Practical

Telephones

手机 shǒujī mobile/cell phone
手机卡 shǒujī kǎ SIM card
移动 Yídòng China Mobile
联通 Liántōng Unicom
充值卡 chōngzhí kǎ recharge card

Socialising and Social Niceties

Having an introduction to a Chinese person or family is a joy to be looked for. Their generosity knows no bounds and can quickly reach embarrassing levels. If you are invited to stay with someone, consider carefully that you will be enveloped in a way which may be a major…

Police

jǐngchá 警察

Policemen in China are generally to be avoided, not because they pose as much of a threat to visitors as they do to their own countrymen, but because they tend to be more of a hindrance than a help. Effectively in China the law is what a policeman says is it, and like most other…

Planning

Decide in advance exactly what you want to see and put it into priority order. Be modest in your aims and do not assume you’ll see everything on your list. On arrival in Beijing tackle your top priority and its near neighbours, and then go on to the next. Never leave anything important until your last…

Packing

There was a crowd perpetually round the tent: all our actions, all our belongings, were closely scrutinised — by the Mongols with vacant gravity, by the Chinese with magpie curiosity. ‘How much did this cost, Mr. Fu? How much did this cost?’ It was laughable to recall that we had brought with us a tiny portable…

Lavatories

厕所 cèsuǒ

Perhaps the only reason to welcome the rapid growth of American fast food outlets in Běijīng is the consequent increase in the number of reasonably clean lavatories. Use these, the ones in your hotel, or the ones in shiny shopping malls whenever possible — the alternatives…