<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Thanks for all of the good ideas on how to eat in China, and especially for the warm congratulations on the upcoming adoption of our 2nd Chinese daughter! Having been to China once before (pre- Celiac) to pick up our first daughter I'd like to add a couple of points that I feel need to be stressed. Don't drink the water. Don't open your mouth in the shower to avoid ingesting water, and don't brush your teeth in it. We found it helpful to tie a wash rag around the faucet to remind us not to turn it on. Boil all water before drinking it...most of the hotels will happily furnish you with plenty of boiled water. It's best to drink pure, unopened bottled water. Oh yes, you might want to be careful of iced drinks since they can contain ice made with contaminated water. You might also want to consider taking PetoBismal before and during your trip as a precaution against stomach bugs. We also took a series of HepA and HepB shots before we left. I understand that hepatitis A is pretty common in China and easily transmitted. Hep B might not be as much of an issue unless you are adopting a child since it can be transmitted through bodily fluids (dirty diapers...). Hope this helps! Becky _________________ The Chinese do not know celiac and do not even acknowledge its existence - so trying to explain to them is impossible. All the soy sauces used in majority of Chinese cooking contain wheat and some contain MSG too. I found the best solution was to ask for plain rice and vegetables with NO soy sauce. You can get lots of steamed fish, chicken etc. that is safe and delicious. ___________ NEVER drink any water there and if you purchase any bottled water make sure the cap is secure. They refill the bottles and try to sell them to you as new. _______________ I did take the "Gluten Rest. Card" from the back of the book "Against the Grain" by Lowell Jax Peters (I'm never sure I have her name in the correct order.) It seemed to help. ______________ I cook Chinese alot, and I seldom use flour, mostly corn starch. The problem would be the hidden gluten--for example, they use a lot of boullion type flavoring and sauces in cooking. They would not think that these would have "flour" in them. Some products in China do not list ingredients. ____________ The main difficulty is soy sauce - I took my own and did use it on occasions. Hot pots are great winter food in China - you cook your own food in a pot of boiling water at The table. ____________ In terms of bringing your own food, don't bring too much of what you can get there (fruit, for example!). Bring something portable that you can reconstitute or minimizes bulk...I always bring those Uncle Ben's Success Brown rice in a bag with me...you don't have to boil it in water, you can soak it in water (your hotel ice bucket) overnight and it will soften and absorb water. Combine that with fresh fruit (everywhere and very yummy) or a can of mandarin oranges (bring a can opener) and that will set you up for breakfast. Also they have LOTS of soy milk products similar to yogurt (Yoplait types). ________ You might want to take a cookbook with you, so if someone suggests a dish, you could look up what's in it. Tho they might make it differently. _________ i would ask that your food be steamed. bring your own tamari soy sauce (wheat free. i use eden organic.) ask how they cook it. when i had stir fried with no wheat or soy sauce, it still affected me, probably because of cross contamination. the steamer, however, should be ok if it's just used to steam veggies and chicken, whatever.