Mail delivery in foreign countries

[shane_c]

I was typing up an address this morning for someone in China and got to wondering how they determine where to send it to in China when the address is written in English (or any other foreign country where English is not the first language). I realize that there are always some people that can speak English but I would imagine in some very remote places in the world they'd have no idea where it's supposed to go.

[normtwofinger]

You should have the address both in English and Chinese or whatever the primary language is.

[shane_c]

We send letters all over the world so I can't possibly know every language. It's correspondence in regards to an application they sent us. The students have the address in English on the application but I was just curious when we send stuff back to these far off places if the post office gets it if they're like WTF...

[Northendzone]

letters are still sent thru the mail?

have you tried posting this question on ask.com?

[Rathji]

Just send it to whatever return address they have listed. If they are not smart enough to know what need to be put on an envelope so it will reach them, I am pretty sure they didn't deserve to get it.

[Kavvy]

Here's a question.

If i send a letter anywhere international, it costs $1.85.

I understand the volume they may deal with, but I wasted more then $1.85 dealing with the worker at the post office as I don't carry these stamps at home.

How do other nation's post offices get paid for this letter? Does Canada Post split the $1.85 with the incoming post office and any other organization that deals with the letter in-between? Or is there some sort of horse trade where national post offices don't charge each other for incoming postage?

[NBC]

I'd be surprised if anyone on CP knew the answers to your questions. I for one have no clue.

It's an interesting enough query though. Good luck in searching.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by NBC

I'd be surprised if anyone on CP knew the answers to your questions. I for one have no clue.

It's an interesting enough query though. Good luck in searching.

CP knows all.

Some member who works in the Post Office will come along shortly to answer the question. This place is better than google.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Kavy

Here's a question.

If i send a letter anywhere international, it costs $1.85.

I understand the volume they may deal with, but I wasted more then $1.85 dealing with the worker at the post office as I don't carry these stamps at home.

How do other nation's post offices get paid for this letter? Does Canada Post split the $1.85 with the incoming post office and any other organization that deals with the letter in-between? Or is there some sort of horse trade where national post offices don't charge each other for incoming postage?

Kind of like this. Its actually similar to the way ISPs manage traffic between themselves.

If you have an annual surplus of mail (based on weight) going from one country to another, then the originating country's postal service pays the destination's postal service 'terminal dues' based on the difference. It is based how much mail is sent between the countries in a given year, with some countries have special arrangements, like the EU/US and US/Canada, for example.

[Oil Stain]

I have sent packages both from within foreign countries like China, Thailand, and Vietnam, and to them and it has never been an issue.

Perhaps English is a requirement to work in the post office, or there is at least one English reading person.

At the very least, I am thinking that nearly every country has a system for transcribing their language into Roman Characters. In China it is Pinyin. I would think that knowing this would be part of the job when working at a Post Office.