Must have items….

Tony…. if you don’t have one of your own, borrow one!

Listerine... we only took a small bottle and really regretted it.  We hunted everywhere for some kind of mouth wash and only found a small bottle of some red stuff that was way to old and way to expensive.  If your ditching stuff to make your suit case lighter, ditch some extra and make room for bottles of Listerine.  It was great to get out of the shower and swig some of that stuff because I always seem to get the local water in my mouth and Listerine will kill anything.  

Soft cotton or fleece baby blanket….the only one we brought was a real life saver.  It became Raelin’s comfort item and we had about 6 hours of hell one day when we had to wash it. 

Small plastic baby spoons….Raelin carried one or two at all times, along with her blanket.  She wasn’t fond of the toys we brought, except one, but she loved those spoons.

Stacking cups….this was the one toy that we brought that she loved to play with.   

Currency cheat sheet…we never went anywhere without it, and it really helped. It was so easy to shop and know when we were getting the bargains.  We printed two cheat sheets (US to CYN and CYN to US) but the only one that we used was the CYN to USD.  Go to the Links page you'll find a link to the site.     

Ziplock storage bags.....I brought a bunch of the snack size and a few sandwich size.  I may have brought some larger size too but they were for bathroom items and stuff.  You'd be surprised how often you'll use these items.  We used them everyday, at the breakfast bar, I would pick up a few items for Raelin to munch on later.  

Diaper Duck....I had no idea what this was.  I saw it on a packing list from one of the Yahoo message boards and just happen to find one at Target.  It's just a plastic bag dispenser that has a rubber duck on the top.  We used this everyday.  Since some of those diapers can get pretty stinky, we didnt want them stinking up the hotel room.  And also, sometimes it's hard to find garbage cans when your out so you don't want to have a smelly diaper bag. 

Lip Balm....I read somewhere that lip balm is a great item for the gift bags.  I can see why now.  It is so dry in China that every part of your body is dry and cracked.  If you can find a really, really good lip balm, take alot of it.  We didn't have any, but in our travel kit that we were given by American Airlines, had some.  We used this everyday.   

Toilet Paper or Tissue....We had brought a large package of travel size kleenex.  These came in real handy, for the baby and for us.  When your out site-seeing, if you must use the restroom, you will NOT find any toilet paper.  Most of the time you'll try to wait until you get back to the hotel, not because of the squat toilets, but because they're usually so disgusting.  Tony had to change Raelin in the bathroom at a restaurant and it was so bad that he couldn't even change her on the sink, he had to raise his leg and change her on his knee!