Looking for Sunscreen in China

I suffer with migraines and let me tell you, I don't want to be trying to get Relpax in a country where no one speaks English.

Last year, I was in China and forgot to bring sunscreen so I stopped into a pharmacy. I walked up and down the aisles and didn't recognize a thing except Viagra, by the way, which incidentally is even sold at the airport.

A typical Chinese pharmacy looks extremely different than a typical Western pharmacy. In Chinese pharmacies, the employees wear nurse's caps and nurse's uniforms. I couldn't find a person who spoke English. There was no Coppertone or Hawaiian Tropic anywhere in the store. There wasn't any brand that I recognized. I couldn't differentiate one product in the pharmacy from the next.

I spoke to one of the women who was eager to help. I pointed at the sun, my skin, and fanned myself. The pharmacist had that 'aha' look and handed me a carton to purchase. I didn't question the SPF, knew there was no way to get that across UVA protection. I just paid and applied. The cream was lightweight, and not the least bit goopy. It was not too thick, not too heavy. It went on my face first and was going onto my neck as I approached my husband who was hysterical. I had zinc oxide all over. I was white as a ghost.

I can't imagine what I would have gotten if I was trying to explain headache. Make sure you bring all the medications and products you might need!

10 Tips to Prevent Passport Problems & Other Losses

Anonymous Traveler apologies for not posting last week but I was traveling.

This morning I read a question on Linked-In, "What do you do if you lose your passport while you are away?" I was compelled to share some tips on preventing passport loss and other serious problems when abroad.

Here are 10 Ten Tips for Preventing Serious Problems while Traveling Abroad

1. Register your trip with the state department if you are American. Link to Register.

2. Make several colored copies of your Passport before you go. Write our your itinerary. Make a copy of the credit cards you are taking. Make a list of the medications you can't be without.

3. Give a copy of #2 to someone you know and trust and make sure you know where it is being kept. I'm not kidding, here. Not everyone is organized and if you have an emergency then you need it instantly

4. Now Captain Obvious wants to note that you need to make sure that person isn't traveling with you and is easily accessible. By that I mean that person needs to be around. It could be your adult child, your parents, and your ex-wife, preferably someone who has a vested interest in your safe return.

5. E-mail your itinerary and whatever other information in #2 you are comfortable e-mailing to yourself. Keep it in a folder. There is hardly a place you can go where you can't find a computer.

6. Make sure you carry a colored copy of our passport with you where ever you go, but leave your original passport locked safely. I haven't found a store yet that won't accept a copy of my passport with my driver's license for an overseas purchase.

7. Now I admit, 90% of the time I stay at luxury properties which have safes; but for the traveler without access to a safe, here are my tips to keeping your passport and also your money secure for that matter: Wear socks and keep your passport in a plastic bag in your sock. Females - no one is getting in your bra that you don't want there This is not always comfortable but it works - especially to carry some money or credit cards - of course do not have it rubbing against your skin directly. Yes people laugh when you reach to pay them but it works

8. Different countries have different policies as to passport rules. Research it ahead of your trip. Do you need at least six months left to enter the country? If you like or may need to travel keep your passport current. Use common sense. If you have a child taking a semester abroad - make sure your passport is current. No one knows when an emergency is coming. Passport Information United States Passport Renewal and Replacement Guide

9. Pick a couple outfits for heavy sightseeing or what I call higher risk days. You planned the trip, you know which days I'm referring to and if you don't, read any guidebook. They’ll tell you where to watch for pick pocketing. Prevent it! Take at least 2 items of clothing to the tailor and have them altered. I use cargo pants or jeans but that is me. Have the tailor sew one of the front top pockets shut and then have them make a zippered opening on the inside. Voila - secret pocket. You can modify a sports jacket, a skirt, whatever you prefer but that is a place to keep perpetrators out.

10. Decide what you are protecting. Forget not looking like a tourist; you are a tourist, you'll have a camera and whatever else you need so just prioritize what you want safe. You can't be looking everywhere all the time so limit what items you need to worry about. Once you step off the plane, you can't protect, your I-Pod, your cell phone, your camera, your medications, etc. at the same time.

* Oh yeah, while on medications and money - make sure you have more than one place you keep it so you can never be without it! Take two separate places where you keep medication, money, traveler’s checks, credit cards, etc.

SOMETIMES STANDBY IS LITERAL

A few years ago, my daughter and I had an incident in the Minneapolis airport. We had just landed from our first flight and were facing a daunting five-hour layover. We approached the gate agent to see if there was anything earlier. She told us that there was another flight but that going standby seemed unlikely as it was fully booked and the departure gate was at the complete opposite end of the airport, which, by the way, may actually be the longest airport in the world.

We decided to take our chances anyway and took off running. When we arrived at the other gate (aka the other side of the world), the boarding was almost complete. Amazingly, the gate agent said there was room, took our luggage, and told us to board the plane and take any available seat. We sat down in the only two open seats and began to catch our breath. That was the moment when two additional passengers came on board. There were not enough seats and they stood in the aisle looking very confused.

The flight attendant on the plane was trying to figure out the problem but we knew immediately what had happened. I told my daughter to share my seat and let the other people share theirs.

Then the plane started to back out. Meanwhile the flight attendant was flustered and completely clueless. My daughter and I sat there looking at each other, trying not to attract any attention, glancing over at the flight attendant periodically. After a little while, she apparently figured out the problem, hung up the phone, and stopped the plane. I guess it’s against the policy to take off with people standing in the aisles or sharing seats.

At this point, we knew what was coming. Instead of approaching us, however, the flight attendant announced our names over the loud speaker, asking us to come to the front of the fifty-passenger plane. We accepted defeat and slithered to the front waving goodbye to all our new friends, but that’s not the best part.

We were laughing so hard that we could hardly walk onto the exterior stairs, which several men wearing yellow coveralls were quickly rolling to the plane, providing us with a way to exit. Glad to not just be thrown out the door, we descended onto the tarmac. There we stood with all the signalers and luggage handlers, and jet engines so loud that we couldn’t hear a thing. It was windy and cold and we were standing there screaming at a couple luggage handlers trying to describe our luggage because the plane couldn’t move until it was off.

On the tarmac, I couldn’t help thinking about the post-911security breeches we were committing as we waited for someone to unlock the door to the jet way so we could get back inside the airport.

Luckily, the gate agent felt sorry for us and gave us passes not only for dinner but several drinks as well. We still believe she gave these to us to ease the pain as she informed us that our boarding gate, the one for our originally scheduled flight, was back at the other end of the airport, one gate over from where this escapade began.

Top 10 Hotel Pet Peeves

Considering the state of the economy, we might have to make budgetary adjustments when it comes to our vacation plans. With gas prices and airfares soaring, if we are going to splurge, now more than ever, we want what we pay for.

Here are my top 10 Pet Peeves:

1. Noise – I do not want to hear anything from the next room. I don’t want to hear doors slamming in the hallway. I don't want to hear the elevator. I don't need to know when the person in the room above me is taking a shower. I want silence.

2. Napkin-sized towels – This speaks for itself!

3. Management not visible or available – If there is a problem, deal with me now – I don't want to hear that the manager will be in at later. You really don’t me to boil before we talk.

4. Untrained staff whose excuse is “I’m in training.”

5. Resort Facilities that do not have enough chairs for everyone – I have no intention of getting up at the crack of dawn to save chairs.

6. Rooms not cleaned when you return.

7. Resort fees – Why would you go to a resort unless you are going to use it?

8. Room Service Tip Expectations– if there is already an 18% fee, isn’t that enough?

9. Ongoing Renovations - Give me a chance to book somewhere else.

10. While I am environmentally friendly, please, don't under staff housekeeping under the auspices of environmental efforts. Use as many environmentally friendly cleaning products as you can, put a recycle bin in my room, use recycled paper products but tell me your policies when I check in; don't place a small note in a drawer to explain where I need to place my towels if I want clean ones. If you can offer me a mini-bar key at check-in, you can tell me the policies on linen and towel reuse.

Beijing Bargaining Requires Olympic Training

I must admit, I have a natural affinity for bargaining. But even if bargaining is not one of your instincts, with proper training, you can bargain in Beijing.

Like an Olympian, you must train yourself mentally before you step foot into your 'shopping meet' or you will be disqualified and taken advantage of immediately.

In Beijing, shopping is a friendly competition and you will build camaraderie along the way. But if you want to get the best possible price, you are going to get a mental workout.

Keep in mind, the people who staff the booth are experts at this, and no matter what you pay or what they tell you, they are making a profit. They know how to turn their lips down and pout.

Exercise your Olympic Shopping Skills with the following Training Tips:

• Technique Training – Act confident (even if you are not) when offering you a price. Start very low. Very, very low. Obscenely Low like 90% less than they are asking. Don’t hamper your own performance by showing uncertainty.

• Attitude –If you feel you aren’t good at bargaining, you won’t be. Practice with items you don’t care if you get so you will know how to do it with items you really want. Do not feel obligated to buy anything.

• Form – Again, if you present yourself without good form, you will pay far more than you have to. Look like you do this everyday. Think about the asking price as if it is the top dollar at Neiman Marcus or Harrods. If you would like to pay more than you have to, go ahead.

• Focus – Do not appear wishy-washy. Keep your eye on the finish line (your final offer which really is much, much lower than the asking price – you can always go up)

• Endurance – Don’t give up, 90% of the time, they will give in.

I guarantee you the easier the negotiation; the more you are being ripped off.

More Tips:

• If the merchant leaves and comes back with ‘another one’ in plastic, check it. It might not be the same quality as the item you were seeing.

• Be ready to walk – 90% of the time they will not let you leave their booth. They’ll grab you by the arm to come back and if they don’t, you’ll walk away feeling like you gave it your all.

• Know the currency denominations.

• Have separate wallets to pay for things and do not keep much money in it.


Beijing is a shopper’s paradise. There is the Cotton Market, Xiushui Silk Market, Hongiao, Pearl Market, and the weekend Panjiayan to name a few; bargaining skills are essential though it can be taxing.

The markets are like obstacle-ridden courses, you are trying to browse and they are trying to usher you into their booths and I mean aggressively.

If you show any interest at all a salesperson will grab your arm saying, “Come see.”

Before you have a chance to even look around you'll hear, “You like?”

Each merchant is competing for your business and at the first sign of interest, they will take your arm to try to steer you to their booth.

Once you walk in, you aren’t getting out of there without at least negotiating for something.

If you are firm and say, “NO,” it is over, but if you are the least bit unsure, they are like a pet following you.

It can be overwhelming or fun.

There are two universal expressions I found every Chinese merchant knew how to say and that is, “You crazy” (always very rhetorical), and “You killing me.”

"You killing me," is often said with a “Lady, you killing me” or “Man, you killing me,” but the direct translation is “You are getting close to what I will sell this for…”

If the item is too big… they will say no problem.

If the item is too small, no issue.

Too blue, here it is in another shade

Just like in the Olympics, you don’t make it until you make it; in the sport of bargaining, there is no deal until there is a deal, and even then you must have exact change or you will get ripped off.

If you give yourself time, with each purchase you will pay less and less. By the time you leave you will feel like you are at the peak of your game!

Though you won’t go home with a Gold Medal, your ‘winnings’ will be victory enough!

The Truth about Five Star Property Ratings

When I used to think of five star properties, I thought museum-quality, but now I know better. Not all five star ratings are based on the same criteria. There is no universal industry standard.

In some countries, hotels are given star ratings by government-affiliated tourist agencies, which rely on simple evaluation of things like the layout of the room and room rates.

Therefore, know your source and how that rating is achieved. Is it the government, the readers or professional reviewers that decide? Is the rating purchased, earned, polled, or is it self-proclaimed? These are not necessarily mutually exclusive; a property can use any or all of the above methods to label themselves, ‘five star.”

During a recent girl’s weekend, I stayed at a destination spa whose rating would make you think you were going to be treated as a queen or king. After one day, I actually phoned the general manager and personally asked him how his property possibly obtained the rating it did.

The General Manager seemed very surprised to hear that:

• We had to climb on stepladders in the spa to get our own robes. Granted we were there to exercise but the stair master would have sufficed.
• It was great that they provided herbal tea but a bit disconcerting that the tea cups we set down the evening before remained in the same exact spot the next afternoon
• We were escorted to our rooms but never given an orientation of the facilities--which is the norm at most spas. Of course I can read a map but should I have to?
• The concierge service was frightfully limited, only booking tours for the surrounding area. How can a concierge not know hours of operation for local boutiques, galleries, or other local stores?
• The spa reception staff did not know their own services, and had to look up descriptions before explaining them so that we could knowledgeably book. Both in person and on the phone, we became very restless being put on hold for what we considered basic questions.
• And housekeeping was more concerned about completing their duties than the comfort of their guests. The supervisor and three of her staff barged in, without knocking, and found us less than fully clothed. They do provide robes, but it would be nice to have prior warning to know to put them on.

The Manager’s response was to blame it on new staff, and to his credit, he did send us a nice basket with wine and other goodies. However, this experience reinforced the fact that ratings are very subjective.

(And by the way, this property can be reserved on Leading Hotels of the World, Five Star Alliance, and it has won awards on both Travel and Leisure and Conde Nast)

Ratings are often marketing tools and not necessarily intended to provide a consumer unbiased information. That means that the same category of property-- is not necessarily the same.

When the source is Readers' Choice, it is very important to recognize that all readers have different standards and may have varied levels of travel experiences.

For the record, I know I have exceptionally high standards, but if a property is labeled as five star and charges top dollar, shouldn’t I?