Useful - A - Z, list | Bejing 2008

A - Z

Accomodation
In Beijing you find all categories, from some of the best in the world to youth hostels. Click here if you will book accommodation

Airport
Beijing International Airport handles international as well as domestic flights (Read more on Getting here)

ATM
ATMs can be found in many places throughout Beijing, in many hotels and at the airport. Bank of China is the bank number one with ATMs that work both in English and Chinese. Visa, Master Card and American Express are among the accepted credit cards. Even if there are more an more banks that have ATM, many of them don´t accept foreign credit cards.

Business hours
Monday-Friday in most offices and government offices open 8:30 a.m.- 5:30 p.m.
Banks are normally open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., some banks also on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Be aware of that some banks are closing for exchange of currency and traveller cheques one hour before closing time.

Currency
The Renminbi/RMB or Yuan is the national currency of China. Click here to see the bills

Electricity
The voltage is 220 volts, 50 cycles AC all over China. Two pronged or three pronged triangular plugs.

Holidays 2008
New Year´s Day: January 1
Chinese New Year in 2008: Feb. 7 (extends to one week or more)
Labor Day: May 1, (many takes a 5 days vacation then)
National Day: October 1, (many take a 5 days vacation)

Internet
All main hotels are today connected and there are Internet café’s all over Beijing. You find an Internet café in the south east corner of Tiananmen Square.

Mobile phone
There are good connections all over this giant metropolis, both GSM and CDMA. Beware that it can be quite expensive to use your mobile as you have to pay for all “in and out” calls from abroad. But as it is extremely practical one way to save money can be to acquire a Chinese mobile telephone number. Just buy a SIM card at the mobile phone stores, which you will find all over the city. You can easily buy and recharge cards with RMB 50 up to RMB 500.

Phone Numbers (Emergency)
Ambulance: 120
Fire Birgade: 119
Police: 110

Postal Services
Post offices of China Postal has a green logo and are open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. They offer domestic and international deliver service. In Beijing you also find DHL, FedEx and UPS.

Tipping
Even if tipping is not expected in China and discouraged by the authorities, there are exceptions. Hotel porters and tour guides accept a smaller tip. But be aware that tipping may be refused in many places if you try.

Toilets
When you are out in the streets, there are a lot of public toilets. Most of them in “Asian Style” but you can also find "Western style". The problem can be to squat if you are not used to “Asian Style", but sometimes you have no choice. Bring always with you some napkins, it is only in the star-rated toilets you will find paper. In some toilets with attendants, there can be a small fee to pay, but then you also get some toilet paper. Public toilets are easily to find even in the Hutong areas.

Voltage
See Electricity