Mobile Phones

You can certainly take your mobile phone to China, but ensure it is unlocked, which means you can use another network’s SIM card in your phone. Purchasing a SIM card in Shanghai is straightforward: pick one up from a branch of China Mobile (Zhongguo Yidong); branches are widespread.

Mobile-phone shops (shoujidian;) can sell you a SIM card, which will cost from Y60 to Y100 and will include Y50 of credit. SIM cards are also available from newspaper kiosks (baokanting). When this runs out, you can top up the number by buying a credit-charging card (; chongzhi ka) for Y50 or Y100 worth of credits.

The Chinese avoid the number four (si; which sounds like but has a different tone from the word for death – si) and love the number eight (ba). Consequently, the cheapest numbers tend to contain numerous fours and the priciest have strings of eights.

Buying a mobile phone in Shanghai is also an option as they are generally inexpensive. Cafes, restaurants and bars in larger towns and cities are frequently wi-fi enabled.

Phonecards

The internet phonecard (IP card; IP) connects via the internet and is much cheaper than dialling direct. You can use any home phone, some hotel and some public phones (but not card phones), or a mobile phone to dial a special telephone number and follow the instructions (there is usually an English option).

Cards can be bought at newspaper kiosks, but are far less available than they used to be. Cards come in denominations of Y50, Y100, Y200 and Y500 – but they are always discounted, with a Y100 card costing in the region of Y35 to Y40. Check that you are buying the right card. Some are for use in Shanghai only, while others can be used around the country. Check that the country you wish to call can be called on the card.

Generally, a safe bet is the CNC guoji shiguoka (10-country card), which can be used for calls to the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Macau, Taiwan, England, France, Germany and some East Asian countries. Check the expiry date.

Time

Time throughout China is set to Beijing local time, which is eight hours ahead of GMT/UTC. There is no daylight-saving time.

When it’s noon in Shanghai, it’s 8pm (the day before) in Los Angeles, 11pm (the day before) in Montreal and New York, 4am (the same day) in London, 5am in Frankfurt, Paris and Rome, noon in Hong Kong, 2pm in Melbourne and 4pm in Wellington. Add one hour to these times during the summer.

Toilets

Shanghai has plenty of public toilets. Often charging a small fee, they run from the sordid to coin-operated portaloos and modern conveniences. The best bet is to head for a top-end hotel, where someone will hand you a towel, pour you some aftershave or exotic hand lotion and wish you a nice day.

» Fast-food restaurants can be lifesavers.

» Always carry an emergency stash of toilet paper, as many toilets are devoid of it.

» Growing numbers of metro stations have coin-operated toilets.

» Toilets in hotels are generally sitters, but expect to find squatters in many public toilets.

» Remember the Chinese characters for men (and women.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14