Airline offices Air France, Fifth Floor,
Full Link Plaza, 18 Jianguomenwai Dajie (tel
65881388); Alitalia, Rm 141,
Jianguo Hotel,
5 Jianguomenwai Dajie (tel 65918468); All Nippon
Airways, Rm 1510, World Trade Centre, 1
Jianguomenwai Dajie (tel 65053311); Asiana
Airlines, Rm 102, Lufthansa Centre (tel 64681118);
Austrian Airlines,
Great Wall Sheraton Hotel,
10 Donghua Bei Lu (tel 65917861); British Airways,
Rm 210, SCITECH Tower, 22 Jianguomenwai Dajie (tel
65124070); CAAC, 15 Xi Chang'an Jie (tel 66013336
for domestic flights; tel 66016667 international);
Canadian Airlines, 50 Liangmaqiao Lu, Chaoyang (tel
64637901); Dragonair, L107, World Trade Centre, 1
Jianguomenwai Dajie (tel 65182533); Ethiopian
Airlines, Rm 506, World Trade Centre, 1
Jianguomenwai Dajie (tel 65050314); Finnair, Rm
204, SCITECH Tower, 22 Jianguomenwai Dajie (tel
65127180); Garuda Indonesia, Poly Plaza, 14
Dongzhimen Nan Dajie (tel 64157658); Iran Air,
CITIC Building, 19 Jianguomenwai Dajie (tel
65124940); Israeli Airlines, Rm 2906, Jing Guang
Centre (tel 65014512); Japan Airlines, Changfugong
Office Building, 26A Jianguomenwai Dajie (tel
65130888); Korean Air, Rm C401 World Trade Centre,
1 Jianguomenwai Dajie (tel 65050088); LOT Polish
Airlines, Rm 2002,
City Hotel, 4 Gongti
Dong Lu (tel 65050136); Lufthansa, Rm S101,
Lufthansa Centre, Dong Sanhuan Bei Lu (tel
64654488); Malaysia Airlines, Lot 115A/B, Level 1,
West Wing Office Block, World Trade Centre, 1
Jianguomenwai Dajie (tel 65052681); Mongolian
Airlines, China Golden Bridge Plaza, 1A
Jianguomenwai Dajie (tel 65002255); Pakistan
Airlines, Rm 106A, World Trade Centre, 1
Jianguomenwai Dajie (tel 65051681); Qantas,
Lufthansa Centre, 50 Liangmaqiao Lu (tel
64674794); Russian International Airlines, Jinglun
Hotel, 3 Jianguomenwai Dajie (tel 65002412); SAS
Scandinavian Airlines, 1403 Henderson Centre, 18
Jianguomennei Dajie (tel 65183738); Singapore
Airlines, L109, World Trade Centre, 1
Jianguomenwai Dajie (tel 65052233); Swissair, Rm
201, SCITECH Tower, 22 Jianguomenwai Dajie (tel
65123555); Thai International, Lufthansa Centre,
50 Langmaqiao Lu (tel 64608899); United Airlines,
Lufthansa Centre, 50 Liangmaqiao Lu (tel
64638551).
Banks and exchange The Commercial Bank
(Mon-Fri 9am-noon & 1-4pm) in the CITIC
Building at 19 Jianguomenwai Dajie, next to the
Friendship Store, offers the most comprehensive
service: Visa cards, travellers' cheques and cash
can be used to obtain yuan or US dollars. The main
branch of the Bank of China (Mon-Fri 9am-noon
& 1.30-5pm) is at 8 Yabuo Lu, off Chaoyangmen
Dajie, just north of the International Post
Office, but it won't do anything the smaller
branches can't. You'll find other branches in the
SCITECH Plaza (Mon-Fri 9am-noon & 1-6.30pm),
the World Trade Centre (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat
9am-noon), the Sun Dong'an Plaza (Mon-Fri
9.30am-12noon & 1.30-5pm), and the Lufthansa
Centre (Mon-Fri 9-noon & 1-4pm). A foreign
exchange office (daily 9am-6.30pm) inside the
entrance to the Friendship Store is one of the few
places you can change money at the weekend at the
standard rate. Visa holders can use ATM machines
with a "Plus" logo. If you have applied
for a visa and only have a photocopy of your
passport, some hotels and the Hong Kong and
Shanghai Bank in the Jianguo Hotel will
reluctantly advance cash on travellers' cheques;
most banks won't. If you want to wire money, or
have it wired to you, go to the International Post
Office or the China Courier Service Company at 7
Qianmen Dajie (tel 63184313).
Bike rental All the more expensive
hotels rent out bikes, but at around ¥50 a day.
Cheaper bets are the Jinghua, Jingtai,
Beiwei, Tiantan, Beiwei and Xiyuan
hotels, all of which rent bikes on a daily basis
and require a deposit of ¥200-500: the Jinghua
charges ¥10 a day, but their bikes have a
tendency to fall apart; the others charge between
¥20 and ¥50 with better bikes. A bike repair
shop at 94 Chongwenmen Dajie, near the Chongwenmen
Hotel (7.30am-6.30pm), also has a few bikes
for rent, as has a stall opposite the Tianshi
restaurant off Wangfujing.
Car rental BCNC Car Rental, with seven
offices in the city including one at the airport,
is open 24hr (tel 8008109001).
Courier service DHL has a 24-hour office
at 45 Xinyuan Jie (tel 64662211), in Chaoyang
district.
Embassies Visa departments usually open
for a few hours every weekday morning (phone for
exact times and to see what you'll need to take).
Remember that they'll take your passport off you
for as long as a week sometimes, and it's very
hard to change money without it, so stock up on
cash before applying for any visas. You can get
passport-size photos from an annexe just inside
the front entrance of the Friendship Store. Some
embassies require payment in US dollars; you can
change travellers' cheques for these at the CITIC
Building (see "Banks and exchange").
Most embassies are either around Sanlitun in the
northeast or in Jianguomenwai compound, north of
and parallel to Jianguomenwai Dajie: Afghanistan,
8 Dongzhimenwai Dajie (tel 65321582); Australia,
21 Dongzhimenwai Dajie, Sanlitun (tel 65322331);
Azerbijan, 7-2-5-1 Tayuan Building (tel 65324614);
Burma, 6 Dongzhimenwai Dajie, Sanlitun (tel
65321425); Canada, 19 Dongzhimenwai Dajie,
Sanlitun (tel 65323536); France, 3 Dong San Jie,
Sanlitun (tel 65321331); Germany, 5 Dongzhimenwai
Dajie, Sanlitun (tel 65322161); India, 1 Ritan
Dong Lu, Sanlitun (tel 65321856); Ireland, 3 Ritan
Dong Lu, Sanlitun (tel 65322691); Japan, 7 Ritan
Lu, Jianguomenwai (tel 65322361); Kazakhstan, 9
Dong Liu Lu, Sanlitun (tel 65326183); Kirgyzistan,
2-4-1 Tayuan Building (tel 65326458); Laos, 11
Dong Si Jie, Sanlitun (tel 65321224); Mongolia, 2
Xiushui Bei Jie, Jianguomenwai (tel 65321203); New
Zealand, 1 Dong'er Jie, Sanlitun (tel 65322731);
North Korea, Ritan Bei Lu, Jianguomenwai (tel
65321186); Pakistan, 1 Dongzhimenwai Dajie,
Sanlitun (tel 65322660); Russian Federation, 4
Dongzhimen Bei Zhong Jie (south off Andingmen Dong
Dajie; tel 65322051); South Korea, 3rd & 4th
Floor, World Trade Centre (tel 65053171);
Thailand, 40 Guanghua Lu, Jianguomenwai (tel
65321903); UK, 11 Guanghua Lu, Jianguomenwai (tel
65321961); Ukraine, 11 Dong Lu Jie, Sanlitun (tel
65324014); USA, 3 Xiushui Bei Jie, Jianguomenwai (tel
65323831); Uzbekistan, 7 Beixiao Jie, Sanlitun (tel
65326305); Vietnam, 32 Guanghua Lu, Jianguomenwai
(tel 65321155).
Employment If you're looking for a job,
try the International Human Resources Centre, at
50 Dajue Hutong, Chegongzhuan (tel 63099973), or
the Service Centre for Personnel Exchange in the
Workers' Cultural Palace, west off Nanchizi Dajie
(tel 65123392), or, better still, turn up and ask
at the place where you want a job. Remember that
employment in China (even for foreigners) is
pretty much dependant on guanxi
(connections).
English corner Sundays in Zizhuyuan
Park.
Football Football is a growing sport
with China determined to qualify for the World Cup
by the year 2002. Beijing's team, Guo An, play at
the massive Workers' Stadium in the northeast of
the city, off Gongren Tiyuchang Bei Lu (bus #110
along Dongdaqiao), about every two weeks, on
Saturday or Sunday afternoon. There's a timetable
outside the ticket office, which is just east of
the north gate of the stadium. Tickets are cheap (¥15),
and you buy them at the ground on the day.
Hospitals and clinics Most big hotels
have a resident medic. If you need a hospital, the
following have foreigners' clinics where some
English is spoken: Sino-Japanese Friendship
Hospital on Heping Dajie (daily 8-11.30am &
1-4.30pm; tel 64221122); Friendship Hospital at 95
Yongan Lu, west of Tiantan Park (tel 63014411);
Beijing Hospital at 15 Dahua Lu. For a service run
by and for foreigners, try the International
Medical Centre at S106 in the Lufthansa Centre,
Dong Sanhuan Bei Lu (tel 64651561), or the Hong
Kong International Clinic on the third floor of
the Swissotel Hong Kong Macao Centre,
Dongsishitiao Qiao (daily 9am-9pm; tel 65012288
ext 2346). For real emergencies, the AEA
International offers a comprehensive and expensive
service at 14 Liangmahe Lu, not far from the
Lufthansa Centre (clinic tel 64629112, emergency
calls tel 64629100).
Internet In addition to hotel business
centres, where you don't have to be a guest to use
their computers, there are also plenty of Internet
cafés, which are usually cheaper and more
relaxing places to be, and the big bookshops
usually have small Internet sections. Recommended
is the cosy Net café at the back of the second
floor in the Sanlian Bookshop, on Wangfujing Dajie,
near the China Art Gallery (daily 8am-8pm; ¥20
per hour). The main branch of Sparkice, on Level 2
of the World Trade Centre, Jianguomenwai Dajie
(daily 10am-10pm; ¥30 per hour, ¥20 for
students), also offers a pleasant environment.
Their other branch, on Level 4 of the Parkson
Building, Xichang'an Jie (daily 8am-7pm; ¥30 per
hour, ¥20 for students), is just a row of
computers in a hallway. If you're in Xidan, head
for the Tushu Daxia Bookshop, which has a
spacious, if loud, Internet section on the third
floor (daily 8am-7pm; ¥30 per hour). There's a
computer in a side hall at the International Post
Office, but the connection is so slow it's
useless. But if you really want to save money when
you're online, head north to the university
districts, where a computer in a cramped shop,
usually full of students playing Red Alert,
can cost as little as ¥6 per hour, and they're
usually open through the night. Haidian also has
plenty of Internet cafés; if you're out here for
the night, you can round the evening off by
sending drunken messages home. Beijing Login Tech
is among the cheapest, charging ¥8 per hour and
with branches at 38 Haidan Lu, 31 Xueyuan Lu (both
in Haidian) and 75 Chengfulu Dajie (near the south
gate of Qinghua University). A pleasant, cheap
24-hour shop (¥7-10 an hour) is opposite the
north gate of UIBE University; go to the Cherry
Blossom Hotel, walk north 400m and take the
first right and it's 200m along here on the left.
If you're living in the city and want to apply for
installation, go to the Telegraph Office on Xi
Chang'an Jie (see "Telecommunications").
Language courses You can do short
courses in Chinese at Beijing Foreign Studies
University on Erhuan Xi Lu, at the Bridge School
in Jianguomenwai (tel 64940243), which offers
evening classes, or the Cultural Mission at 7
Beixiao Jie in Sanlitun (tel 65323005), where most
students are diplomats. A cheap and easy way to
study basic Mandarin, though, is to find a Chinese
student of English - try hanging around English
corner - and get them to teach you. You'll have to
negotiate a fee, but they don't charge very much,
maybe ¥15 an hour. For six-month to year-long
courses in Chinese, apply to Beijing International
School at Anzhenxili, Chaoyang (tel 64433151),
Beijing University in Haidian (tel 62751230),
Beijing Foreign Studies University, at 2 Xi Erhuna
Lu (tel 68468167), or Beijing Normal University,
at 19 Xinjiekouwai (tel 62207986). Expect to pay
around ¥10000 tuition fees for a year.
Left luggage There's a left-luggage
office in the foreigners' waiting room at the back
of Beijing Zhan, with lockers for ¥5 or ¥10 a
day depending on size, though as these are often
full, you are better off going to the main
left-luggage office (daily 5am-midnight; ¥5 a
day) at the east side of the station. The left
luggage office at Xi Zhan is downstairs on the
left as you enter and costs ¥10 a day.
Libraries The Beijing National Library,
at 39 Baishiqiao Lu, just north of Zizhuyuan Park
(Mon-Fri 8am-5pm; tel 68415566), is one of the
largest in the world, with more than ten million
volumes, including manuscripts from the Dunhuang
Caves and a Qing-dynasty encyclopedia. The oldest
texts are Shang dynasty inscriptions on bone.
You'll need to join before they let you in. To
take books out, you need to be resident in the
city, but you can turn up and get a day pass that
lets you browse around. An attached small cinema
shows Western films in English at weekends; phone
for details. The Library of the British Embassy,
on the Fourth Floor of the Landmark Building at 8
Dong Sanhuan Bei Lu, has a wide selection of books
and magazines and anyone can wander in and browse.
Martial arts You can study martial arts
under an English-speaking instructor at the
Beijing Language and Culture Institute, 15 Xueyuan
Lu, Haidian (tel 62327531). If you speak Chinese,
try the Ruyi School (tel 62571596), at 152
Yuanmingyuan Lu, Haidian.
Pharmacies There are large pharmacies at
136 Wangfujing and 42 Dongdan Bei Dajie, or you
could try the famous Tongrentang Pharmacy on
Dazhalan. For imported non-prescription medicines,
try Watsons at the Holiday Inn Lido,
Shoudujichang Lu.
Post offices The International Post
Office is on Chaoyangmen Dajie (Mon-Sat 8am-7pm),
just north of the intersection with Jianguomen
Dajie. This is where post restante letters end up,
dumped in a box; you have to rifle through them
all and pay ¥2.3 for the privilege. They won't
let you take out a letter unless you show your
passport. Letters are kept only for one month,
after which the post office is quick to send them
back; turn up a few days late and officious staff
will derive amusement from your distress. It's
also possible to rent a PO Box here and there's a
packing service for parcels and a wide variety of
stamps on sale, but again staff are not very
helpful. There are other post offices in the
basement of the World Trade Centre, on Xi Chang'an
Jie, just east of the Concert Hall, on Wangfujing
Dajie near Dunkin' Donuts, and at the north
end of Xidan Dajie. All are open Mon-Sat from 9am
to 5pm. Express mail can be sent from a counter in
the International Post Office or from the EMS
office at 7 Qianmen Dajie (tel 65129948).
PSB The Foreigners' Police, at 2
Andingmen Dong Dajie (Mon-Fri 8-12noon &
1.30-4pm; tel 84015292), will give you a first
visa extension for a fee of ¥160. It will take
them a week to do it, so make sure you've got
plenty of cash before you go as you can't change
money without your passport. Apply for a second
extension and you'll be told to leave the country:
don't, just leave Beijng and apply elsewhere. The
nearest place with a friendly PSB office, who will
extend your visa on the spot, is Chengde. You can
make it there and back in a day. If you have an
emergency and require urgent assistance, dial tel
110 or 550100, and have a Chinese speaker handy to
help you.
Radio Easy FM at 91.5FM has twelve hours
of Western music, mostly pap, plus news on the
hour. It's a good resource for finding out about
cultural events in the capital.
Swimming pool Try the Olympic-size pool
in the Asian Games Village, Anding Lu (daily
8am-9pm; ¥50), on the route of trolleybus #108
from Chongwenmennei Dajie, which also boasts some
of the city's fiercest showers.
Telecommunications There are 24-hour
telecommunication offices in the Telegraph Office
at 11 Xi Chang'an Jie, about 300m from the
intersection with Xidan Bei Dajie, and by the
International Post Office, on Chaoyangmen Dajie.
The orange coin and card phones on the street can
be used for international calls. You can buy cards
at most hotels, plazas and at the Telegraph
Office. You can call the operator on tel 114 but
have a Chinese speaker handy to help you.
Travel agents Biggest of Beijing's
plentiful travel agents is CITS, next to the Gloria
Plaza Hotel at 28 Jianguomenwai Dajie (daily
8.30-11.30am & 1.30-4.30pm; tel 65050231),
which offers expensive tours, a tour guide and
interpreter service, and advance ticket booking
for trains, planes and ferries (from Tianjin),
with a commission of around ¥30 added. Other CITS
offices are at 103 Fuxingmennei Dajie (tel
66011122), in the Beijing Hotel, 33
Dongchang'an Jie (tel 65120507) and the New
Century Hotel (tel 68491426), opposite the
zoo. Good private alternatives to the state
monolith, geared at corporate groups, include
Sunshine Travel, at 2 Nan Dong Sanhuan Lu (tel
65868069), and the R&R Travel Company, in Room
B04, 9 Ritan Dong Lu (inside Ritan Park) (tel
65868069). The Tourism Hotline (tel 65130828) is
open 24hr for enquiries and complaints; all its
staff are English-speaking.
