Cultural Information
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CULTURAL INFORMATION ENTERING CHINA When your flight nears its destination, you will be given a landing card to complete. On this, you must fill in your name, passport details, the address you will be staying at and the dates of your trip. Please ensure you take note of the address and carry it in your hand luggage, as you will not be able to access your hold luggage before having to hand the landing card over. You will also be given a departure card that you should keep safe during your stay, as you will need to fill this in and hand it in at passport control on your way home. MONEY Chinese currency is called Renminbi (people's money), often abbreviated as RMB. It is issued by The Bank of China and is the sole legal tender within the People’s Republic of China. The symbol for RMB is. The unit of Renminbi is a yuan and smaller denominations are called jiao and fen. The conversion among the three is: 1 yuan = 10 jiao =100 fen RMB consists of both notes and coins. The denominations of paper notes include 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 yuan; 5, 2 and 1 jiao; and 5, 2 and 1 fen. The denominations of coins are 1 yuan; 5, 2 and 1 jiao; and 5, 2 and 1 fen. Note: in spoken Chinese, yuan is often called as kuai and the jiao as mao. CHEQUES Foreigners’ cheques provide a fairly secure way of carrying your money. Always remember to keep the record of cheque numbers separate from the cheques for reference in the event of loss. For the convenience of foreigners, the Bank of China can cash foreigners' cheques sold by international commercial banks and foreigners' cheque companies in the United States, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Britain, France, Switzerland, Germany as well as many other countries. Also, the Bank of China sells foreigners' cheques for other banking institutions such as American Express, Citibank, Tongjilong Travelers' Cheque Co., the Sumitomo Bank of Japan, the Swiss Banking Corporation, to name a few. CURRENCY CONVERTER Money exchange facilities for both currency and foreigners' cheques are available at major airports, hotels, and department stores. Please note that hotels may only exchange money for their guests. The US dollar, British pound, French franc, German mark, Japanese yen, Australian dollar, Austrian schilling, Belgian franc, Canadian dollar, HK dollar, Swiss franc, Danish Krone, Singapore dollar, Malaysian ringgit, Italian lira, Macao dollar, Finnish markka, and Taiwan dollar are all exchangeable. Exchange rates fluctuate in line with international financial market condition and are published daily by the State Exchange Control Administration. Keep your currency exchange receipts because you will need to show them when you change RMB back to your own currency at the end of visit to the Republic. You should not plan to use credit cards in remote areas, as cash is all that will be excepted there and you should ensure that you carry sufficient RMB and travelers' cheques to cover your stay. CREDIT CARDS AND ATMS At present, the following credit cards are accepted in China: Master Card, Federal Card, Visa, American Express, JCB, and Diners Card. Cardholders can withdraw cash from the Bank of China and pay for purchases at exchange centers of the Bank of China, appointed shops, hotels, and restaurants. However, this applies only in major cities and they are not always accepted in remote areas. Credit cards are not always accepted for the purchase of rail and air tickets. ATMs that accept foreign cards are few and far between. Do not rely on them as a way of obtaining cash in Mainland China. Consult with your bank before departing to make sure that your brand of cheque or credit card will be accepted. CURRENCY REGULATIONS There is no limit on the amount of foreign currency and foreign exchange bills that can be brought into China by tourists, but it must be declared to the customs. RMB should be converted back into foreign currency with the personal valid "foreign exchange certificate" before leaving China. Unused foreign exchange and RMB traveler's cheques can be taken out of the country. Each tourist is permitted to take with them less than 6000 RMB. FOOD AND DRINK A typical meal in China starts with some cold dishes, like boiled peanuts and smashed cucumber with garlic. These are followed by the main courses, hot meat and vegetable dishes. Finally, soup is brought out, which is followed by the starchy "staple" food, which is usually rice or noodles or sometimes dumplings. Many Chinese eat rice (or noodles or whatever) last, but if you like to have your rice together with other dishes, you should say so early on. MAIN DIFFERENCES Unlike in the West, in China the dishes are placed on the table and everybody shares. If you are being treated by a Chinese host, be prepared for a lot of food; the Chinese are very proud of their food culture and will do their best to give you a taste of many different types of cuisine. Note: The Chinese commonly eat all parts of an animal, as they believe it is nutritious and not worth wasting. Depending on what you are drinking, the drinking rules change. different beverages have different etiquette. Alcohol Beer is served everywhere. Don‟t be surprised when you find minors are drinking. Because it’s not prohibited in China. If you want cold beer, be sure you mentioned it to the waitor or waitress. “Bai jiu” (白酒) is made from fermented rice and tastes pungent and is very strong. Cold drinks are not usually served at restaurants in China. 98% of the time you will have a cup of steaming hot tea. Wine is not as popular in China as it is in the west. According to an old Chinese saying: "A thousand cups of wine is not too much when bosom friends meet (酒逢知己千杯少)" In fact, drinking together is an essential part of socializing and camaraderie. Thus, as any code of social conduct, it adheres to strict rules: o You should never refuse to participate in a toast, as that could be interpreted as being Impolite. All people sitting at the same table must stand up, upon the initiative of one of the guests, and toast in succession; o Unlike Europeans and Americans, in China, looking someone in the eye when you toast is not imperative and very rarely happens. Don’t be offended or wait for them to look you in the eye. o Elderly people and superiors should be served first. One should payattention not to raise his/her glass higher than those of the respected elders. o If “gan bei”(干杯) is called, don’t worry, “gan bei” does not mean you have to finish your drink (despite the literal translation of “dry cup”). Just take a sip and put your cup down. o If you are at a bar, don’t be shy about saying that you don’t want to drink anymore, the Chinese can usually drink quite a lot, so don’t feel the need to keep up. WATER Fresh, clean, bottled water is everywhere in China. It costs between 1-2 RMB per 12 oz bottle. You should not drink the tap water. TEA o Below are some tips on tea drinking etiquette: o Tea should be consumed slowly o You should not ask for ice or sugar for your tea o If you ever pour tea for someone else, fill the cup 3/4 full o When someone hands you a cup of tea, take it with two hands o When you give someone a cup of tea, use two hands. (One hand on the bottom, on hand on the side). o When drinking tea, it is polite to use two hands. o When someone pours you more tea, it’s polite to touch the side of the teacup as they pour it, and be sure to say “Xie xie” (谢谢), or thank you TABLE MANNERS Of course, the main difference on the Chinese dinner table is chopsticks instead of knife and fork, but that's only superficial. Besides, in most restaurants, you can always ask for a pair of knife and fork, if you can’t eat with chopsticks. The main difference between dining in the West and in China is the way in which food is ordered; in the West people have their own plate of food, while in China the dishes are placed on the table for everyone to share. If you are being treated to a formal dinner and particularly if the host thinks you're in the country for the first time, he will do the best to give you a taste of many different types of dishes. The meal usually begins with a set of at least four cold dishes, which are followed by the main courses of hot meat and vegetable dishes. Soup then will be served (unless in Guangdong style restaurants) and is followed by staple food ranging from rice, noodles to dumplings. If you wish to have your rice to go with other dishes, you should say so in good time, for most of the Chinese choose to have the staple food at last or have none of them at all. Perhaps one of the things that surprises a Western visitor most is that some of the Chinese hosts like to put food onto the plates of their guests. In formal dinners, there are always "public" chopsticks and spoons for this purpose, but some hosts may use their own chopsticks.