Airlines CAAC (tel 0311/606884) is at 5 Bei Dajie. You can also buy tickets from an office next to the Hualian Commercial Building opposite the train station.

Banks and exchange The Bank of China is at 136 Xinhua Dong Lu (Mon-Fri 8.30am-noon & 2-4.30pm).

Bike rental Bikes can be rented from a stall on the east side of the train-station concourse, opposite the Hualian Commercial Building, at the back of a large bike park (daily 8am-8pm; ¥5 a day, deposit ¥50).

Bookshops The Xinhua Bookstore at 13 Jiefang Lu sells English-language classic novels on the second floor.

Post office On Gongli Jie, opposite the west side of the train station (daily 7am-9pm). There's a 24-hour telephone office in the same building.

Trains The advance booking office for train tickets is at 47 Zhongshan Lu (daily 8am-noon & 2-5pm), though buying tickets from the large station itself should not be too stressful. The soft-seat waiting room, behind the station - come out of the entrance, turn right, then right again - with fishponds and an aviary, is glorious. Several hotels in town will also book train tickets for you.

Travel agents The unusually helpful CITS office, 22 Yucai Jie (tel 0311/5815102), is on the seventh floor of the building opposite the Hebei Hotel. Staff speak English and can provide information about the whole province.