This thread illustrates nicely why BBs such as this and commercial sites (e.g., the Lonely Planet site quoted) are such poor sources of health information.
Example 1: “Immunisation against cholera, hepatitis A and B, Japanese encephalitis, polio, rabies and typhoid is considered essential.” is nonsense. The currently available cholera vaccine is nearly useless and “At the present time, the manufacture and sale of the only licensed cholera vaccine in the United States (Wyeth-Ayerst) has been discontinued. It has not been recommended for travelers because of the brief and incomplete immunity if offers”- CDC. The Japanese B encephalitis vaccine is only recommended for people "likely to be exposed Japanese encephalitis (“only if you plan to visit rural areas for 4 weeks or more, except under special circumstances, such as a known outbreak of Japanese encephalitis”-CDC).
Example 2: “I spent 3 months in Beijing and didn’t have any problems, as well as a couple weeks in really, really rural areas. I also ate some stuff that was fairly questionable by “rich foreigner” standards. I got the famous Xinjiang raisin diarrhea, but that’s all. Sure, you’re safer with vaccinations, but if you’re only there for a week, and you have a reasonable amount of common sense about what you eat, I personally wouldn’t bother with the money and effort.” Well, I drove from LA to San Fran drunk as a skunk and not wearing a seat belt and I arrived without a scratch. Sure your safer if you are sober and wearing a seat belt, but …"
Example 3: “somewhat tangential - many antibotics are sold OTC in China - result: new, improved, antibiotic-resistant bugs. get the shots.” This is really very, very tangential since hepatitis A, polio, , Japanese encephalitis are caused by viruses, not antibiotic-susceptible bacteria and antibiotic resistance is not a big problem for tetanus or diptheria.
In answer to your question, here are the CDC’s recommendations for travellers to East Asia:
Hepatitis A or immune globulin (IG), except travelers to Japan. At 26, if you’ve lived in Vacouvera ll your life, you have probably not had hepatitis A yet and the best thing would be to get the 2 shot vaccine series for lifelong protection. (The first shot is already >90% effective.) There’s no reason to bother with the IG.
Hepatitis B, if you might be exposed to blood (for example, health-care workers), have sexual contact with the local population, stay longer than 6 months, or be exposed through medical treatment. In the opion of most experts, nearly everybody should get the hepatitis B vaccine series, certainly a 26 year old who visits East Asia.
Japanese encephalitis, only if you plan to visit rural areas for 4 weeks or more, except under special circumstances, such as a known outbreak of Japanese encephalitis. Not for you.
Rabies, if you might be exposed to wild or domestic animals through your work or recreation. Not for you. If you get bitten by an animla that could be rabid, then get the series (same as in North America).
Typhoid, particularly if you are visiting developing countries in this region. Not for you. Risk of typhoid is low, typhoid is treatable, vaccines do not give lifelong protection, oral vaccine is a problem to take, and injectable vaccine makes you sick for a day or so.
As needed, booster doses for tetanus-diphtheria and measles, and a one-time dose of polio for adults. You should get a tetanus-diptheria booster if you haven’t had one for more than 10 years. You probably don’t need a measles booster (“In general, travelers can be considered immune to measles if they have documentation of physician-diagnosed measles, laboratory evidence of measles immunity, or proof of receipt of two doses of live measles vaccine on or after their first birthday.” - CDC) If you received the full polio vaccine series as a child, you don’t need a booster for travel to Beijing because there is no polio in Beijing.
You might want to check out this source of free and authoritative information: http://www.cdc.gov/travel/eastasia.htm