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Bringing a Cat to Hangzhou  BRINGING A CAT TO HANGZHOU
Copyright 2002, Michael LaRocca


In September 2000, I went to the Hong Kong SPCA to adopt a cat.
And you've read a lot about her, right? Well, here's some more!

We moved to Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, mainland China in
February 2002.

So, how hard is it to bring a cat into China?

Native Chinese aren't allowed to import pets at all. Foreigners
can, but only with a Residency Permit. The only way to get a
Residency Permit is to move to China. So that meant,
unfortunately, our cat couldn't join us on our flight. But the
fine folks at Export-A-Pet arranged for her to be boarded for
roughly two weeks. They sent Picasso to us when the paperwork was
> in order. I especially want to thank Paul, Mark and Anne for
their efforts.

Beyond that, it's just a matter of routine vaccinations and a
health certificate, which aren't hard to get. Her vaccinations
were always up-to-date anyway.

There is a 30-day quarantine period, but China has something
called "home quarantine." This meant Picasso could come home from
the airport, for a fee, so long as she didn't leave our flat for
30 days. In Hong Kong, she only left the flat to visit the vet,
so staying inside didn't bother her.

Before we made the move, we visited some websites to learn about
what is and isn't available in Hangzhou. We found no one who'd
brought a pet here, but according to people in other parts of
China, some things are impossible to obtain. Cat food, cat
litter, scratching posts, scratching pads, litter boxes.

{This was before the SARS scare. Home quarantine rules may be
different now!}

So now the folks at Customs probably think we're nuts. We shipped
ourselves all these things, including about eight cases of her
favorite foods. In our first week in Hangzhou, we learned this
was all entirely unnecessary. I haven't seen a scratching post
yet, but the locals I've spoken to know what it is. I brought
along some flea repellent and some ear cleaner, so I haven't
actually looked for those yet.

{I've moved to Shaoxing since writing this, and regularly travel
to Hangzhou for all the aforementioned items, including
scratching posts. Shaoxing cats live outdoors, eat from massive
tins, claw trees, and wee in the woods the way Nature intended.}

I'm glad that Picasso spent the Lunar New Year in a Hong Kong
cattery instead of here in Hangzhou. The fireworks went on for at
least seven hours without a second's pause. She wouldn't have
enjoyed that. We'll see what happens next year.

{It wasn't a problem.}

Picasso left Hong Kong at 9:30 am. She arrived in Shanghai at
11:50. Then she went to Customs, where everybody was taking a
lunch break. Then they had to do lots of paperwork. At about
3:30, Picasso was put in the van that would bring her to
Hangzhou. So when she finally arrived at 6:30, she'd had a long
hard day.

Incidentally, we didn't expect Picasso until 7:30. The driver is
obviously very good at his job. I'd love that job. Wouldn't you?
Drop off animals to overjoyed parents all day.

Have you ever traveled by plane to another country? Picasso
handled it much better than I do. It took her about a minute to
come out of her crate, and another minute for her lovely tail to
stand up straight and twitch with pleasure.

Then came claiming territory. Rubbing on everything, sniffing
everything. Oh, and so many things. It's a much bigger flat than
she's ever lived in before. Many cuddles, then sleeping on the
pillow for a bit.

Maybe an hour before Picasso arrived, the fireworks started
again. Last day of the Spring Festival. I worried that they would
bother her. But nope. She just looked out the windows (many
windows) at them from time to time. Much more interesting were
the cars, bicycles and pedestrians.

The next morning, we left her alone to go teach. I came home
around 1:30 and disturbed some looking out the window. About an
hour later she realized that she'd missed lunch. Dinner was also
quite late, because she forgot about it. Too busy cuddling.

Her second day in Hangzhou, she finally had a good long sleep. I
am incredibly proud of her for handling so much stress so well.
Better than we did. She's made of tough stuff.

My biggest challenge will probably be explaining to my favorite
class that I can't bring Picasso to school. To quote one of them,
they want to see her and to touch her because she is so
beautiful. (I showed them photos.) Another student, not even in
any of my classes, has offered to bring Picasso fresh fish. Maybe
he can meet her. Nobody's ever offered her fresh fish before. Not
even me.

So we're happy and Picasso is happy. If you're thinking of
leaving Hong Kong, maybe you're thinking of leaving your pet
behind. Maybe you're thinking it'd be cheaper to bring along a
child than a pet, and you're probably right about that. But in my
experience, it doesn't matter. Bring your pet. You'll be glad you
did.


This is an excerpt from WHO MOVED MY RICE? which could also be
called "Michael's Hangzhou book" or perhaps "Michael's Picasso
book." It was published September 2004.

Our move to Shaoxing in January 2004 was much easier. Just 90
minutes in a car with non-stop howling. Naturally, that was the
subject of another article in my free weekly newsletter, Mad
About Books. http://freereads.topcities.com/archive.html

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