mandarin

what are some good resources for a native english speaker to learn mandarin? i have pimsleur, but it obviously doesnt help with simplified chinese. i'm going to china for an indefinite period soon (too soon to be fluent), and would like a head start

Do buy a Mandarin textbook, learn the basics.

Once you get there, it will get infinitely easier as you'll understand the structure and you'll hear commonly used phrases. Use your adaption to Mandarin to accelerate your learning (because you'll be using the textbook in China as well)