Welcome to the second installment of the Expat Homeschool Mom in China Series.
I regularly get emails from women who are planning to move to China and homeschool their children. One main concern is, “how do you get books?” That’s a great question to ask because it does require quite a bit of advance planning and budgeting.
Here is my advice based on my own experience of seven years in China.
Disclaimer –China is huge, and things vary greatly from city to city and from province to province. I can only tell you what I’ve seen from living in three different provinces. The only way you truly know what’s available where you will be living is to COME.
Question: Can I buy English books in China? Will libraries have English books?
Short Answer: No and no.
at a Chinese bookstore
Longer Answer: Actually, you may find a rare English book in China, promoted as a resource for second language learners. I’ve seen some classics such as Frankenstein or A Tale of Two Cities in bookstores. A few bilingual books are also in the language learning section. But it’s not the kind of thing you can count on. You certainly wouldn’t want to trust the Chinese bookstores to carry the books that you need to homeschool or that you want for recreational reading (unless you read Chinese).
Libraries are a different thing from American libraries. They are not inviting, colorful, user-friendly, up-to-date places. You will find the same type of selection of English books in libraries that you find at a bookstore (probably not even as varied). You can try, though! Maybe your library experience will be radically different from mine. In China, you never know what kind of gem you may stumble upon.
And if you live in a mega-city in China, one that is modern and has lots of foreigners, you may even have a bookstore selling imported English books. But the prices will be expensive, and the selection is sure to be slim. Books for children will be extremely rare.
My Top Three Methods for Getting Books in China
1. Bring it on a plane.
Most of what we bring over from a trip to America is books. Of course, we pay overage fees with the airline. But paying airplane overage is cheaper than mailing them. The last time we came over (2008) a 50 lb. box of books cost around $300 to mail and only $150 as a piece of luggage. I will admit that checking twelve pieces of luggage is not convenient, but this is a relatively economical option. (I’m assuming that you know there is no more international surface mail with the USPS. All international mail is now airmail.)
NOTE –Feb. 2010 I checked overage rates on United Airlines. Now the rates are higher — $200 per 50 lb. piece beyond your allowed 2 bags.
2. Buy from Amazon
Sprite opening an Amazon order.
Although you will have to pay Amazon’s international shipping of $5 per book, the service is very reliable and comes straight to your door (or apartment complex) with no duties or paperwork. It takes around two weeks to get an order (not more than three weeks). Customer service is also excellent. Once I ordered a map that was lost in transit. When I contacted Amazon, they sent a replacement for no extra charge. I was very impressed!
3. Buy from Bookdepository.com
In July 2010, I was in the midst of placing an order when I sadly discovered that BD no longer ships to China! I emailed the company for more information, but for now, BD is not an option. I am terribly disappointed.
Book Depository claims to have free worldwide shipping. Actually it’s only to 90 countries, but China is one of them. When you browse their site, the cost of the book already includes all fees. I’ve discovered that Book Depository is often cheaper than Amazon by $1 to $3 (when you factor in Amazon’s international shipping fees).
After receiving my first order, I can say that Book Depository is a good option for China. Each book was packaged individually in either a bubble wrap envelope or in a cardboard book container. I would prefer one box with everything, but at least it all arrived in a timely manner and in excellent condition. I ordered on Nov. 16, and the first book arrived exactly two weeks after that on Nov. 30. It came straight to our apartment complex. The second book arrived on Dec. 2, but oddly enough we had to physically go to the post office and show a passport to claim it. I consider that a huge inconvenience, especially since each item was shipped individually and arrived on different dates. (Amazon items always come straight to our apartment.) However, I think the issue may have been a quirk of our own city’s post office because after my husband politely complained, the remaining four packages came directly to us on Dec. 3.
So overall, our order of six items was completely received within 17 days after the order! Impressive! I will be using Book Depository again.
4. Better World Books
A huge thanks to Paige for introducing me to BetterWorldBooks.com
. This is a very good option for China as long as you’re not in a hurry. It costs only $4 per book for international shipping. And you can buy used books at Better World Books, so the prices are really low. The website says, “2-5 weeks from order to arrival” for international orders. But it’s simply not accurate.
Here’s my Better World Books experience. On Dec. 24 I placed an order for 10 books for $99. (I was thrilled with that ratio! At Amazon, a $100 order is more like four or five books.) According to the website, I should get my package within five weeks. A bit after five weeks BWB sent me an email asking about my delivery. When I told them it was not here yet, they quickly refunded my money. I was impressed with the customer service but discouraged about the lost books. As I told them, I’d rather have the books than the $99. BWB told me that shipments to China often take two to three months and that the package may still arrive. And it did eventually arrive!
On Feb. 27, I got a notice to get the package at my neighborhood post office. And voila! The books were used and in different conditions from fair to excellent. But who cares? I got books!
What other options are there?
Media Bag
- You can have visiting friends bring you resources. If it can fit within their luggage weight limits, that’s “free” shipping!
- Or if you’ve got rich relatives and friends, they can pay for the horrific international postage rates.
- Some people buy directly from curriculum providers who ship in M-bags (M is for media). As far as I know, Sonlight is the only company that will do this at no additional cost. I did have books sent successfully to China from Beautiful Feet. It was quick and easy (but not cheap). Rainbow Resource will ship abroad. But it’s truly painful — shipping is figured at 30% of your total order.
- Forget books altogether; buy E-books and instant downloads (at Currclick, for example). Of course, that means you’ll be printing more.
- Get your hands on a Kindle, and use the wireless Whispernet service (which DOES work for free in China) to download ebooks.
- Trade books on Bookmooch. This is something like Paperback Swap, but with an international option. It’s not the kind of thing where you could get the bulk of your homeschool books. But Bookmooch could serve to fill in the gaps in your children’s recreational reading library. (Bookmooch is blocked in China, so you’ll need a VPN to access it.)
For others living in China, please feel free to share your tips and experiences with bringing or shipping books to China.
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{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
Expats are often connected via email-lists, an Embassy network or churches. They are restricted on the amount they are allowed to ship to the next assignment. For every 10 books they leave behind, there are a few useful educational books. Make sure these books don’t end up in the bin but are left behind for you!
I know the government limits the internet use, but these are sites to sneak in books via the computer: http://www.storylineonline.net/
http://www.tumblebooks.com/library/asp/customer_login.asp?accessdenied=%2Flibrary%2Fasp%2Fhome%5Ftumblebooks%2Easp
http://www.rif.org/
Oh, another thing, a lot of authors (like Lucy Cousins and Ezra Jack Keats) have free books you can look at via their websites.
I’ve had good luck with Better World Books. They only charge $4 a book and their prices are usually cheaper than Amazon. Only problems is it can take between 2 to 6 weeks to get to China. I’ve also borrowed from other ex-pat friends! Neat series, Jimmie, thanks for sharing it!
@Paige — Oh! Thanks for the new possibility. I’d never heard of Better World Books. I’ve found it and am checking it out right now! I notice the books are used, though. And 2-6 weeks is a LONG time. But it’s wonderful to have another option.
@J’s mom — Thanks for the online reading links. I love ebooks!
@Paula — I have been the recipient of some of those hand me down books. Boy, was I thankful! I think most all foreigners know not to throw away English books. They are so precious!
We were told by our post office here in the US that the M bags were discontinued. Have you used them recently?
@Deanne,
HI! Been wondering how you are!
The last time that Amazon shipped an order it was in an M bag. That was several months ago. I’ve never had an individual send one.
Jimmie,
Thanks for starting this series since it has led to some relaly good discussions around here. Our family actually discussed this entry while on a walk yesterday. We all take for granted our public library, Amazon practically overnight, and a Borders books less than 30 minutes away.
I never told you congratulations on winning the blog award either and I wanted you to know that I think your blog is the best not only in the category you won in but in several others as well. *****5 star blog in my book!
Thanks for all you give back to the homeschooling community.
Barb
.-= Barb-Harmony Art Mom´s last blog ..Storm Damage: Good Bye Old Friends =-.
Great post on a very useful topic for all of us here! We used to use Better World (they sell new as well as used), but found that the books sometimes took forever… like 6-10 weeks. I still think they’d be a good option if I was planning way ahead cuz the prices are so good and free shipping can’t be beat (maybe when deciding on a next-semester’s curriculum). I’ll check into Book Depository too, I never heard of that one.
.-= Lori Ann´s last blog ..Simply Today: Dec. 21 ‘09 =-.
@Lori Ann — Shipping is free at Better World only for USA deliveries. Each book costs and additional $4 for international delivery. Still quite a bargain!
@ Paige — I am so glad you told me about Better World. I’ve placed my first order. I got 10 books, all used, for $99 total! I am thrilled! The confirmation email I got says they usually arrive in 2-3 weeks but could be up to five weeks. I will update this post with the results.
Hi Jimmie,
Don’t you just love getting books in the post!! I hope you Amazon parcels aren’t as difficult to get delivered as your NEW ZEALAND butter
Thanks for commenting on my art posts. I’m not sure why you can’t see all the photos. They are on my facebook page. I thought maybe it’s because the album is private, but Dana (schoolforus) is able to view them and others that are not fb friends have too. Any other ideas?
Have a blessed Christmas!
Rachael.
@Rachael — Facebook is blocked in China. Mystery solved.
Jimmie, becasue of this post I’m taking every book I can get my hands on over to China with us! I’ll lug them back and forth on trips so we can keep the ones I want the kids to have later in life. I’m not sold on an e-reader for me just yet. I’m praying our local Metro and Carefour will have butter and cheese at all times.
I just found this post… I’m totally going to look to see if Peru is on their accepted list. I still mainly just buy all my books ahead of time and they sit at my parents’ house until we know someone is coming. Then we load them up with all our heavy-weight bags!!
amy in peru
.-= Amy in Peru´s last blog ..Hymn Study & Spanish all-in-one! =-.
@Amy,
Oh, I so hope so!
Love this site! We’ve been homeschooling in China for eight years and getting books is always a challenge. I finally broke down and bought a Kindle, which is great for my books and some read-alouds. For school books I’ve started to use mostly Evan-Moor e-books or book depository. One of my favorite used-book resources is hslibrarybuilder.com. They have a good selection (always changing) and excellent customer service. But it’s best to have their books sent to loved ones in the States who can then ship or carry them into China. And while surface m-bags have been discontinues, the more expensive airmail bags are still allowed.
I have enjoyed your website. I am an expat homeschooling in china. Im in jiamusi. It sounds like doing the downloaded kind would be the best, and then the child could just write on the own paper the answers etc. and there wouldnt be hardly any printing,right?
we have found a way to get facebook and any other site we want on our computer.
We are an hour from Shanghai, and have just discovered a wonderful Foreign Language Bookstore on Fuzhou Lu in Shanghai. We only had about 15 mins to look once we found it, but they seemed to have a great selection and prices were better than I’ve seen in other bookstores I’ve been to here. We also found a small used bookstore that had probably 15 shelves of used English books, $1-$3 dollars each. We will definitely be returning!
Linda´s last [type] ..Shanghai World Expo 2nd Visit
Jamie I love your blog and this post just makes me smile. We live in a closed country I can’t name and I have just begun to homeschool. We can ship many items in including books etc but our issue here is theives or vice and virtue police taking items they deem evil. Last time entered with our boxes of books the security took our maps and crossed off every reference to Isreal..and scolded me not to teach my children about them..”they don’t exist” he said. We love it here (obviously for other reasons than just stated) and realize two things about books. One: when someone leaves their books are like gems and we share around, two: we often end up reading books more than once, some many many times. We find great value in this. Sometimes less is more.
Your experience and resources are so helpful. Thank you for doing all this work. I read from your blog often. I have a blog but can’t post it here. if you email me I’ll send you the link.
Bless you!
I wonder if you have had to pay taxes, duties, or import fees on books shipped to China, maybe a whole box of curriculum from a publisher such as Sonlight.
It depends on how it is shipped. I have had to pay duties. It cost more than the books themselves. Needless to say, I cried a lot.
You want to shop books by regular United States Postal Service. Do NOT send things via UPS. They will get snagged and charged.
Thanks, Jimmie, for answering. Ouch! More than the books’ price?! I am also told the books have to be in smaller boxes, less than 50 at a time, or less than a value of $500.
Yes. I had a Sonlight complete curriculum, and I paid around six hundred dollars to rescue it from customs.
As far as smaller boxes, well, the smaller the box, the less likely it will catch the attention of the customs agents. And, yes, the lower the value, the same thing applies.
What about Ace paces? Can I order from them and have them shipped to there?
Suzanne, I have no idea. You will need to ask that company directly.