THE ROUGH GUIDE to - Parallels Plesk Panel

Worth seeking out before you go is the
Berndtson and Berndtson map, which is
laminated, and the Periplus Beijing map,
which has all the street names, including
those of many hutongs (alleyways), in
English. Whatever map you get, you can
gauge if it’s really up to date by whether it
includes the newer subway lines.
Money
Chinese currency is formally called the yuan
(¥), more colloquially known as renminbi
(RMB) or kuai; a yuan breaks down into units
of ten jiao (also called mao). One jiao is
equivalent to ten fen, though these are
effectively worthless – you’ll only ever be
given them in official currency transactions,
or see the tiny notes folded up and used to
build model dragons or boats. Paper money
was invented in China and is still the main
form of exchange, available in ¥100, ¥50,
¥20, ¥10, ¥5, and ¥1 notes, with a similar
selection of jiao. At the time of writing the
exchange rate was approximately ¥15 to £1,
¥8 to $1 and ¥10 to €1.
China is suffering from a rash of counterfeiting.
Check your change carefully, as the
locals do – hold 100s and 50s up to the light
and rub them; fakes have no watermarks
and the paper feels rougher.
Banks and ATMs
Most ATMs accept foreign bankcards,
connected to the Cirrus, AmEx, Visa, Plus
and Mastercard networks. Some banks
charge transaction fees (highest is the Bank
of China, at ¥25), but most do not. There’s
usually a maximum of ¥2000 in a single
withdrawal, and a maximum per day limit of
between ¥3000 and ¥5000, depending on
your card. For a list of ATMs in Beijing, see
W www.moveandstay.com/beijing/guide
_banks.asp.
Banks are usually open from Monday to
Friday (9am–5pm), though some branches
open on weekends too. All are closed on
New Year’s Day, National Day, and for the
first three days of the Chinese New Year,
with reduced hours for the following eleven
days. The Commercial Bank (Mon–Fri
9am–noon & 1–4pm) in the CITIC Building,
19 Jianguomenwai Dajie, next to the
Friendship Store, offers the most comprehensive
exchange service: here, you can
change money and travellers’ cheques, or
use most credit cards to obtain cash
advances or buy American dollars (if you
present exchange certificates).
All branches of the Bank of China will give
cash advances on Visa cards. Their main
branch is at 108 Fuxingmennei Dajie
(Mon–Fri 9am–noon & 1.30–5pm), off
Chaoyangmen Dajie, just north of the
International Post Office. You’ll find other
branches in the SCITECH Plaza (Mon–Fri
9am–noon & 1–6.30pm), the China World
Trade Centre (Mon–Fri 9am–5pm, Sat 9am–
noon), the Sun Dong’an Plaza (Mon–Fri
9.30am–noon & 1.30–5pm) and the
Lufthansa Centre (Mon–Fri 9am–noon &
1–4pm), among others.
Credit cards and wiring money
Major credit cards, such as Visa, American
Express and MasterCard, are accepted only
at big tourist hotels and restaurants, and by
a few tourist-oriented shops. It’s possible to
wire money to Beijing through Western
Union (Wwww.westernunion.com); funds
can be collected from one of their agents in
the city, in post offices and the Agricultural
Bank of China.
Opening hours and public
holidays
Offices and government agencies are
open from Monday to Friday, usually from
8am to noon and then from 1pm to 5pm;
some open on Saturday and Sunday
mornings, too. Shops are generally open
from 9am to 6pm or 7pm Monday to
Saturday, with shorter hours on Sunday;
large shopping centres are open daily and
don’t close till around 9pm. Museums are
either open all week or are shut on one day,
usually Monday.
Public holidays (see p.30) have little effect
on business, with only government departments
and certain banks closing. However,
on New Year’s Day, during the first three
days of the Chinese New Year, and on
National Day, most businesses, shops and
sights will be shut, though some restaurants
stay open.
BASICS |
Travel essentials
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