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Beijing customs and quarantine
Beijing health and hospitals
Chinese language a little hlep
Religious services
China visas
Beijing Electricity
The voltage is 220V.
Numerous plug types are
used and the 2 pronged
styles and the 3 pronged
angled Australian styles
are common. An adapter
with American and Australian
styles will cover most
places.
Beijing Emergency Services
Police: Call 110
Traffic Police:Call 122
Fire: Call 119
Ambulance:Call 120
Tourist hotline:Call 6513 0828
Holidays
January 1 New
Year's Day
Chinese New Year or Spring Festival depends on the Chinese lunar calendar and
is around January/February and is a major 4 day holiday.
March 8 International Women's day
May 1 International Labor Day
May 4 Youth Day
June 1 Children's Day
July 1 Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China.
August 1 Anniversary
of the Founding of the
Chinese PLA.
October 1 National Day
Internet
Most hotels have internet
and internet cafes are
easily found.
Beijing Newspapers
The China Daily is produced
on all days except Sunday
and the Beijing Weekend
on Friday has useful
visitor information
Money
The Renminbi (RMB) is referred to as yuan (spoken as: kuai) and issued as 100,
50, 10, 5, 2 and 1notes. The yuan breaks down into 10 jiao which breaks down
into 10 fen. Change can be hard to find so keep as many 10 yuan notes as
possible. There are many ATMs around but not all accept overseas cards. The
Bank of China ATMs work in English and are spread around Beijing. Credit
cards are not universally accepted and some places might display the Visa
symbol but only accept Chinese cards. It is best to have some cash in China
and not be totally reliant on plastic means to pay for things.
Office Hours
Offices in Beijing normally operate from 8 – 5 and close for lunch.
China Post
The postal system is efficient. Use envelopes with an approved size.
Safety
Beijing is generally
a safe place. As in all
world cities beware of
petty theft and it is always
advisable to use the
safe box in your hotel.
Telephone
Card phones
are the cheapest way
to phone for local
and long distance calls
and not all phone booths
allow international
calls. The mobile phone
network is 900 and
1800 MHz. The country
code for China is 86;
the city code for Beijing
is 010 and for Beijing
local calls just dial
the 8-digit number.
To make an international
direct dial call from
Beijing use the international
access code "00". Local SIM cards are easily available and are offered as you arrive at Beijing International airport.
Time
Beijing is 16 hours
ahead of US Pacific Time,
13 hours ahead of US
Eastern Standard Time
and 8 hours ahead of
Greenwich Mean Time.
This means that if it
12 noon in Beijing it
is 2pm in Sydney; 4am
in London; and 11pm the
previous day in New York.
Times change slightly
due to daylight savings
adjustments in some countries.
Tipping
Tips are generally not
expected and a service
charge is normally added
to restaurant bills.
The main exception are
hotel porters and tour
guides who happily accept
tips.
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