I should like the insight of some old "China hands" with regard to shipping material overseas, particularly books. I shall be working within China in the next month or so and the biggest problem for me has been shipping books. The cost of air-mail (for me) is prohibitive, yet sending them by surface mail (hence, the "slow boat to China") is unduly long. The U.S. Post office indicated to me that it could take anywhere from six weeks to three months, the variation in times keyed primarily to how long it would take to get the books through Chinese customs. The price here is right (about a dollar a pound), but the time lag is a bit much.

As I will be teaching Western Civ, among other things, I really need to take some necessary texts (all the books would be of a historical and referential nature). If anyone has some insight and experience in handling this situation, I would greatly appreciate your comments.

Eirik