it’s cheaper. So, let’s get started.

How Much Luggage Can You Bring?

If you have a student visa (X1/X2), You can bring up to 2 big luggage’s (23 kg each) which makes it 46kg. Only thing you need to do is, go to the office of Southern Airlines, show them your visa and then, they will book your ticket with 2 baggages . Another alternative is to book via Agent, but do mention them about airlines and visa so that they can do it for you. For other visas, you should check the southern airlines website, they have mentioned it all.

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Apart from 2 big luggages, you can bring a carry-on as well. I will strongly recommend to carry a back-pack, as it’s convenient and even when you travel around China, it can be pretty useful (Avoid duffel bag or small suitcase). In addition to that, you can also carry a laptop bag and a side bag/pouch with you.

This much luggage should be plenty, whether you are traveling for a semester or a year, especially if you do one key thing: Pack Layers. The weather across China can vary drastically, so make sure you research the climate in your program’s part of China for the time of year you’ll be studying there.

Don’t assume weather across China is same everywhere. It’s a massive country; Do your research in advance.

If you’ll be in Beijing during the fall or winter, chances are you will need a heavy winter coat, gloves, hat, etc. In southern China, you can probably get away with a lighter weight coat or leather jacket and a scarf during the colder seasons. My point is, don’t assume weather across the country is uniform, so do your research in advance.

An important side note on documentation: Before you head to the airport, print a hard copy of your flight itinerary and make two copies of your passport information page — one to keep for yourself and store in a safe place in your dorm, another to give to your parents. In case you lose your passport or get it stolen in China, this will come in handy.

Now let’s get down to some specifics.

LUGGUAGE MUST- HAVES

These are the things you should keep in your small bag/pouch. It’s going to be around 10 hours flight, so you wll be needing these things at some point.

• Travel Neck Pillow
• A white paper or a tag which has all your details such as name, phone number, university address pasted on your bags
• Wet Tissues and Sanitizer
• Indian and Chinese currency
• International debit card/ Traveler’s card
• Passport and copy of passport
• Earphones & Phone charger
• A pen and small diary

DOCUMENTS

• Letter of Admission JW202 form (mailed by university)
• Visa Form (mailed by university)
• Physical Examination Form
• High School/ University Transcripts
• Passport Size Photos

ELECTRONICS

• Universal Travelling Adapter
• PowerBank
• Laptop & Charger
• Kindle
• Hard Drives
• Camera + Batteries
• USB

CLOTHES

One major thing I want to mention here is don’t take a big or heavy or long jacket with you from India. Rather, buy it here, it will cost you around 300RMB if you buy online. You can save a lot of space this way. Also, the jackets you get in India is not enough to protect you from cold over here.

The Chinese word for those kind of jackets is 羽绒服(yurongfu)。

• Different types of shoes

1. Slippers/ Flip-Flops: It’s handy to have a pair to wear inside the dorms or when you need to make a quick run to the campus supermarket.
2. Flats: for summers
3. Sports shoes or Sneakers: For everyday use, sightseeing, running etc.
4. Boots (for winters): Better to buy it from China. Online available for around 135RMB

• Under Garments and Other things

1. Another area where sizes run small. So carry, may be 8 undies and 4-5 bras.
2. Hand towel
3. Bathing Towel
4. 1 Leg warmers
5. 1 Body warmers
6. 2 pairs of cotton socks and woollen socks
7. A pair of gloves for winter and ear muffs (can buy in China too)
8. 2-3 scarfs (summers ca be really harsh here)

• Main Clothes

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1. 2 full sleeves top or shirts: Remember Layers!
2. 2 -3 shrugs/cardigans: And more Layers!
3. 7 Tops: I find seven a good number because it means that in worst case you can easily go a week without having to do any laundry. If you share a washing machine with an entire floor of other people, not having to fight over it every other day can be a blessing. T-shirts and tank tops don’t take up a whole lot of space.
4. 3-4 long dresses: Dresses are the most comfortable wear I have found till yet in summers.
5. Leggings and/or tights – These can easily turn any skirt or dress into a winter outfit.
6. 1 or 2 pair of plazzos/ pants: Don’t bring jeans (unless you absolutely can’t live without them). Jeans not only take up a lot of real estate in your bag, they take forever to dry. Instead, I love the cotton pants/ plazzos/ long skirts which are durable, wrinkle-resistant, and dry quickly overnight.
7. 2-3 warm sweaters/ hoodies
8. Pack a light jacket

(Because winter clothes can take up a lot of space, so youcan do your winter shopping in China too)

• One nice/special ocassion outfit

There might be a commencement ceremony, a banquet, an awards night, or an expected job interview. For women, a nice dress and a black blazer; for men, a button-down shirt and tie, khakis, and a blazer bring you up to a sharp business casual.

• A set of Traditional Clothes

TOILETRIES

I like to pack my toiletries at the end, and use them to fill up whatever space I have left. I am what they call a goo hoarder, and so I often pack creams and lotions that I really don’t need. Using this method I really have to decide what is essential and what isn’t.

Depending on how long you’ll be staying in China, you might want to consider how many toiletries you’ll pack. I would say except for body lotion and shower gel, you should carry a little of everything. Later you can buy from China. I normally get all my toiletries from Miniso or Watsons.

• Deodorant
• Shampoo
• Face wash and Sunscreen
• Eyeliner and Kajal
• Sanitary Napkins
• Contact Lenses
• Small washing brush to wash your clothes
• Mug
• Comb/brush
• Toothpaste and Toothbrush
• Cotton balls
• One bed sheet and pillow cover (you can buy from Ikea too)

FOOD

I have to be honest with you that I have carried everything but I didn’t cook a lot in China. I cook just twice a month or on some special occasions for example, when your all foreigner friends plan to cook their own country food or your classmates plan to do the same. So, It’s really upto you if you think you will cook or not because I have found a lot of places with vegetarian food and I am able to survive with that. I love Chinese, Japanese and Korean food and I often online order as well. Also, there are 6 Indian restaurants which do buffet every week for 60-80RMB. So, it’s working out for me.Also, You can get most of the stuff in China either Online or there are markets catering to it, specially in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing but still you should carry for first year because it’s double or triple the normal price.Do not carry any lentils (dal) or wheat flour , you will get over there very easily. I ordered mine online. Cinnamon, dry red chili, tej patta or available in common shops. so, don’t carry it as well.

• 7-8 Ready to Eat: Though I didn’t take it in second year of my China as I felt its pretty unhealthy and I can find vegetarian food in China.
• Ghee
• Indian snacks (khakhra, sweets, etc)
• Indian Spices (red chilli powder, turmeric powder , cumin powder , coriander powder , mango powder , black pepper powder , kasthuri methi powder, rye, ajwain, garam masala, hing)
• Cumin seeds, Saunf, Elaichi, Cloves
• Spice Box
• Maggie Packets
• Maggie Magic Masala
• Milk Powder
• Pickle
• Aloo Bhujia
• Tea and Coffee
• Sandwich Spread
• Chocolates

UTENSILS

You can buy non-stick flat Pan from China to make Rotis , Chila, Omlette. It will be hard to get ‘Tawa’ though. Also, people carry their own pressure cooker. I didn’t carry it because it’s too heavy and I somehow managed with Chinese style cooker. So it’s up to you if you want to carry.

• Pressure Cooker
• Sauce Pan (thing for boiling milk)
• Frying Pan (kadhai) [ I use kadhai to
• Plate + Bowl + Spoon + fork + Coffee mug/Glass
• Mixing bowls
• hand grater (can get in China too)
• turner to flip hot food (palta)
• Knife
• Tupperware Boxes 2-3
• Belan
• Kitchen Cloths (3)
• Tea Strainer (channi)
• Tongs/ Chimta (you can use cloth too)
• Rubber bands: for packing things once you open them

MEDICINES

• Crocin cold and flu: for fever, cold n cough
• Betadin for gargles: for throat
• Pudhin hara: for acidity
• Rentac: for gas
• ENO: for stomach acid and indigestion
• ORS packets: for re-hydration
• Relief Spray: for any kind of muscle pain, sprain
• Band-Aids
• Crepe Bandage
• Mosquito Repellent (Odomos)
• Eye Drops and Nose drops

EXTRA THINGS

These are the things you can carry if you have space. I carried all of it.

• Little 4-5 gifts from India to give it to your friends and teachers on special occasions
• Photographs to paste on wall
• Umbrella
• Small Iron
• Stationery (pens, pencil, eraser, sharpener, scissors, glue, cutter, sellotape)
• Chinese books
• Mini-torch
• Extra newspapers for multi-purpose uses

PHONE APPLICATIONS TO DOWNLOAD

If it’s your first time in China and you are going to live here longer, these are the APPs you must download.

• Pleco: A very handy dictionary APP
• VPN: I’ll recomment NordVPN. It costs like Rs.5800 for a year. You can ger FreeVPN as well like turboVPN but they aren’t useful in long term.
• Mapsme: Offline English maps for China
• Wechat: All other APPS to communicate like whatsapp, google hangout is banned, so we chat is going to be your thing 🙂
• Translation App: If you don’t know anything in Chinese, this is going to be useful.
• Chinese Phrase book: This can be very useful to speak basic phrases even if you dont speak chinese
• Money Manager: to keep a check on your spending
• Meituan: It has a lot of uses but majorly I use it to order food online.
• Taobao: It’s your life saver, anything you want , buy it on taobao. It will be intimidating at first as its’s in chinese but learn from someone who knows how to use it and USE IT.