A Tale of Three Cities, part three

The third city in this tale is Shanghai, China.

Once the package arrived at the DHL office at the Pudong International Airport, it needed the proper customs clearance.  That sounds easy, but it really is more complicated than that.

A 38-minute subway ride from school to the customs office, an interpreter to fill out the form for me in Chinese, and three separate windows (Primary Approval, Secondary Approval, and Cashier (it was the same officer at the Primary and Secondary Approval window, he just moved over one seat)) was what it took to complete the "Custom Cover" paperwork, but I still had to take the paperwork back to school to get an official seal stamped on it!

The yellow dots mark the subway journey. 

I went back to school, got the stamp, and rushed back to the office to turn the paperwork into window #4, Final Approval (different officer).  With the paperwork completed, I sent it to DHL via courier and was told to wait for one week to see if the Department of Agriculture (CIQ) would allow me to import the masa flour.  I had to wait up to 7 days to find out if the masa would be delivered or destroyed.

The End of the Story

Finally, on Monday, December 13th, I received the long-awaited package.  It felt light -- not a good sign.  I carefully opened it, looked inside, and saw that there was no package of masa inside.  So, I have a comal, tortilla press,  cookbook, and tortilla warmer, but no masa to make fresh, homemade tortillas.

(Sigh).  Oh well.

I wonder if China will let me import livestock? 

 I'll start here: