Finally made it to Jilin. And my question is ...

We finally, after months of waiting, made it to China. We have been here in Jilin for a week now, shaking off our jet lag, poking around the city of Jilin, enjoying the strangeness of it all.

I have lots of questions that come to mind, so I am sure I will get good use out of this forum to get better information. Speaking of which: Where can I get (preferably in Jilin) an adapter for my Dell laptop (bought in US)? The fellow in the store here (named Da something Guan) sold me a cube-shaped adapter that is good for all sorts of plugs except mine. Walmart didn't have one either.

Looking forward to some good conversation here. I know this is a Changchun forum, but hope this post is OK here as well.
Tom

Looking forward to some good conversation here. I know this is a Changchun forum, but hope this post is OK here as well.
Tom

 , First time I ever heard that this was a Changchun forum. I hope not. Them Changchun foreigners is weirdos

Where can I get (preferably in Jilin) an adapter for my Dell laptop (bought in US)? The fellow in the store here (named Da something Guan) sold me a cube-shaped adapter that is good for all sorts of plugs except mine. Walmart didn't have one either.

Pretty much any extension cord/power bar can handle both the two prong and three prong American plugs. They look kind of strange because they are set up to take many different shapes but I think I would have a harder time finding one that couldn't take the plug than finding one that could.

Uh...yeah...this isn't a "Changchun forum" at all, although we've had several members (including me) who have lived in Changchun. We're a nation-wide forum, with members from all over the world.

Might recommend checking the tag your old adapter...will it run on 220V AC, 50 Hz?
Most will...but if not, you'll need an entire new adapter...you need to be able to convert 220/50 into 12V DC. It might be easier overall to just swap the converter than to try and adapt the old one with a unidirectional (one blade of the plug is wider than the other) plug. Fortunately, adapters are relatively cheap in China.

Oh...and welcome to The Saloon, *T!

RD:

Might recommend checking the tag your old adapter...will it run on 220V AC, 50 Hz?

Odds are very good it will. When I brought my laptop to China 3 years ago, I was stuck in Pudong airport with a long delay. One of the other passengers on the flight advised me to just break off the third prong on the plug and plug into a wall socket. That worked and I haven't worried about it since.

Stil, I resemble that comment, and I'm not even from Changchun. well I am visiting for the holiday, so maybe it's something in the water. Wait, there ain't none, so that can't be it

Ah, sounds like you're discovering that lovely Jilin-Province water rationing. Short bursts at dawn and dusk?

(This is why I advise people considering a move to Manchuria/DōngBěi (Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang Provinces) to ask about water in the housing before taking a job there!  )

Welcome to china Tom, i sincerely hope you have a great adventure. i look forward to  your offerings in the saloon. you are a brave man coming here in the middle of winter - im sure your baiju introduction will help keep you warm not forgetting of course the fair maidens.

Welcome to china Tom, i sincerely hope you have a great adventure. i look forward to  your offerings in the saloon. you are a brave man coming here in the middle of winter - im sure your baiju introduction will help keep you warm not forgetting of course the fair maidens.

Actually, there are two brave souls: Me and my wife. Thanks for the welcome. This is a great great place. Yes, quite cold. It was even colder today at the hilltops of Beijan Mountain Park - but worth it.

Might recommend checking the tag your old adapter...will it run on 220V AC, 50 Hz?
Most will...but if not, you'll need an entire new adapter...you need to be able to convert 220/50 into 12V DC. It might be easier overall to just swap the converter than to try and adapt the old one with a unidirectional (one blade of the plug is wider than the other) plug. Fortunately, adapters are relatively cheap in China.

Oh...and welcome to The Saloon, *T!

Thanks for the welcome.

The plug on my laptop has this: 100-240v, 50 - 60 hz. Will that mean then that I could get by with just an adapter, and not a converter? I am pretty ignorant on things electrical - beyond the fact that unwise configurations can be disastrous.

The plug on my laptop has this: 100-240v, 50 - 60 hz. Will that mean then that I could get by with just an adapter, and not a converter? I am pretty ignorant on things electrical - beyond the fact that unwise configurations can be disastrous.

That'll work. No converter necessary. Forget the adapter, too.

As Stil said, any power strip sold in any store will have the necessary holes... and plug into the wall mains. Eighty percent of the world's electronics are manufactured here in China now (including your Dell) so the power strips are configured to support any type of connection. Just bring your power cord to a store and check out whether it fits in the power strip. (It will.) Then use the power strip as your connector for devices.

Spend a little more and get a power strip with a surge protector.

As Stil said,

They look kind of strange because they are set up to take many different shapes but I think I would have a harder time finding one that couldn't take the plug than finding one that could.

I would recommend just going out and buying a cord for the adapter. This way when you are travelling you don't always have to carry around the power bar everywhere you go. You can just carry around an extra cord which is really cheap here. You would be able to find one in any computer store/electronics market. 

Good advice in the above posts!
I'm with Adam in that always having to bring a power strip is a pain. I always had to travel with one for my CPAP machine, and it sucked.