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B E I J I N G PREPARE | TRAVEL | EXPERIENCE THINK AHEAD. LEARN MANDARIN. WWW.HUTONG-SCHOOL.COM CONTENTS ///////////////////////////////////////////// INTRODUCTION ________________________ CHAPTER #1 Before You Arrive ________________________ CHAPTER #2 How To Survive Your First Week _______________________ CHAPTER #3 Get The Most Out Of Your Week ________________________ CHAPTER #4 Weekend Guide ________________________ CHAPTER #5 Insider Secrets ________________________ © H U T O N G S C H O O L INTRODUCTION ///////////////////////////////////////////// INTRODUCTION Beijing is a very spread-out city and for any newbie, it might get a little overwhelming – a new environment with people and honking everywhere! Luckily, our Hutong School Team is always there to help you. To keep you from feeling lost during your first days at Hutong School (or for any time while you're in China), we’ve created a "Hutong School's Insider Guide" for just about everything there is to discover around our school, including travel destinations close to Beijing and tips about how to get the most out of your stay at Hutong School. In this e-book we’ll cover everything from the beginning until the end of your Hutong School adventure. We’ll walk you through the pre-arrival stage, how to maximize the experience of your first few days, how to get the most out of a week, and what to do during the weekend, including nightlife, cultural activities, weekend getaways, and ideas for a day in Beijing for under 100RMB. W W W . H U T O N G - S C H O O L . C O M P A G E 3 BEFORE YOU ARRIVE ////////////////////////////////////////////// Chapter #1: Before You Arrive ________________________ Coming to China requires a bit of preparation. Fortunately, our Hutong Team will help you with all the administrative work and once you have your visa - it’s time to start packing and getting ready to hop on the plane to Beijing! Read below to see how you can best prepare yourself for a China adventure. What To Pack? Clothes Beijing has a temperate and continental monsoon climate, with four distinct seasons and large variations in temperature from day to night. Summers in Beijing are hot and humid, Winters are cold and dry, and Spring and Autumn are cool and pleasant (but short!). Luckily, Beijing is suitable for travel all year round - if you can only stay for a short while, Autumn (September to November) is the best season to visit Beijing. BEFORE YOU ARRIVE Toiletries and Medicine In bigger cities like Beijing and Shanghai, you’ll definitely find the more well-known health and beauty products that you may see at home. However, if there’s anything that you use on a daily basis and don’t want to miss in China, it might be best to take some with you. Make sure to pack anything over 100ml in your check-in baggage and put any liquids in your carry-on in ziplock bags - you’ll be asked to take them out at security. One product that isn’t common in China is deodorant (people in China generally don’t sweat much). There are few options in the supermarket; i.e. good chance they may not have your favorite brand, to say the least. For the ladies, we advise that you come prepared with your product of choice for that time of the month. It’s always a good idea to bring any medical supplies you’re used to if you’re going to a foreign country, just make sure to have prescriptions handy while going through security. P A G E 5 BEFORE YOU ARRIVE /////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Miscellaneous For those who like to watch TV shows or movies in their free time, it might be a good idea to have some shows or movies on hand. With that being said, watching Chinese TV and movies is always a good way to improve your Chinese and you’ll find very few English programs on TV. For packing, keep it light. As some say Beijing is a shopper’s paradise. With cheap prices and an abundance of choices, you may want to leave some extra space in your luggage. _W__h_a__t_ T__o_ _I_n_s_t_a__ll_?_ _____ VPN We can’t stress this enough, but subscribing to a VPN service before you arrive in China will save you a lot of trouble. As of May 2017, Western social media and Google platforms are inaccessible in China. So, if you want to send a message to your friends and family to let them know you landed safely, get a VPN app installed ASAP! Great news! Our students are entitled to have some discounts: 3 month subscription : 20% discount + half month free 6 month subscription : 20% discount + 1 month free 12 month subscription : 20% discount + 2 months free Other popular options are Betternet and VPN Master (free on smart phones) or VPN Express and Astrill (monthly fee for computers and smartphones) © H U T O N G S C H O O L P A G E 6 BEFORE YOU ARRIVE \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Chinese Learning Apps: Getting Around: Pleco: One of the best smartphone Apple Maps: Detailed and dictionaries for Chinese. The dictionary accurate app for finding is free, but the feature for drawing your way through the city. characters on the phone costs extra. Google Maps: Another ChinesePod: From newbie level to great option, but requires a advanced, ChinesePod offers over 3500 VPN. podcasts and videos on almost every China Trains: Plan your topic imaginable. journey from A to B and Google Translate: Comes with an offline view availability of tickets. dictionary for Chinese, foregoing the Metro Beijing Subway: need for a VPN. Clean and easy-to-use app WayGo: A visual translator that reads that helps you navigate the Chinese characters and translates them massive metro. into English. Food: Keeping In Touch: Sherpa’s: Order food from most of WeChat: When meeting Beijing’s international restaurants using someone new, scan their an English-friendly platform. QR code with your phone DianPing: only in Chinese, offers lots of and you have a new contact! deals once you get used to it. WeChat will quickly È le’ me: Similar to DianPing. become your new best Other: friend as you learn to pay for groceries, transfer money, Alipay: After getting a Chinese bank buy tickets, and more, account, install this app and link it to directly from your phone. your bank card. Pay for almost anything For many Chinese and online and offline. expats, WeChat has become Air Quality China: Alerts you when the a godsend for convenience. air quality isn’t too good and it'll let you know when it’s best to wear a mask. W W W . H U T O N G - S C H O O L . C O M P A G E 7 HOW TO SURVIVE YOUR FIRST WEEK /////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Chapter #2: How To Survive Your First Week _______________________________________________ Register The first thing you may want to do when your plane touches the ground is to get to your new abode. However, anyone arriving in China with the purpose other than travel needs to register at the police station. A staff member of Hutong School will help you with this registration, but just don't make too many wild plans immediately following your arrival! SIM Card Next up, get yourself a SIM card. There are three carriers in China where you can get a SIM card: China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom. Usually, a new SIM requires a deposit of 50 - 100RMB. This can be done at any main branch by bringing your passport. If a smaller shop won’t provide you with a SIM card, they’ll likely point you in the right direction. If you’d like to skip the run-around, ask a Program Coordinator, an Intern, or a classmate. Transportation Card Next up, you should definitely get a Beijing Public Transportation Card – luckily, Hutong School provides you with one! Put 50 – 100RMB on it and you’ll be able to use it to take the subway, bus (regular, tourist and long-distance), and the Airport Express. © H U T O N G S C H O O L P A G E 8 HOW TO SURVIVE YOUR FIRST WEEK \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Dos | Don'ts Do: Explore Chinese Restaurants If you think you know what Chinese food is all about, think again. The traditional Chinese cuisines are completely different from Chinese restaurants abroad. Sure, you may be familiar with dumplings and kung pao chicken, but other than that, the options in Beijing are endless. Don't: Go Crazy On The Street Food We know it smells divine (except maybe for the stinky tofu), but it might be a wise decision to leave the street food for what it is during your first week and give your stomach some time to adapt to Chinese cuisine. Even the most experienced China expat expert can’t always handle the street food and it’s always a risk ordering from someone grilling food on a cart in the middle of the street. However, that being said, street BBQ is amazing and you it’s definitely worth a try. Another type of delicious Beijing breakfast street food is the warm savory thin pancake wrap called jianbing. Originally from Tianjin, it is an extremely popular breakfast food all around China. Jianbing is similar to a crepe. It's made from a buckwheat batter filled with, egg, green onions, coriander, cumin and a choice of hoisin or chili sauce, it works for vegetarians too. Looking for a dessert to finish off this meal? Tanghulu or bingtanghulu (冰糖葫芦) are crystalline sugar-coated hawthorns.