Airlines Most-convenient offices (open daily 8am-8pm) are China Eastern, 269 Bayi Dadao (tel 0791/6297780), and CAAC, 147 Bayi Dadao (tel 0791/6219464). Neither are obviously marked.

Bank and exchange There are branches of the Bank of China on Bayi Dadao and just off the Fushan roundabout (foreign exchange Mon-Fri 9-11.30am & 2-5pm).

Buses Nanchang's bus station looks huge and crowded, but the ticket office is user-friendly and there's no problem in getting seats on services to Jinggang Shan, Jingdezhen, Ganzhou, Jiujiang and destinations across central China.

Ferries There are seasonally variable departures from Nanchang to hamlets right around Poyang Hu. During the bird-watching season cruise boats also run to the Hou Niao Baohu reserve.

Hospital First City Hospital, Xiangshan Lu.

Internet Log on for ¥6 an hour on the ground floor of the Telecommunications building (open 8am-8pm) on Ruzi Lu.

Left luggage Offices at train and bus stations open roughly 6am-7pm.

Post and telecommunications The main post office and the Telecommunications building are near each other at the corner of Bayi Dadao and Ruzi Lu, open 8am-8pm for mail and telephones.

PSB In the large government office building, 462 Minde Lu.

Shopping Nanchang Department Store, the city's largest and best-stocked department store, is west of Renmin Square along Zhongshan Lu, Nanchang's fashion quarter.

Trains Nanchang lies on the Kowloon-Beijing line, and just off the Shanghai-Kunming line, with connections through easterly Yingtan down in to Fujian Province. Sleeper tickets are pretty easy to obtain here if you come three days in advance, but prepare yourself for some mighty queues - alternatively, book through an agent. Heading to southern Jiangxi, note that "Jinggang Shan" station is not Ciping, but a small town 120km farther east.

Travel agents Most accommodation places have travel desks where you can book train and plane tickets. The CITS is on the southern side of the courtyard behind the Jiangxi Binguan (daily 8.30-11.30am & 2-5pm; tel 0791/6221131 ext 372; fax 6224844), with English speakers on hand Mon-Fri.