Have you hand-written the Chinese addresses and had them arrive?

Postcrossing General Topics
22

I wrote my first ever Chinese address last week and now I also worry whether it is going to arrive. I normally print out the addresses but since I had read on the forum that people write them even without knowing any of the characters, I thought I’d give it a try. I think it looked pretty child-like but I hope it will arrive nonetheless :wink:

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23

There have been rumors that Pinyin addressed mail sits in piles until a translator is available to work on those items, sometimes several extra days.

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24

Personally, I always write the addresses in their local alphabet or whatever, I find it very challenging. With Chinese, Japanese, and other languages which use complex ideograms, I break down the task in three parts:
1- calculate the proportions (in order not to distort them nor have little room to write many of them);
2- identify each one of them with simple things they look like (a man with a hat, a house, a square box, … not what they really mean, which I don’t know, but just what they are similar to, to make it easier for me to draw them);
3- respect the distances (for some reason, I tend to put closer some ideograms and more distant others… no idea why, so I have to focus on it).

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25

I have always printed them glued it on and put a piece of cello tape over the top. It has reached the destination each time I have done that

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26

I think they’ll be sent indiscriminately to the translation department.

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27

Hello there, I print on regular printer paper and then trim it down as small as possible and then use a square of clear packing tape. I place the tape sticky side up on my desk and then I place the address face down into the sticky, then I flip it over and put the tape on the postcard.

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28

Thanks @TatianaFromSiberia that is very encouraging! And good to know. :smiley:
PS @Megan-and-Colin, I really like that tip, too, which I’ll try next time I do a print version.

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29

I sent a card to china with the english address handwritten, unfortunately it didn’t arrive, over a 100 days travelling so far :sweat:

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30

Has the person been registering other cards faster?

31

i think so, I’ve seen the user online a few times too.
it’s expired now so i don’t really expect anything more

32

I put a piece of mailing tape over the address I’ve printed out.

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33

I had a card arrive in China after 197 days. Hope yours makes it soon!
Here’s a forum topic about mail to China:

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34

I have never attempted to hand write a foreign address with Japanese or Chinese characters because I, like most people, think it wouldn’t be decipherable therefore it wouldn’t get to its destination.
I’ve always typed it on paper then sealed it with clear packing tape (and trimming off the edges!) before adding postage. Works like a charm!

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35

I have written the address in Chinese letters once so far, but this thread now motivates me to do that more often.

Actually, I should say that I “painted” the address…
To not make any mistakes I made a screenshot and then enlarged the image, so that I could exactly see how each letter looks like, and then I just copied it very carefully by hand onto the postcard.

Like another member wrote earlier I got a lovely review and the recipient praised my “skills”

It was, of course, more time consuming than just using the Latin letters, but it was a challenge and worth it. :slight_smile:

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36

I hand-write all of my Chinese addresses and they have all arrived (or most of them, the normal amount that could get lost).
I have gotten some fun comments about my poor handwriting though :joy:

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37

For everyone who handwrites or even prints the Chinese addresses, do you also write the address or at least the country name in English (or the language of your home country) underneath it? If not, how do you ensure your home country’s postal service figures out which country it’s going to? (I try to include my own return address, just to be safe…)

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38

Yes, I write the country in English and/or the language of the country I’m sending from. I think that’s a requirement in international mail - you can write the country of the originating country, or English, or maybe French? I’m sure someone will know the actual regulations.

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39

I always try to write the Chinese address in Chinese if it’s given as I heard it’s the fastest way. I do this because Korea address can also be quite confusing if written in English.
My assumption is that most of the older people delivering mails in China and Korea cannot speak or read English. In Korea, because they have never been taught English in school back then.
Then because it’s international mail, I always write the country in capital letters in English at the very bottom.

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40

I always hand write my Chinese addresses ( I study Japanese so it does help me practice writing kanji as well ) for now every postcard did have arrived but the last one I send in December is still traveling so I hope it will arrive soon
Regarding country I never got an address where they have the address country written only in Chinese. Usually will be written in English or they will have it mixed English and Chinese together

  • but I did hear from a girl that wanted to swap with me that I need to send a registered mail to her in China since she lives in a small town and even if they have mail no one will come to deliver it
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41

I almost always write a Chinese address in Chinese characters, even though I don’t speak Chinese. To check how clear I wrote, I use Google Translate: I just point the screen of my smartphone to the address I wrote. Google usually understands everything, so I hope the Chinese postman will too :slightly_smiling_face:

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