Dear Slate, yes there are chocolate bars in China
Cinematheque: Mulan is finally Chinese again! (and other film news)
Protest in Guangzhou: Why would you burn garbage?
Barbie Spa: For the cosmopolitan plastic beauty in you
Obama in China: Long gone, and still headlinin'
Yes, it's hard hitting reporting like this that has people wondering how we avoid the censors. But we recently found ourself in need of an ACE bandage, known in some parts of the world as an elastic bandage. Back home, we would have just headed to the local drugstore to buy one, but we had heard some people having trouble finding them in Shanghai — so we figured we'd tell you how we found ours yesterday.
We followed a tip from a friend:
There's an orthopedics and amputee hosptal on Jiaozhou Lu between Beijing Lu and and Xinzha Lu (north of Jing'an Temple). There's quite a few stores around there that have this stuff, along with knee guards, ankle braces, prosthetic legs, wheelchairs. You may find what you need there.
Sounded like a good idea, so we went there ... and the stores had everything but ACE bandages. These places all seemed like they should have ACE bandages, but they looked at us like we were stupid for thinking they would. Where did they tell us to go? Our local drugstore. D'oh!
So we went to a pharmacy near Huashan Hospital (it's the pharmacy directly across from the hospital on Huashan Lu, closest to the intersection with Wulumuqi Lu). And sure enough, they had them. They are called 弹性绷带 (dan xing beng dai, literally "medical elastic bandage") and they were RMB 3.6 per 75x4500 mm bandage (the 4500 must be measured when the bandage is completely stretched out). We assume most local pharmacies would have them.
But if you don't feel like leaving the house (or are too injured to do so), there's always good ol' Taobao. These are pretty much exactly what we got, and cheaper (until you factor in shipping).
While you are icing and bedridden, you may enjoy this rock opera starring Ace Bandage.
Be careful out there.
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You know what else is tough to find in Shanghai?
EARPLUGS!
Shanghai's squealing bicycles have had me on a mad search for a local source of earplugs for some time now.
Does anyone here know where they can be found?
As an aside, everytime I start asking around about earplugs, locals give me odd looks and ask me why in the world I would need them!
"Be careful out there" is right. Had a condom break the other night for the first time in my sexual career. The propho was a little old, been carried a few times, but I might also have been over zealous opening the packaging in the heat of the moment. Needless to say, the girl and I were both freaked out and I went scrambling for info on the "morning after pill" and its availability in Shanghai. You can google for more about the actual drugs in Vitamin Ooops. Just one dose within 24-72 hours of your accident and no real side effects other than it prevents pregnancy.
Worldlink Shanghai said they would charge 1000-1500 RMB just for consultation, then you'd presumably fill the prescription for a few hundred more at their pharmacy. We then called the international clinic at Huashan Hospital and they referred us to American-Sino Ob-Gyn (Huashan Rd at Changle Rd). Nice English speaking staff, and I made an appointment for the same day. Very clean offices, and you can check email in the waiting area. After filling out some forms, the nurses took her vitals, the doctor took her to a private room and examined inside her (to see if any broken bits of latex remained - which they did not as it was just a tear, not really a break), and we were out in 30 mins. Consultation cost 500, pill cost 100. Peace of mind is priceless.
http://www.americanobgyn.com/
Seems they have more advanced services if your problem has gotten more serious or if you decide to start a family.
Maybe you can repost this as an article so it actually helps someone.