Question 1

Do I really need a traveler's diarrhea antibiotic for Beijing?

Accepted Answer

Not for most meals, but the food is exactly why you carry one. CDC advises most China travelers to be vaccinated for hepatitis A and typhoid and to carry a medication for travelers' diarrhea, because food and water are the main exposure. Most stomach upset you get in Beijing will be mild and pass on its own with fluids. The reason to carry azithromycin is the exception: an unfamiliar street-stall or banquet dish that turns into a moderate to severe case far from home. CDC recommends azithromycin as the first-line empiric antibiotic across Asia because Campylobacter, a leading cause of TD in the region, is widely resistant to the older fluoroquinolones like ciprofloxacin. The Wandr standard is azithromycin 500 mg once daily for 3 days. You carry it and only take it if you need it.

Question 2

What is the hydroxyzine for?

Accepted Answer

The jet lag. Beijing runs 12 to 16 hours ahead of the continental US, and CDC notes that eastward flights are the ones that make it hard to fall asleep at the normal local bedtime, because your body clock is still anchored to the time back home. Hydroxyzine (Vistaril) is a sedating prescription antihistamine that helps you actually get to sleep on those first wrong-time-zone nights, and it can also take the edge off a long-haul flight. It is a sleep and calm aid for the adjustment days, not a cure for jet lag. CDC's other evidence-based levers, like morning light, staying on the local schedule, and timing caffeine, still do the heavy lifting on resetting your clock.

Question 3

What about malaria in China?

Accepted Answer

Not on this itinerary. CDC limits China's malaria risk to rural areas of a handful of provinces (Anhui, Guizhou, Hainan, Henan, Hubei, and Yunnan), and even there it is seasonal and rural. Beijing, the Great Wall day-trip corridors, and the major cities carry no malaria risk, so there is no malaria pill in this kit and you do not need one for a standard Beijing trip. If your plans take you into rural southern or central China, that is a different conversation: talk to a provider about chemoprophylaxis for the specific provinces and seasons on your route. This page is built for the food and the jet lag, which is what a Beijing-and-Wall trip actually asks of most travelers.

Question 4

What's in the Beijing & Great Wall Travel Pack?

Accepted Answer

Three prescriptions in one visit. Azithromycin 500 mg, taken once daily for 3 days, as the antibiotic CDC favors for a moderate to severe traveler's diarrhea case in Asia. Dicyclomine (Bentyl) to quiet the cramping and gut spasm that ride along with a food-related stomach. Hydroxyzine (Vistaril) to help you sleep through the eastbound jet lag nights and to settle a long flight. Two risks, three prescriptions, one visit.

Question 5

How fast can I actually get it?

Accepted Answer

Orders are reviewed by a US-licensed provider and the Rx is sent electronically to your pharmacy within 24 hours. Most travelers can pick it up the same day.

Question 6

What if the provider decides the meds aren't right for me?

Accepted Answer

If a provider can't safely prescribe (rare, usually a macrolide allergy with azithromycin or a reason to avoid a sedating antihistamine), the visit fee is refunded in full. You only pay if the Rx is sent.

Beijing puts you twelve time zones and one unfamiliar meal away from home. Carry the kit for both.

Rx at your pharmacy in three steps.

Skip the appointment. Get the same Rx.

Beijing & Great Wall medication FAQ

Eat the duck. Walk the Wall. Sleep when your body finally lets you.