|
|
Post by jetz320 on Oct 22, 2006 1:38:59 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by YouLanFengChune on Oct 22, 2006 9:38:50 GMT
make sure u dismantle your erhu, keep the snake skin part in your check in luggage.
My friends' erhu was confiscatred b4 entering canada. Snake skin. Requires CITES
|
|
|
|
Post by song on Oct 22, 2006 12:46:01 GMT
Well, things might not be as bad as it seems. Usually if you bring an erhu across border as a personal artefact you shouldn't have any problem. It depends on the customs of different countries. I know Japan is quite particular about it, maybe Canada also.
China has been more liberal recently in giving out CITES certificates to musical instruments factory, mainly because they export lots of erhu to Japan now. If you make your purchase from a more established shop in China, you can try asking for a CITES cert.
It used to be scarce. Now we have hundreds of them.
|
|
|
|
Post by YouLanFengChune on Oct 22, 2006 15:08:08 GMT
erm, song is probably talking abou the GOLDEN CARD which is a DOMESTIC OWNERSHIP CARD. My friend had that card too, but if u read carefully, it states that BRINGING OUT OF CHINA requires an accompanying CITES. please read www.cadenzamusic.biz/cites.htmjust trying to help my last CITES application for sanxian is STILL PENDING (3 months, RMB 1000) in Beijing |
|
|
|
Post by jetz320 on Oct 22, 2006 15:41:37 GMT
What? My dad 2 years ago brought back one perfectly fine. In fact, my grandma came back from China last Tuesday and bought me a Zhonghu. So what's the big deal?
|
|
|
|
Post by jetz320 on Oct 22, 2006 15:43:55 GMT
Also, I did it in August before entering and exiting Canada. Right after those bomb threats on the flights from Heathrow to the US. They screened my bags closely. No problem. I never thought that a part of the instrument would be such a big problem. What about dizi, are they going to take it away because it has ox bone on it?!
|
|
|
|
Post by davidmdahl on Oct 22, 2006 19:37:53 GMT
Recently the family of a student of my teacher brought back a fine erhu from China. They wound up paying $1000 to get it through customs. I don't know any details about that, such as which customs assessed the "fee". It may depend a lot on simple luck, or lack thereof. Try not to look guilty of something when you go through customs. <g> And get that CITES license. No one may ask for it, but better safe... I would not expect any trouble getting a dizi through customs. It is the python skin that get the attention. It seems a lot less trouble just ordering from Singapore.  Best wishes, David |
|
|
|
Post by jetz320 on Oct 22, 2006 21:32:54 GMT
So how do I get the CITIES license?
|
|
|
|
Post by davidmdahl on Oct 22, 2006 23:50:14 GMT
So how do I get the CITIES license? That's CITES, which is an acronym for "Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species". The vendor who sells you the erhu should provide this. If not, then check the CITES website (www.cites.org) for the offices in China in the National Contacts section. Best wishes, David |
|
|
|
Post by song on Oct 23, 2006 1:10:33 GMT
I'm not talking about the Domestic Ownership Card. Those are useless I know. I've even asked my suppliers not to apply for those.
China has relaxed the rules in applying for CITES recently. A representative from Dunhuang was complaining about it the other day. She spent lots of time and energy to network with the Beijing officials to get their CITES certs approved and now, they are just giving out to anyone that applies.
So jetz, take a gamble, try your luck from the Chinese shops or order from Singapore!
|
|
|
|
Post by YouLanFengChune on Oct 23, 2006 4:56:33 GMT
not exactly.
the CITES account works ONLY with manufacturers who have legally imported snake skins (incoming Certs of Origin) 1 python is good for a maximum of 15 erhu.
lets say a manufactuer has 100 pieces of snake. the authorities in china will keep stock of how many erhu they can make (which is 1500). To get your license approved, you need to have remaining stock of legal snakes, which is more rare than diamonds in China.
I spent a whole weekend in Shuzhou last time explaining this to some manufacturers. They thought i could sell CITES (which is illegal).
They can make all the noise they want to the authorities about CITES approval at 200 - 500 renminbi per erhu. If they do not have the legal snakes, CITES from China remains an impossibility.
|
|
|
|
Post by song on Oct 23, 2006 6:22:20 GMT
Its crazy to assume that all snakeskins china imports are illegal. I'm sure a portion of the snakeskins are definitely from legal sources. Nothing has changed except that the application process for CITES from Beijing authorities have gotten much easier now. And maybe now they bother to ask their snakeskin suppliers for incoming CITES certs.
|
|
|
|
Post by jetz320 on Oct 23, 2006 22:09:00 GMT
Song, I would love a new erhu from your shop, but getting my parents to order what I wanted online a month ago, took about a month. A nice erhu around 300-400 dollars? That'll take about a year!!! Besides, my mom said I can get a good erhu and dizis in China this year.
|
|
