[Trace7]

Yes, I am already planning out my wardrobe to bring, as I am a planner and I know with a 11/22/05 LID we will be in China this summer. I also know that packing lightly will not be easy for me, so the sooner I can start planning and trying to bring as much mix and match stuff as I can, the better. I am planning to bring:

3 capris
2 shorts
7 shirts
(and one pair of jeans for the plane)

As far as appointments with China officials for the adoption, is it okay to wear nice capris? I have a very cute linen pair. I would prefer not to have to bring khakis or a skirt since I know I would not wear them otherwise.

[sakelley]

I'm not a light packer either. I packed enough so that we only had to do laundry once while there. This is what I brought for me:

1 pr capris
1 pr jeans (worn on plane)
1 pr khakis
5 prs shorts
8 shirts (nothing dressy, just cotton & mostly polo shirts)

For our Together Day I wore a pair of jean shorts & a polo shirt. We actually ended up completing our adoption the same day so that is what I wore for it. Everyone else in our group either wore jeans or shorts that day also. I seen very few people who weren't wearing jeans or shorts for all the adoption related stuff.

[thundrrds]

I wouldn't bring or wear jeans.
We traveled in July and November. July heat in southern China and Hong Kong is like southern FL or New Orleans.
And in China most buildings aren't airconditioned except your hotels and very very good restaurants. And if your lucky your buses will have AC.

I'd bring clothes I don't care about. You'll be spit on, probably get pee and poop on you and be sitting/ laying on carpet alot with your child.

For our july trip I brought one short sleeved dress and capris and walking shorts and short sleeved tops. I brought one LS denim shirt to wear as needed in cooler buildings. And I think I brought one very light weight warm up jacket for the flights and one pair of super light weight warm up pants (again for the longer flights).
I brought nothing that required ironing nor that I 'cared about' too much. You may go thru 2 outfits yourself per day if not more shirts depending on your own comfort level and how your body does with the summer heat

Joanne
The heat in Guangzhou in July can be truly brutal. Plus if it winds up being the rainy season jeans just won't dry out quickly enough for you.

[Trace7]

Originally Posted by thundrrds

I wouldn't bring or wear jeans.
We traveled in July and November. July heat in southern China and Hong Kong is like southern FL or New Orleans.
And in China most buildings aren't airconditioned except your hotels and very very good restaurants. And if your lucky your buses will have AC.

I'd bring clothes I don't care about. You'll be spit on, probably get pee and poop on you and be sitting/ laying on carpet alot with your child.

For our july trip I brought one short sleeved dress and capris and walking shorts and short sleeved tops. I brought one LS denim shirt to wear as needed in cooler buildings. And I think I brought one very light weight warm up jacket for the flights and one pair of super light weight warm up pants (again for the longer flights).
I brought nothing that required ironing nor that I 'cared about' too much. You may go thru 2 outfits yourself per day if not more shirts depending on your own comfort level and how your body does with the summer heat

Joanne
The heat in Guangzhou in July can be truly brutal. Plus if it winds up being the rainy season jeans just won't dry out quickly enough for you.

I have been to Hong Kong twice, and it was 90+ degrees and exteremly humid, but I still prefer jeans on an airplane, so I will wear jeans on the plane. But I only plan to wear shorts and capris for the trip itself.

I bought my the clothes I am bringing at Old Navy, so if they get peed on or pooped on - it's no biggie - as they were cheap (but they are still cute!)

[eager2adopt]

We traveled in May, to Beijing, Guanzhou and Hong Kong...all were HOT and HUMID. That's actually an understatement!

Nobody dressed up for any of the events or appointments. Capris and sleeveless, light weight tops were all I used. We had laundry done via the hotels and nearby shops nearly every day, its cheap and really fun to see what a spectacular job the Chinese Laundry does!! Hey, they fold and press your underwear. The girls on Shamian Island at "Jennifer's Place" were so sweet, we got to where we were looking for clothes to send, it was so much fun!

Anyway, DO NOT bring much. It is easy to have laundry done and you will NEED the luggage space to bring back things you purchase for self, family and of course your new baby! I have already decided, next time...all my clothes are going in ONE ziplock, and the rest of the luggage is for stuff coming back!

[chinagirl2006]

Tracy - Love the Old Navy idea! I plan on bringing capris & t-shirts. Things that won't weigh too much in my already heavy luggage.

[specialk4b]

Tracy - cute is important! Cheap and cute even better! I love Old Navy too.

[sakelley]

We traveled last Sept and got pretty lucky with the weather. The week before we got there, it had been in the upper 90's and humid in both Changsha (Hunan) and Guangzhou. For our trip, it was in the 70's, but humid, in Beijing, in the 60's & 70's in both Changsha and Guangzhou (a typhoon was getting ready to hit land as we left). We wore pants and short sleeves or shorts and sweatshirts/long sleeves for most of our trip.

Since we had to buy a seat for our daughter, we were allowed an extra piece of luggage coming home. We bought a suitcase in Guangzhou for about $12 for all our extras we bought.

[Trace7]

Luckily we won't be buying too many souveniers, as we went to Hong Kong on our honeymoon and bought some then, and then I just went to Hong Kong in October (my brother lives there) and I had an extra suitcase on the way home (I had brought a suitcase full of gifts for my niece over there), so I did a ton of shopping and brought back baby clothes, gifts, a tea set, a mahjong set, a banner that I had made for my DH and me in honor of our anniversary and a few assorted toys/things for our baby's room. I thought I should take advantage of my "extra" trip to China then to bring back souveniers so we won't have to buy as much on the baby trip. The only major thing we want to buy for our baby on the trip when we get her are pearls On the off chance that we get a boy (we requested either), I am not sure what we will buy him - but not pearls - LOL!

My Mom went to Hong Kong in 2005 and brought back two pictures that were hand-made for our baby's room.

[Trace7]

Originally Posted by chinagirl2006

Tracy - Love the Old Navy idea! I plan on bringing capris & t-shirts. Things that won't weigh too much in my already heavy luggage.

Yes, and they have super cute and cheap (well, isn't it always cheap?) summer stuff there right now.

[lovemybulldog]

Another idea that worked well when we traveled through Italy & Spain last year: Buy a bunch of inexpensive socks (if you wear any in that heat...I think not) & underwear and throw them away each day. I know this sounds like a waste, but it helped us with suitcase space at the end of 3 weeks in Europe. I wasn't really comfortable about someone else washing my underthings. Besides, we had Venetian masks to pack, who has room for stanky undies? lol. Also, a lightweight pair of yoga pants and sleeveless tees/polo shirts were my staple. Almost every pic of Italy, I'm in the same darn pants and shirt in various colors... What was with my 70lb suitcase if I wound up wearing a variation of the same thing almost every day?

I also love the Old Navy idea. God bless The Gap Corp. for thinking up Old Navy. It'll be their undoing for The Gap and Banana Republic, but Old Navy is the bomb. I also picked up a ton of cute toddler clothes on end of season clearance for next to nothing. I was out of there for under $100 and had 3 bags! Victory!

[Trace7]

Originally Posted by lovemybulldog

I also love the Old Navy idea. God bless The Gap Corp. for thinking up Old Navy. It'll be their undoing for The Gap and Banana Republic, but Old Navy is the bomb. I also picked up a ton of cute toddler clothes on end of season clearance for next to nothing. I was out of there for under $100 and had 3 bags! Victory!

Yes, Old Navy is awesome. I also got a cute small purse there to bring to China, as I don't want to bring my bigger, nicer one.

[Sean&Shan]

yoga pants (or fitted, stretchy sweats) were awesome for the plane rides.
Capris and T-shirts were fine for all the appointments.
Didn't bring/need a purse between the diaper bag backpack and a neck thingy.
Wish I had a pair of shorts for Guangzhou- we were there in April and the heat and humidity were already bad! Can't imagine it in July or August!

Love your old Navy shopping spree- you don't need to bring a lot but you do want to like what you bring being that you will be getting your picture taken with your new baby A LOT!

[chinagirl2006]

Steph - I'm not big on them washing my under thingys either, so I'm bringing ones I can toss along the way.

[lucia2]

Shannon,
it sounds like spouse & I will be following your path this April. (Nanchang & Guangzhou)
we plan to spend time in either Phuket or HI prior to meeting the group in ML China. I don't want to pack a lot of clothes and I don't plan to buy disposable clothes for the trip....is there a particular reason someone might advise "clothes they don't care about" vs. just being open to laundry services?
Also I'm not a shopper (meaning I don't enjoy it as recreation), but I have several nieces and customarily buy them local jewelry when we travel. Any advice while in Nanchang & Guangzhou??
Thanks.
(loved the pix on your blog, Lizzie is adorable! & trip pix help to visualize the surroundings in a way that reading does not.)