Before you Leave

Ontario Residents
You will be on a longer absence from Ontario. You are still eligible for OHIP coverage if you fill out the proper paperwork. Keep in mind that Service Ontario  strongly  recommends purchasing additional travel insurance before leaving the province, as OHIP only provides limited coverage outside of the province. Even if your ailment is covered by OHIP there is still a cap on funding which may not cover all of your expenses. Companies like Travel Cuts (which actually goes through RBC, but is significantly cheaper) and CUMIS offer health insurance quite cheap (only a few hundred dollars) if you are still covered by OHIP while out of province. To remain covered by OHIP, consult a Service Ontario centre for the correct form to fill out.

If you don't do this, I am not sure, but I think that you're not eligible for health care for the first three months after your return if you were absent for more than half a year.

Items to bring

 * Sunscreen - Chinese sunscreen doesn't seem to be as good of quality
 * Shoes - if you are larger than a 43 (That's about a size 10, mens), you will not find shoes in Nanning. They can be found in Hong Kong, or online, but you're probably out of luck in Nanning.
 * Underwear
 * Deodorant - Addidas and Nivea are available at Watsons. Most of your students will not wear this.
 * Hand cleanser - If you use this. I haven't seen it in stores.
 * A laptop/netbook - Prices in Canada/US are cheaper than in China. If you are going through Hong Kong, that is an option too. The other advantage of bringing one from home is that your operating system will probably be a) legitimate and b) in English.
 * Dental Floss
 * Warm clothes - (it is surprisingly cold in winter - about 2celsius - but the real problem is that the buildings are not well heated nor insulated). I wore a coat while teaching in December/January.
 * Clothes - If you're a person who is 'big' at all, you will be bigger than most people in Nanning. Clothing is also very seasonal in the stores. From November - February, I could not find any athletic t-shirts (ie. for running). During the months closest to summer, short sleeved dress shirts for men are recommended as are lightweight, breathable, clothes for non-classroom dress.
 * Scans of degrees - This will be to confirm your salary with IED at GXU. They want the degree; not the transcript. Also your teaching certificate if you have one.
 * Bathing suit - not sure how available these are, but it isn't like they take up much room.
 * Medications -
 * Cosmetics - For ladies, Chinese ones often have whitening agents in them, even if they are familiar brand names.

Items you might want to bring

 * Shaving Cream (Gillette is generally available, but it's really the only brand)
 * Books - Before bringing any, check out the website library.nu (you will have to register to search the website). Printing is extremely cheap and I printed off quite a few books for much less money than it would cost normally (and I saved lugging them around). I, personally, would not bring any.
 * Teaching Materials - SCIC teachers are provided with a textbook and the instructors companion book. If you want any more than that, you're on your own. Some teachers at SCIC have their own and are willing to share, but books that aid speaking activities would be especially worthwhile. Note that since the students at SCIC are ELLs, their reading level (of second year, first year students would be ???) would probably best be described as in the Intermediate (7-10) grades of an Ontario high-school.
 * Eye-wear prescription - I have not bought glasses in Nanning, so I can't vouch for the quality, but they seem to be significantly cheaper if you're thinking of purchasing a new pair of glasses.

Items you don't need to bring
Nanning is a city of 5 million or so people with 2 Walmarts and other stores that provide Western goods.
 * Umbrella (cheap and plentiful)
 * Toothpaste (Crest and Colgate are available)
 * Common vitamins (Canadian brands are available)