Rich's Tongfamily (Richtong.net add-on)

Well, I’m off the China for a business trip. A quick week. Amazing number of things that you have to do:
* Visa. You have to mail away for this.
* Destinations: East Asia | CDC Travelers’ Health. Check here to see what shots you need. The big one for China is Hepatitis A. I didn’t get this, John Zagula did. Also, need a tetanus booster. In some areas you need malaria. Don’t need yellow fever thank goodness.
* “Calling Cards”: . My favoriate Cognicall.com doesn’t support China well. Costs $0.36/minute to call it and $1.05 minute to call from China. Ming Lei says the best rates are at “OneSuite”:http://onesuite.com, so I’m signing up. This is an IP phone service that lets you call China from the US for $0.022/minute. You use this by calling home and then having someone call you back. Or if they are calling from a cell phone, then they can just put into the autodialer and they are set.
* “Cash”. Its still a cash economy there, so when you land, you need a bunch of money.
* “Cell phone roaming”:http://www.t-mobile.com/international/covInternet_popup.asp?c=10104&cn=China%20Mobile&m=13. Well, for sure, don’t take a call. T-mobile roams with China Mobile. Customer care is +86 1860 and the rate is $3/minute (!!!) for all calls. Also says that wireless data works at 1.5 cents/KB so maybe the Blackberry might actually function.