stripes
From: China
8/15/2006 15:29 EST
I have lived outside Beijing for the past five years so have seen future shock in action changes taking place these past few years. Actually, the continuous changes are still going on, on a daily basis. One of the changes that has taken place these past few years is the reintroduction to the locals of,again, being able to own a pet but that can still be an iffy proposition at times. Have you read about the recent rabies scare in the area in and around Shanghai and the big boys solution to the problem that they did not have the foresight to do something about to keep this problem from happening? They sent out the troops, twice, to each time, slaughter on sight approx. 50,000 dogs irregardless if they were licensed and on a leash? The same kind of "solution" approach to a potential cause during the SARS scare.
While having a pet in today's lifestyle in Beijing is quite possible it can prove to be a very expensive situation for foreigners trying to bring in pets from their home country and,then, maintaining them in their new temp home.
1. Has the company sending you over to Beijing approved you taking a pet? Some companies do forbid doing this or if they do approve they will not pay for the expenses of transporting a pet to the overseas assignment location.
2. Make sure you find out ALL of the policies of taking a pet from the US to China. There are quarantine rules if effect (unless you know how to grease the palms of certain persons to skip this process when your pet enters into the country.) From what I have heard from a few other pet owners, the quarantine situation is anything but good in quality.
3. Please, make sure you check with the airlines that would be transporting your dog (s) to China. Many airline carriers have very strict rules about that situation, size of carrier per pet, cost per pet to transport them, etc.
On taking your pet (s) out of China there is,again, a set of criteria by the airline and,also, the Chinese govt regarding this situation. Some airlines allow ONLY one pet per person on the flight, so if you have several dogs, this could cause a potential big time problem for you.
4. There are now, many more pet stores,grooming shops and vets in Beijing that there were just a few short years ago. The pet industry has made billionaires out of few Chinese. But, there are not many,yet, really good boarding kennels. I a not sure on this, but based on my past years of living in China, I have a feeling that not having any good set codes of do's and dont's nor having a good set level of standards present in the pet industry including vets is probably the case regarding pets in China. Remember, it was not all that long ago that a pooch was looked upon as lunch,not a creature to share a life or home with. That is still the case in some parts of China, today.
5. If you come over with a contract that allows you two R& R trips a year, plus a home leave, you will need to make sure you have in place a plan of who will take care of your pet (s) or if you will have a good, clean, trusted place to board them when you do go on holidays breaks.
6. Beijing is a city of at least, now, 15 million people and most of them, including foreigners, live in apartment accomodations. There are some compound style housing on the outer limits of the city proper, out near the international airport and new compounds being constructed as I write this BUT those houses in those compounds that might have a small yard or areas within the compouds for walking or exercising pets can run an average of $6,000.00 USD a month. Seriously Housing prices for what we would consider acceptable "western" style housing with western amenties that westerners are use to having in their accomodations in their home country is a fairly new concept in the Beijing area and getting a home like that is very expensive. A matter of supply and demand. And, right now, there is a big demand for this kind of housing and, apparently, companies that are willing to shell out big bucks to have it for some of their employees.
I would strongly suggest, if you have not already done so or secured an okay from your company to do so, you and your husband take what I call the "looky see" check it out trip to Beijing. A trip like that would prove more than invaluable to the two of you. Going there for a few days, hooking up with some seasoned expats would be able to give you a great insight to what was ahead of you, hopefully answer many if not all your questions and give you a first hand view of the place that you will call home for the next few years.
I have learned over the past few years that many companies, even really seasoned overseas project companies, still, are sending many employees over on an overseas assignment totally unprepared for that assignment, down to NOT giving them a good list of what to put in their shipment of what they will not be able to find in their new home that they will just assume that they can find there and what not to bother with putting in the shipment because, now, they can that needed item in their new home.
Also, going over before the big move will,hopefully, with the right hlep, give you a chance, first hand to pick out the place where you will be living so you will have a good first hand knowledge of what you are dealing with in space, storage, needs, etc. for that place and the life you will have there on an everyday basis. (take photos, measurements,etc).
Okay, I have rambled on enough. There are a couple of websites about living in Beijing including owning a pet you could check out, if not already done so. There are over 200,000 foreigners living in Beijing, from all countries of the world. And, there are about four to five monthly magazines, printed in Engliish targeted for the foreigners living in Beijing,all chalked full of valuable information about what is what and what is going on, on many levels for the foreigners living in Beijing. There is also a must have guide for all the foreigners living in Beijing to have handy, The Insiders Guide to Beijijng. It is published every year and the same pub. company puts out what I think is the best of the monthly magazines for the foreigners, That's Beijing. Looks these publications up online.
Good luck. Any questions send them my way and will try to answer them. Susan
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