Survival Guide - Beijing - page 516

sters trying to sell you departure tax (now included in the price of your ticket) at Capital
Airport.

Rickshaws Whenever taking a ride in a rickshaw, ask the driver to write the amount down
on a piece of paper first (have a pen and paper ready), so there is no ambiguity about how
much the trip will cost, otherwise you could be ripped off. And be clear as to which cur-
rency you are negotiating in.

Taxes

Four- and five-star hotels add a service charge of 15%, and smarter restaurants levy a ser-
vice charge of 10%. With the exception of some top-end establishments, tipping is not ex-
pected anywhere or in any situation.

Telephone

International and domestic calls can be made easily from your hotel room or from public
telephones, which are plentiful. Local calls from hotel-room phones are usually free,
while international calls are expensive. If making a domestic phone call, public phones at
newspaper stands ( bàokāntíng ) and hole-in-the-wall shops ( xiǎomàibù ) are useful;
make your call and pay the owner (a local call is around five jiǎo ). Most public phones
take IC cards ( CLICK HERE ).

When making domestic long-distance or international calls in China, it's cheapest to
use an IP card ( CLICK HERE ). Domestic long-distance and international phone calls can
also be made from main telecommunications offices or 'phone bars' (huàbā) .

The country code to use to access China is 86; the code for Hong Kong is 852
and Macau is 853. To call a number in Běijīng from abroad, dial the international ac-
cess code ( 00 in the UK, 011 in the USA and so on), dial the country code ( 86)
and then the area code for Běijīng ( 010), dropping the first zero, and then dial the loc-
al number. For telephone calls within the same city, drop the area code (qūhào) .

Important city area codes within China include the following:

CITY AREA CODE

Běijīng 010

Chéngdū 028