I will be having the Caravel shipped to the US (since China charges 20% import fees using some retail pricing scheme they have) test it out using boiling water and then hand carry it back to Beijing (220 v.) Hopefully I won't have too many problems with it here in China and will be able to service all gaskets and such myself. Caravel looks really simple compared to my La Pavoni.

Oh and the map is really nice, i'll hang on to that as well.

There do exist commercial shippers that will do port-to-port shipments where you can do your own customs clearance. (I took delivery of my Techno this way, also some of my person goods when moving to the US from England.) For example, the airline freight services work this way: drop a package off at one airport with a Continental agent, pick it up at another. Having said this, you're shipping from Italy, which is notorious for theft during shipments (though I never experienced this myself), so you should use a service with good reliability and insurance.

David R. wrote:Having said this, you're shipping from Italy, which is notorious for theft during shipments (though I never experienced this myself), so you should use a service with good reliability and insurance.

These problems can be avoided with the Tony Soprano Customs Clearing Service. Alternatively, they are sometimes a good source for deals, as in the unlikely scenario where an espresso machine falls off a truck.

ken