Life in China

Internet

This article from The Atlantic provides a good introduction to accesing the internet in China. If you want to access twitter, facebook, youtube, some blogging websites, and depending on the day even sites such as the BBC, then you will need to use a VPN. Many people (foreign and local) do so. There are pay services and free services. Since the beginning of 2011, VPNs have not been working as well as previously. Many of them were even unable to work for a time.

Currently, gmail works, but since about the same time as the VPNs stopped working it has slowed down a lot.

The most popular e-mail service here is QQ. It also has a messenger which is very similar to Microsoft Messenger. You can download it at imqq.com Each of the classes at SCIC has a class message group. If you have a QQ account, it is possible to e-mail your classes through QQ. There is a Chinese QQ e-mal website (obviously) as well as an English one. The English one isn't as nice to use as the Chinese one.

Food and items

If this is your first time in China, you may be shocked by the lack of certain foods. Here is a list of things I haven't been able to buy in Nanning: good beef stock or gravy, large sized clothing, certain cooking spices and herbs...

While you can find the items in the following list, they are hard to find, limited in variety or expensive, so buy it before you come here if possible: electronics, English books, jello,

I hear people say that the condoms here are smaller. It may be true that some brands are, but other brands (like Jissbon) are just as big as back home. Durex condoms are widely available (I think they're the only 'western' brand).

Electrical Outlets

Generally, they match Australian outlets, but North American 2 prongs also work. Powerbars like the one pictured are ubiquitous and work with North American 3 prong plugs.

Voltage, of course, is different than in North America, but electronics usually have a universal converter. Check before you use your own stuff.

Money

Banks here are on the Cirrus and Plus system. If your bank card has it, there should not be issues withdrawing RMB from any Bank of China (or machine from most other banks). Western Union also works for wiring funds and is method to use for wiring money to a foreign account (although restrictions on the amount of money that can be wired are in place).