Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
bookshops; many are labelled in English and Chinese, and have bus routes, sights and hotels
marked.
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 equi-
valent 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; though you'll rarely need to use them, there
are also notes for jiao and fen, while everything up to and including
￥
1 also comes in coin
form. At the time of writing the exchange rate was approximately
￥
9.5 to £1,
￥
6 to US$1
and
￥
8.2 to €1.
Banks and ATMs
Most
ATMs
accept foreign bankcards, connected to the Cirrus, AmEx, Visa, Plus and
MasterCard networks. They'll likely charge transaction fees, and your home bank will prob-
ably take a slice too. There's usually a maximum of
￥
2000 in a single withdrawal, and a
maximum 24hr limit of
￥
3000-5000, depending on your card.
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. All branches of
the Bank of China will give cash advances on Visa cards.
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
(
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. We have listed opening hours
throughout the Guide.
Public holidays
have little effect on business, with only government departments and cer-
tain banks closing. However, on New Year's Day, during the first three days of the Chinese
