1 Welcome

Welcome to ! We’re very pleased that you will be joining us in August and look forward to welcoming you to our school and to Beijing. This document is designed to give you a bit more information to help you prepare for the move, so please have a read. If you have any further questions, please refer to the Contact Details page.

2 Content

BACKGROUND Contact Details 4-5 LIVING IN BEIJING Resources 36

Dulwich College Beijing: Basics 6-7 Transport 37-39

A Quick Guide to Beijing 8-10 Communication, 40-42 Finance&Currency

PREPARING FOR Visas 11-12 Travel , Tourist sights and 43-46 YOUR MOVE Activities Shipping 13-15 Shopping, Eating Out and 47-49 Entertainment Arrival In Beijing 16-17

What To Bring 18-22

KEY INFORMATION Health and Medical Information 23-25 LANGUAGE A Brief Guide to Speaking Chinese 50-53

Accommodation 26-29 WEBSITE 54

Banking and Salary 30-32 MAP OF LOCAL AREA Back page

Children 33-35

3 Contact Details

If you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch. For HR matters, or for queries about anything in this guide, please contact Rebecca.

You have been provided with the contact details for your ‘buddy’ and ‘mentor’, current staff members from school and, if possible, family situation, as you, who can also help you with queries, whether they be about work or living in Beijing.

Rebecca Xue Melissa Zhang Head of HR HR Senior Assistant [email protected] [email protected] Telephone: +86 10 6454 9119 Telephone: +86 10 6454 9120 4 Contact Details

Anthony Coles Kevin Elliott Headmaster Director of Business Administration [email protected] [email protected] Telephone: +86 10 6454 9010 Telephone: +86 10 6454 9168

David Mumford Daniel Nichol Rachel Edwards Head of Early Years Head of Junior School Head of Senior School [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Telephone: +86 10 6454 9041 Telephone: +86 10 6454 9060 Telephone: +86 10 6454 9030 School Address

School Address Feel free to provide the school address as your contact address in China. Once you arrive, you may decide to provide your home address, or to keep the school one for ease. You can also give the school’s address to your shipping company, but make sure to include your name.

Dulwich College Normal working hours are Beijing Monday to Friday, 8am-5pm. Legend Garden Between 23th June and 1st August Campus the school opening hours will be 89 Capital Airport Monday to Friday, 9am - 4pm. Road Beijing 101300, PRC The time difference is GMT +7 Reception: +86 10 hours. (British summer time) 6454 9000

6 Dulwich College Beijing: Basic Information

Dulwich College Beijing: Basic Information Dulwich College Beijing was founded in 2005. It is situated on the outskirts of Beijing, about 20 kilometres from the heart of the city, between the 5th and 6th ring roads. The area around the campuses is largely residential, though there are increasing numbers of shops, restaurants and services. To view a satellite image of the school’s location search for ‘Dulwich College Beijing’ in Google Maps (http://maps.google.com ). (The school location markers are correct for the map view, but are slightly skewed in satellite view.)

More Information: Please go to https://beijing.dulwich.org/ for more information, including campus location maps, detailed curriculum guides, our media gallery and the 2020-21 calendar. 7 Dulwich College Beijing: Basic Information

Legend Garden Campus

Legend Garden campus houses our Early Years, Junior and Senior Schools, as well as our administration offices. The campus is around 10 minutes drive from the airport, about 25 minutes into the city. Facilities include: • Sports: Sports Centre with basketball gym, indoor swimming pool, fitness suite and dance studio; 6 tennis courts; 40,000 mP2 Pof sports fields. We also have two indoor sports Dome facility containing a 1800 mP2 P flexible teaching space. (Staff may use the sports centre facilities for personal use free of charge.) • Performance: 2 fully-equipped theatres, Black Box theatre, music practice rooms, music computer suite.

8 A Brief Guide to Beijing

Beijing is a sprawling municipality of around 22 million people across almost 17,000 square kilometers. With Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City at the centre, the city radiates out across 6 concentric ring roads. It is bordered by mountains to the North and West, whilst the port city of Tianjin sits around 120km to the south east. Most shops, restaurants and attractions are within the Fourth Ring Road, after which the city becomes more residential and suburban. The school is located between the fifth and sixth roads to the North-East in a residential area close to the airport. Beijing is a fascinating mix of old and new: tall, gleaming tower blocks and shopping malls are springing up everywhere, but Beijing still has some traditional housed areas (called ‘hutongs’) and many ancient temples, palaces and parks.

9 A Brief Guide to Beijing

Climate Winter: cold and dry, lows of approx. -10°C, highs of 5°C, occasional snow. Summer: humid and hot, lows of approx. 15°C, highs of 35°C, some showers. Spring and Autumn are pleasantly warm (10°C – 20°C) with some rainfall.

Time Difference GMT +8 hours (China has no internal time zones and no seasonal changes)

Crime The general crime rate is low (and the punishment severe). Crimes against foreigners are rare, though there have been instances of mugging.

Language The language spoken in Beijing is Mandarin (not Cantonese, which is spoken in Hong Kong and areas of Southern China). Mandarin is a tonal language, written in characters. The Romanised phonetic version, which is commonly used to teach the language and its tones, is called . For example, China is中国 in characters, or ‘Zhōng guó’ in pinyin. Some Beijingers speak very good English, others little or none. Having a few basic lessons before you come would be useful.

10 Visas

The Process You will enter China on a initial single-entry ‘Z’ (working) visa, which you will apply for in your home country with supporting documentation sent by HR. After your arrival HR will convert this to a multiple-entry visa allowing you to leave and return the country. The visa application process can be lengthy, so please keep in touch with HR and supply any required paperwork as quickly as possible. Rules and regulations regarding visas can change with little prior warning. If you have any questions, please contact HR. Your passport will need to have several blank pages available for the visas, and be valid until at least February 2021.

11 Visas

For more information on Visas, please read the Visa and Official Documentation Guide on the HR Admin Handbook site on the school sharepoint. There are three official documents you will have whilst in China:

1. Chinese Visa (initial Z visa) This is the initial visa you obtained in your home country,and is glued into your passport. It allows one entry into China.

2. Residence Permit Following your arrival, HR will apply for this (essentially a multiple-entry visa) within 30 days. This is glued into your passport and will be valid 2 years.

3. Registration Form of Temporary Residence This form must state your current address and match the dates on your visa. You should get it from your local police station within 24 hours of arriving in, or returning to, China. If your visa, address or passport changes, you will also need a new one. Our housing agent will help with this. 12 Shipping

Shipping

You will receive an allowance to cover shipping your possessions to Beijing- please see the Benefits Schedule in your contract for details. This can be used at any time up until the end of July 2021, and can be used for mailing packages and excess baggage as well as conventional shipping (please keep receipts!). Please note though that mailing packages to China can sometimes be unreliable. The school does not recommend one particular shipping company, so shop around for the best deal. Make sure it is door-to-door (preferably through a port near Beijing, such as Tianjin), and that you have contact details for the company’s office in Beijing. Don’t bring too much- staff housing is equipped with the basics, and there are markets (like Ikea) selling everything else. See What To Bring section.

13 Shipping

Shipping Staff have used the following in the past: Companies Seven Seas (www.sevenseasworldwide.com ) – generally positive feedback Sino Santa Fe (www.santeferelo.com/ecs/index.jsp ) Crown Relocations (http://www.crownrelo.com ) Relocasia (www.relocasia.com ) Links Relocation (www.linksrelo.com ) AGS Four Winds (www.agsfourwinds.com ) Asian Express (www.aemovers.com ) King’s Mover International Asian Tigers (www.asiantigers-china.com)

Nominee If your shipping company asks for an in-China nominee, please contact HR.

Timing The timing is dependent on a number of factors- where you are shipping from, whether you choose air or sea freight, and Chinese customs, which can be notoriously difficult. Usually you cannot receive your shipping until you have your residence permit. Essentially, it could be as late as end of September – please do not arrange/send your shipping too early, as it may occur high storage fee or the shippment might be sending back to original country if it could not be cleared from Chinese custom in time. Let your shipping country know all your work and resident documents will be ready approx.. middle end of September, they will able to advice you when will be good time to send the shipping out to China. 14 Shipping

Customs As noted, customs can be very difficult to negotiate, and you may be charged an import tax on many different items, which is not included in the cost of the shipping (you will have to pay extra to release items from customs). Items attracting a high tax include electronic goods, DVDs, furniture, goal club and alcohol. How closely customs inspect your shipping is entirely arbitrary. Have a look at http://china.shipping-international.com/customs/ for more.

Documents

Please ensure that the shipping documentation is in the name of the person with the contracted shipping allowance.

15 Arrival in Beijing

Important Information

Orientation for new staff members is from Thursday 5th August to Tuesday 6th August.

Teacher Planning Week runs from Friday 7th August until Wednesday 12th August and the first day of term is Thursday 13th August.

You will be met and greeted by CLT member at the airport and taken to your apartment, and you will be given a Welcome Pack to help you settle in. There will also be optional meals and trips to shop for essentials on the arrival days

Once you have arranged your flight please let HR know the details so that a pick-up can be arranged. An idea of how much luggage you will have will also be helpful.

16 Arrival in Beijing Welcome

Airfares Some airfares may be claimed back as a tax-free benefit. Please refer to the Benefits Schedule in your contract for details. Boarding passes and any documentation detailing ticket price may be required for reimbursement, so please keep these safe.

Baggage Baggage allowances will differ according to the airline and ticket class, so check before you fly. If you do carry excess baggage, please keep the receipt so that you can claim reimbursement for it under your Shipping allowance. Your shipping may take a while to arrive in China, so you may want to think about bringing teaching resources, cold weather clothes (it cools down around mid-October). When you arrive in Beijing, you will be entering the country with a temporary visa that allows you to bring in only your personal/accompanied baggage. While Chinese customs is inconsistent, most people will not have trouble clearing the baggage allowed by the airline, provided you are not bringing in any prohibited items such as food.

17 What to Bring

What to Bring Most items are easily found in Beijing, though you may not find the brands you are used to. This guide should help you decide what to bring and what not to bring.

Clothing The school dress code is professional and smart, and men should wear shirts and ties. Sportswear (unless teaching PE) and casual wear (flip-flops, trainers, denim) are not considered appropriate. Suits and formal wear may be necessary on formal occasions. Having clothes tailored- especially formal wear is easy and cheap in Beijing. There are plenty of markets for cheap clothes, plenty of designer shops, and an increasing number of midrange options like Zara, H&M, C&A, GAP, Promod and Mango, though clothes/ shoe sizing is aimed at the Asian market. Increasing western market. Hard to find: Larger sizes and sizing for the taller person;; hosiery; shoes in UK size 7+ (women) and 10+ (men). This is becoming more common.

18 Welcome What to Bring

Toiletries Both Watsons (a Hong Kong chemist) and Sephora have branches in Beijing, but you won’t find the selection here you would find in, say, Boots. Brand names can be hard to find (and expensive) so you may want to bring favourites. Be aware that many facial creams here have whitening properties. Western Shops (Jenny’s & Carrefour) are very close by and you can find most toiletries, good deodorant and toothpaste; vitamins (they are expensive here); really good moisturiser (necessary for winter).

Medicines See Health section below for more information. Hard to find: good mosquito repellent (necessary in summer); good sunscreen; basic painkillers (Nuerofen etc); cold and flu medication (e.g. Lemsip).

Food Expat’ supermarkets stock Western favourites (mostly American and Australian brands) but can be expensive. You may want to bring some favourite long-life goods (Marmite, breakfast tea, chocolate, gravy granules are some items staff miss) but fresh food is prohibited by customs.

19 What to Bring Welcome

Computer Computers are not significantly cheaper here, but the quality can be guaranteed. There is an Equipment Apple store and you can purchase Apple computers through the school. Teachers in the School will be issued with the use of a school Mac book or Surface.

Electronics Electronic goods can carry a high customs fee, so you may be better to buy once you are here. Most items are easy to find and relatively cheap. If you do bring electronics, check the voltage and bring adapters: the universal adapters you can buy in duty-free or on aeroplanes can be handy for travelling to lots of different countries. (Electricity here is 220 volts.) Adaptors can also be found in the western supermarkets.

20 What to Bring Welcome

Mobile Phones Mobile phones are easy to buy here, but many people bring (unlocked) handsets. To note, many staff use Skype (internet-based telephone service) to make international calls home (www.skype.com ) or facebook or Wechat.

Furniture It is not advisable to bring furniture to Beijing- it may attract a customs charge and may not survive the dry Beijing winters and humid summers. Buying furniture here is reasonably cheap, and you can also have items orders made.

Household items Don’t bring these- there are plenty of shops selling kitchen equipment, crockery etc. including Ikea, Wal-Mart, Carrefour, B&Q, Muji and markets.

21 What to Bring Welcome

Books There are a few places selling English-language books but you won’t find a huge selection. Amazon do deliver to China.

Sporting Sporting equipment and clothing is easy to find- there are a few branches of the sport equipment& superstore Decathlon, and many markets sell sporting gear. Golf and skiing are both popular in clothing Beijing.

22 Health and Medical Information e

Western-style medical facilities with international staffing are available in Beijing, Shanghai, Medical Guangzhou and a few other large cities in China. These offer international-standard family practice services, dental services, emergency medical services and a range of clinical services, though they can be very expensive. Emergency assistance services are provided 24-hours as well as medical evacuation services.

Medical Expatriate staff are provided with comprehensive medical coverage, and some dental coverage Insurance (routine check-ups) through an international provider. The insurer for 2019-20is MSH China; you can find details of the coverage at https://dulwich.pacificprime.com/ . Many clinics in Beijing offer a direct billing scheme so that you do not have to pay up front. For a few of the more expensive clinics, there is a 20% co-pay policy (the staff member pays 20% of the cost) for outpatient services. Coverage will run according to the dates of your contract, provided that HR have all the necessary details (including those of your dependents). Please contact HR if you have any questions.

23 Health and Medical Information e Medical Insurance •Please note that there is a 20% co-pay scheme for outpatient treatments at certain medical providers in Beijing, including SOS International (SOS) and Beijing United Family Hospital (BJU). If you use these facilities (and they are the most popular amongst staff- but most expensive in Beijing) you may have to pay for a portion of your treatment yourself. The school provides SOS membership for all staff which provides discounts for some treatments.

•Many Beijing medical facilities are part of the Direct Billing scheme, whereby the hospital and insurance company settle the bill directly. See the website for more details of which hospitals are included. The co-pay still applies, and you may be charged by the medical facility later if you have arranged Direct Billing for treatment not covered by the policy.

•When you visit a medical facility, please take your MSH membership card (this will be given to you in August), a form of photo identification, and a claim form (if the facility is not part of the direct billing network). You will also need to provide a photocopy of your passport in order to claim.

For any queries or problems, please contact the school’s broker, Pacific Prime - Dulwich Team [email protected] or

Vittoria Depino +86 21 6445 4592 +86 21 2426 6509 [email protected] 24 Health and Medical Information

Vaccinations There are no vaccinations required by law for your work visa, but you may wish to ensure that your routine vaccinations are up-to-date before you come to Beijing. Check with the World Health Organization or your local GP for any vaccination recommendations for China, or have a look at this website: http://www.nathnac.org/ds/c_pages/country_page_cn.htm#vpr Malaria is a concern in parts of East Asia, but you should not need to take any anti-malarial medicine in Beijing or other major cities. If you travel into more rural areas, you should seek your doctor’s advice.

Medicine Many Chinese people use Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for their ailments, but pharmaceutical drugs are available- though perhaps not the brand names you are used to. Find out the generic drug name for any medicine you know you need,or bring your own.

Optical care You may wish to have a check-up before you come to China, but you can easily have an eye test and have prescription glasses made cheaply. Contact lenses are common and are not expensive.

25 Accommodation

All new expatriate staff are provided with housing)for the first year of contract. the What flats have heating and air conditioning, to full kitchens (some including ovens) and Expect bathrooms. The size, style and location of accommodation will depend on the staff member’s family situation,but will likely be an apartment rather than a house. The school aims to provide accommodation within a 10-15minute drive from all campuses, and the school owns a small apartment block on-site at Legend Garden. You will be sent more details of your accommodation closer to your arrival. After the first year staff are asked to source their own accommodation, and a housing allowance is provided as part of the Flexible Benefits package. There are plenty of English-speaking real estate

agents to help you find accommodation. 26 Accommodation

All school-provided apartments are equipped with basics, including furniture, and kitchen Furnishings equipment, but specific furnishings will vary from place to place. You will be asked to sign an inventory and to leave these items when you move. When you arrive your fridge will be stocked with some basic essentials to get you through the first day before you find the supermarket, but they may not be the familiar items you are used to!

27 Accommodation

Utilities Electricity: 220 volt. You will need a transformer for 110 volt appliances, or just buy them here. Gas: Most apartments have gas hobs, but many Chinese-style apartments do not have ovens. Water: It is not advisable to drink tap water in Beijing, though it is usually fine for brushing teeth. Most apartments provide water coolers and bottled water is readily available. All apartments provided by school have hot-running water. Heating/ Air conditioning: Many apartment blocks have government-controlled central heating, which is usually switched on between November 15PthP and March 15PthP. Some apartments use individually-controlled wall-mounted heaters which may double- up as air conditioners. You cannot run heating and air conditioning at the same time. Telephone/ Internet: Most apartments have landlines connected, and you pay for calls and line rental. Internet access can be arranged very easily and cheaply, and the speed is getting fast in recent years. Usually you will need to go to the bank to pay for utilities- there are no direct debits for bill payments here- but it does vary from place to place. The agent or landlord will help with where to go to do this.

28 Accommodation

Household Help Many expatriates in China have an ayi (pronounced ‘eye-ee’): ladies who either live in or come to your home (anything from a few hours a week to every day) to do laundry, housework, cooking, grocery shopping, childcare, babysitting and pet care, depending on what you want. Rates are very reasonable. Ayis are often found through word-of- mouth recommendations, but you may also find one through discussion pages of expatriate websites, expat supermarkets, and agencies. Your buddy will also be able to help.

More accommodation details will be posted in new teachers’ website

29 Salary and Banking

Salary The school will set up bank accounts for you into which your monthly salary will be paid in RMB at the end of each month, and with this you will receive a debit card which you can use for online shopping, in ATMs to withdraw money, and at POS (point-of-sale) machines in some bigger shops. This salary card can be connected into with Wechat and Alipay.

You will receive an electronic payslip by email each month.

On arrival in Beijing you will be given 8,000 RMB salary advance to cover you until your August salary is paid into your bank account. You are strongly advised to bring more money: you can change major currencies into RMB at the airport or a local bank. Most overseas bank credit and debit cards will work in Chinese ATMs.

30 Salary and Banking

Sending Salary The school can arrange to pay a portion- or all of a staff member’s salary in USD, GBP, EUR, AUD Overseas each month into one nominated overseas account. The school will cover outward banking charges, but the staff member is liable for any in-country charges. New staff cannot do this for the August salary, but may send whole year instructions to HR for September onwards. Please ensure you make any financial arrangements necessary to cover payments at home during this time. Although the school endeavours to pay the overseas salary shortly after payment of the local salary, other factors can affect how quickly the money arrives in the destination account, so it is wise to arrange any standing orders before the 5PthP of the month if you can.

Banking at home Managing your finances in your home country can be a challenge. Having new debit and credit cards (so that they don’t expire whilst you are in China) and internet banking can be helpful. You may also want to think about pension contributions and NI contributions.

31 Salary and Banking

Financial Advice There are a number of companies based in China/ Beijing which offer financial advice to expatriates on matters from tax to pensions. Details of all these companies are available to all staff, but the school does not recommend any particular company nor guarantee the quality of advice given. If you would like contact details for these companies before you arrive, you may ask your buddy..

Claiming benefits Full instructions on how to claim for items under your contractual benefits will be covered on arrival in Beijing.

32 Children、

Children Chinese people love children, and will often react very warmly to them, even to the point of picking up young children and touching older ones. For some Chinese people, Western children, especially if they are fair-haired, are an unusual sight, so they may attract a lot of attention. This phenomenon is much more common in the countryside than in the city. Don’t be alarmed- it is not threatening,and is well-intentioned. Beijing has a lot of child-friendly restaurants, and plenty of child-oriented activities and events including a variety of sports. A number of publications cater specifically for families with children, providing general information and guides on events and activities. Have a look at http://www.beijing-kids.com and some of the websites listed above in the Further Resources section.

Equipment/ Bicycles are easy to find, however car seats and buggies are expensive. You may wish to bring Toys these with you, and you don’t pay excess baggage for most airlines to carry them. Toys are easily found in department stores and markets.

33 Children、

Clothes Markets have a wide variety of children’s clothes but size and quality vary. Stock up on basics from reliable stores at home. You may find small gloves/mittens hard to find and these are essential for winter. Good quality, reasonably-priced shoes are also hard to find.

Books/ The Foreign Languages Bookstore has a good selection of children’s books, but DVD favourites of television TV series are hard to find, so you may want to bring them with you. You can get Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network on satellite television, but this will depend on the service where you live.

34 Children、

Childcare See Accommodation section above for information about household help and childcare.

Other Things to be aware of: Most taxis do not have rear seatbelts The age limit for consumption of alcohol is generally not enforced so it is relatively easy for young teenagers to obtain alcohol if they want.

35 Living in Beijing

The following information gives you a brief introduction to life in Beijing. There are a huge number of resources available for expats to help navigate Beijing life. There’s also a Handy Guide Google map here, https://www.chinadiscovery.com/beijing-tours/maps/google-map.html.

36 Transport

Cars drive on the right in China, and driving skills are a little more haphazard than you may be used to! Most foreigners use taxis to travel around as they are cheap, plentiful and convenient. Most taxi drivers do not speak any English, it might be wise to down-load a Beijing taxi app. DiDi is the most popular cab-hailing App. Buses are very cheap but can be hard to navigate for the non-Chinese speaker/reader and are often crowded. The subway network is also very cheap and is ever- expanding; there are now stations connecting the area around the school to the centre of town. Many people use a bicycle, own and drive a car, or employ a driver with a car to get around the city. During your orientation we will help you with all of these.

37 Transport

Taxis are cheap and abundant in Beijing, starting at 13 RMB (16 RMB at night), then 2.3 RMB per km. Most drivers do not speak English and driving can be erratic. Be aware that many taxis still do not have seatbelts, especially in the back, and you usually get in on the right side only. Taxis are harder to find in rush hours and in bad weather. See the language section for some useful phrases. • Carry a map and your destination written in Chinese characters: taxi books and business cards (called ‘míngpiàn’) are helpful. • Some drivers are nervous of foreigners and might refuse a fare. Learning some Chinese, and sounding confident, usually help. • Drivers usually know road names and big tourist sites- learn the former and find out if any of the latter are near your destination. • A few local apps similar as uber are popular in China, the most popular one called Didi, it is easy way to order the taxi in the rush hour, but most of the drivers do not speak English, you may need a Chinese speaker to help you with the communication. The are two black cab drivers who are helping with our new hires trips a lot in the past, they can speak quite good English but the fare they charge may bit more expensive than normal taxi. But it is a good way with your transportation in your first few months in Beijing.

38 Transport

OTHER OPTIONS SUBWAY: The subway system is being constantly extended across the city and is reliable, albeit crowded (starting price 2 RMB, upto 10 RMB per trip). See http://www.explorebj.com/subway/ BUSES: Buses are extensive and cheap (starting price 2 RMB) but can get busy. Bus stop information is usually only displayed in Chinese, but this site may help: http://www.bjbus.com/home/index.php. DRIVING: To drive a car you will need to get a Chinese driving licence- the test includes an eyesight test and a written test in which you must get 90% correct. Try Beijing Car Solutions (www.bjcarsolution.com ) for help with cars, licences and insurance. You can hire private drivers- many staff do- so ask around for recommendations. WALKING/ CYCLING: Beijing has some lovely areas for walking and cycling, especially in the city and hutong areas. However, there are some areas which are less pedestrian friendly. Be aware that vehicles rarely stop at zebra crossings and can turn right at junctions even on a pedestrian green light. Bicycles are readily available and there are many cycle lanes (though these are often used by drivers).

39 Communication

DIALLING CODES PHONE To China 86 You can buy prepaid card from China mobile or From China to…

China Unicom offices or shops, it’s convenient to UK 00 44

recharge the mobile fee via wechat or Alipay. N America 00 1

Aus 00 61

NZ 00 64

INTERNET Internet access is arranged through your landlord or management company- prices vary. Wireless access is common in Beijing in many restaurants and cafes, including Starbucks, and is almost always free of charge

40 Communication

POST Incoming mail is unreliable- documents and letters are usually fine; packages can be problematic (and may be opened by Customs). Sending a letter internationally costs around 5-7 RMB per letter. The following Post Offices have English-speaking staff: •Jianguomenwai Dajie Yabao Lu, Dongcheng District. (tel 6512 8114) (北京国际邮电局,东城区 建国门外大街 雅宝路). Main international office. •Inside the shopping complex at Lido Metropark hotel (丽都假 日饭店Lido fàndiàn, pron. lee-do fan-dee-en). •Gongti Beilu, , opposite the Worker’s Stadium North Gate. You can also use DHL, Fedex and UPS to send items - see their websites for details. Sending documents to the UK is around 300RMB. You can send items via DHL from the reception desk at Legend Garden Campus.

41 Currency & Finance

RMB (; locally called ‘yuan’ or Currency ‘kuai’). As of May 2020, 1 USD is around & 7.0571 RMB; 1 GBP is around 8.7996RMB. Finance We will suggest you to bring your own international card to enable some online transaction. Nowadays in China, the credit cards is quite common and QR code payments through cellphone are increasingly popular. The Alipay and Wechat QR code payments are the most popular ones. ATMs (including Citibank and HSBC) take international cards.

42 Travel

Travel Beijing is a great starting-point for travelling around China and Asia, and the airport is conveniently located nearby the school. Many Chinese cities are also accessible by train from Beijing, though these are often longer and usually overnight journeys.

43 Tourist Sights

Tourist Beijing has plenty of great tourist sights, including the Temple of Sights Heaven, the Great Wall of China, Ming Tombs, The Forbidden City, and the Summer Palace (to name but a few) plus picturesque parks, old alley neighbourhoods (‘hutongs’), markets, art galleries and museums.

44 Tourist Sights

Beijing has a huge number of sports clubs, cultural and national groups, alumni organisations and other interest groups. Check the free magazines for full listings, or try the following companies. • China Culture Center www.chinaculturecenter.org. Offers tours, classes and courses. • The Hutong https://thehutong.com/ or phone 15901046127. Offers classes and courses in a traditional setting. • Beijing Hikers www.beijinghikers.com or phone 5137 4906. Organises hikes of varying difficulty around Beijing.

45 Tourist Sights

STAFF RECOMMEND… Manicures, pedicures and massages are cheap and abundant. Treat yourself! Sunday brunches are a Beijing fixture- from all-you-can-eat-and-drink champagne extravaganzas (try the Westin, Grand Millennium, Kempinski), to good old fry-ups (try Grandma’s Kitchen or The Vineyard). The Orchard, a Shunyi favourite, offers great brunch with free- flow drinks at half the price of a city 5* hotel. Check listings magazines- there’s a dedicated brunch section.

Outdoor eating and drinking can be great on Summer evenings. Sanlitun has a number of restaurants/bars with outside space (Migas, Blue Frog, Flamme, Element Fresh, Fez, Kokomo, The Saddle, Bar Blu) plus try The Pavilion (West Worker’s Stadium), Xiu Bar (CBD Park Hyatt hotel), Parkside Bar (Lido), Q Bar (Sanlitun Nanlu).

Wandering in the parks at the weekend- Beijingers love parks, and you’ll see ballroom dancers, singers, accordion players, calligraphers, and games of table tennis, mah jong and more. The exercise parks- like outdoor gyms- are fun and busy. Try the Temple of Heaven park on a Sunday morning. FOR KIDS also see www.beijing-kids.com Beijing Zoo (only the monkey and panda enclosures- beware, it is not like a Western zoo!); Beijing Aquarium (next to the zoo); Blue Zoo (aquarium near the Worker’s Stadium in Sanlitun); Magic Bean House play area ( West Gate); Science and Technology Museum (North 3rd Ring Road); Fundazzle play area (near the Blue Zoo, Sanlitun). Also check the Shunyi listings at the end.

Child-friendly restaurants include Annie’s (many branches), Element Fresh (Sanlitun and Lido), Blue Frog, Union Bar & Grill (both Sanlitun), The Orchard (near Riviera). Many restaurants have children’s menus and high chairs- just ask.

46 Food

Food Chinese cuisine varies according to region and depending on the restaurant can be very cheap and very good. Beijing’s street food is tasty, plentiful and usually safe- though you should exercise the same caution as you would anywhere. Vegetarian food is harder before but becoming more popular now Beijing has an enormous number of good restaurants offering international cuisine including Mexican, Japanese, American, Vietnamese, Italian, French, Russian and Korean. Many restaurants deliver. Have a look at The Beijinger website (next page) or have a browse on apps such as “diningcity” (be sure to set location to Beijing). Supermarkets and markets offer good fresh fruit, vegetables and meat, while more expensive ‘expat’ supermarkets offer Western items like cheese, bread, cereal, chocolate and pasta. 47 Activities and going out

Activities Much socialising (both for Chinese and going people and foreigners) revolves out around eating and drinking, which is reflected by the number of restaurants, cafes and bars. There is also a huge selection of concerts, theatre productions, courses, classes, talks, film viewings, sports clubs, quizzes, fairs, balls and trips to keep everyone busy. Have a look at the websites in the next section for more details. Most staff get around by using an app called “didi”, use of a private driver, by taxi or by bicycle. You will be shown how to use all of these during orientation.

48 Shopping

Western brands are becoming easier to find, but you will not find the range you might get in Hong Kong or Shanghai. Markets sell almost anything you can think of at varying levels of quality and authenticity. Look up the following on for addresses/ maps or use the Handy Guide Google map (https://www.chinadiscovery.com/beijing-tours/maps/google-map.html), • Household/ Electronic Items - Ikea, Da Zhong, Lufthansa Center, Carrefour, Wal-Mart, Muji. Apple storecomputer equipment. Golden Five Star market on Xueyuan Nanlu has been recommended for household goods. • Bicycles - There are a number of Giant bicycle shops across Beijing and Decathlon, a huge sports shop, also delivers (East 4th Ring Road). You will be taken to the nearest Giant during induction. • Groceries - Jenny Wang’s (formerly Jenny Lou’s) and April Gourmet provide imported expat favourites- mostly US brands. Jingkelong – a Chinese supermarket- has many branches across the city. Local food markets like San Yuan Li (on Xinyuanli) sell good quality fruit, veg and meat. City Shop off Liangmaqiao Lu sells some imported British food items. • Clothes/ Shoes - Beijing has numerous clothes markets (eg., Sunny Gold, Silk Market, Zoo Market) selling cheap clothes and tailored items, or try Oriental Plaza, China World, or Shin Kong Place malls for the other end of the spectrum- designer gear. Malls including The Village in Sanlitun, Solana at Chaoyang Park, Joy City in Xidan, The Place near Park and Wangfujing Street have more mid- price outlets including Zara, Mango, Uniqlo, H&M and sports brands like Adidas and Nike. A shop in Ritan Office Building sometimes stocks Monsoon items. • DVDs/ CDs - It is difficult to find genuine copies of CDs or DVDs in Beijing. There are many DVD shops selling pirated copies. Carrefour stocks a few genuine DVDs; otherwise try online sites like Amazon or www.cd-wow.com (free shipping). You may incur customs charges importing these items. US/UK iTunes Music Store is available if you have US/UK-registered accounts/ payment cards. • Books Second hand shops include Coffee and Books at Legend Garden campus, or buy new at The Bookworm (Sanlitun), Foreign Languages Bookstore (Wangfujing), Charterhouse (The Place/ River Garden) or buy online from Amazon. Baby and Child supplies There is a Mothercare in Solana Mall but it is more expensive than in the UK; there are other children’s shops near it. LeYou in Europlaza, Shunyi, also stocks child and baby supplies. 49 Language

The Chinese spoken in Beijing (and in most of China) is Mandarin (not Cantonese, which is only spoken in Hong Kong). This is sometimes referred to as ‘Hanyu’ (‘spoken language’) or ‘Putonghua’ (‘ordinary language’). Mandarin is a tonal language, written in characters. The Romanised phonetic version, which is commonly used to teach the language to foreigners, is called ‘pinyin’; for example, China is中国 in characters, or ‘Zhōng guó’ in pinyin. Characters have both a simplified and traditional form (中国 is simplified; 中國 is traditional). Although tones are important in Mandarin (and can make the difference between saying, for example, ‘mother’ (mā) and ‘horse’ (mă)) don’t worry too much about them to begin with. The context in which you use the word will help someone understand what you are trying to say. For information, the tones are as follows: Number Mark Sounds like… 1 __ (ā) Steady high tone (almost sung) 2 / (á) Rising tone (from mid to high, as though asking a question, like ‘what?’) 3 \/ (ă) Falling then rising (mid to low to high) 4 \ (à) Sharp falling tone (as though giving a command, like ‘stop!’) Consonant and vowel sounds can also be quite different. The ones that tend to confuse most often are the letter ‘Q’ (pronounced ‘ch’) and the letter ‘X’ (pronounced like a breathy ‘sh’). Some more resources: • Immersion Guide/ Lonely Planet/ Rough Guide phrasebooks. • Free Chinese Lessons : www.freechineselessons.com • Chinese Pod : www.chinesepod.com • Chinese Learn Online : www.chineselearnonline.com • Online Dictionaries : www.xuezhongwen.net/chindict/chindict.php or www.nciku.com • Other tools, e.g. flashcards : www.mandarintools.com 50 For local classes, check the free magazines for listings, or ask current staff. Language

Learning Mandarin

Various apps for beginner can be downloaded and used in the first few months. The BBC has a free online beginner’s course (http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/chinese/) to get you started, whilst both Chinese Pod (http://chinesepod.com/ ) and Chinese Learn Online (www.chineselearnonline.com ) provide subscription-based online learning. The Apple iTunes Store has a wealth of resources, some free, some paid, for iPhones, iPods/Pads, or just on your computer. These include: Apps: Lonely Planet Mandarin, AccelaStudy Chinese (plus plenty of Mandarin-English dictionaries- quite handy), Taxi Guide, Metro, Google translator. iTunes-U: Open University Beginner’s Chinese, UCLA Center for Chinese Studies (free talks about China) There are also podcasts and audio books available.

51 Local area shops and restaurants

PINNACLE PLAZA Rong Xiang Guang Chang Rong see-yang gwang chang 荣祥广场 Mexican Kitchen Tex Mex  8046 4558/9 Delivers

Avocado Tree Mexican  18600108613 Delivers

Hungry Horse American  8046 5521 Delivers

Domino’s Pizza  8046 3226 Delivers also: Jiu Ding Feng hotpot, Subway, Haru Teppanyaki, Miso, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, Baskin Robbins Shops: Vets and pet shop, Jenny Wang’s supermarket, Lohao organic supermarket, Schindler Butchers, Shunyi Bookstore, Kids+ (toys/games etc) picture framers, photo printing shop, pet shop, Zen Yue (beauty), Beijing United Family Clinic/ Dentist

EUROPLAZA across junction with Jingshun Lu, first left Ou Lu Guang Chang Oh loo gwang chang 欧陆广场 Papa John’s Pizza  4008887272 Delivers Comptoirs de France Bakery  8046 6309 Delivers

Taj Pavilion Indian  8046 3238 Delivers Michael’s Ristorante Italian  8042 4457 Delivers also : McDonalds, South Beauty (Sichuan food), Costa Coffee Shops: LeYou (basement; child and baby supplies), Market Place supermarket, Villa Lifestyles (outdoor equip) plus Myoyo indoor play area on the 5th floor for children.

PINNACLE AVENUE Rong He Guang Chang Rong huh gwang chang 荣和广场 New development has a MacDonalds, and Beijing New Century Harmony Pediatric Clinic and A-Z Kids indoor play area 52 Local area shops and restaurants

RIVERVILLE SQUARE (close to school) west of Merlin Champagne Town

Wen Yu Guang Chang Wen yoo gwang chang 温榆广场

Maan Coffee Snacks  6450 8588 Delivers

Shops: DD supermarket, Star Books (children’s books), dry cleaners, pet shop, hairdresser

SKY PLACE (close to King of Spanish Villas) on Tianzhu Road

Tianzhu Hua Yuan Tee-en joo hwar yoo-en 天竺花园

Yammy restaurant (Taiwanese), Auntie Jeanne’s Bakery Jingkelong supermarket, banks/ATMs,

Carrefour Supermarket, below ground in front of ShuiMuLanTing

AROUND CAPITAL PARADISE area by south-east gate, near to River Garden campus

Piazza Café Chinese/western  8046 7788 Delivers

Victor’s Indian  8046 2287 Delivers

also : King’s Bar Shops: Lion Mart (supermarket), Le Spa (beauty) 53 Websites

Websites

The following websites have some useful introductions to China: Lonely Planet China (www.lonelyplanet.com/china) BBC China (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/country_profiles/1287798.stm ) There are plenty of free magazines available in Beijing with ideas for activities, listings (restaurants, courses, trips etc), which also have their own websites: The Beijinger (www.thebeijinger.com) The Beijinger Kids (www.beijing-kids.com) Time Out http://www.timeoutbeijing.com/ Beijing Boyce (www.beijingboyce.com) (blog written byCanadian expat Jim Boyce covering all the bar and restaurant events and openings) That’s Beijing (www.thatsmags.com )

54 Map of local area

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