Neighboring Areas: Tianjin Municipality and Hebei Province
Resident Population: 19.612 million
Area: 16,410 square kilometers (6336 square miles)
Area Code: 010
Tourist Complaint: (010) 65275315 (010) 65130828

 Visa & Embassy
 72-hour Visa-free Transit
From Jan. 1, 2013, passport holders of the following 45 countries and regions will be granted a visa-free stay of up to 72 hours when taking an international transfer via Beijing Capital Airport (PEK): Argentina, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States.

Visitors from other countries still have to obtain a visa before entering the city. You can apply for the visa in the Consulate of P. R. China in your country. Alternatively, you can obtain the visa through a travel agency. Special fast applications can be generally completed with 24 hours.

 Foreign Embassies and Consulates in Beijing
There are about 140 countries and regions having their embassies set in Beijing. The embassies are mainly distributed at the Sanlilun Area and Jianguomen Area to the east of the city center. If you have encounter problems on visa, passport or some other emergencies during your stay in the city, you can find your embassy for help.

Embassy of USA	Embassy of UK	Embassy of Australia
Embassy of Canada	Embassy of France	Embassy of Germany

 More about China Embassies Abroad

 Money & Bank
 Bank of China
Wangfujing Branch: 1, Chang' an Street, Dongcheng District
Qianmen Branch: 17, Xijiaominxiang, Xicheng District
Xidan Branch: 130, Xidan North Street, Xicheng District
Dongzhimen Branch: 35, Wangfujing Street, Dongcheng District
Xindongan Mall Branch: 130, Wangfujing Street, Dongcheng District

 Foreign Exchange
Great Britain Pound, Euro, U.S. Dollar, Swiss Franc, Singapore Dollar, Swedish Crown, Danish Crown, Norwegian Crown, Japanese Yen, Canadian Dollar, Australian Dollar, Philippine Peso, Thai Baht are all exchangeable. Foreign currency and checks with the face value of Eurodollar and Spanish Peseta are also exchangeable at the Bank of China, other authorized banks offer foreign exchange service, some hotels, restaurants and shops will also accept foreign exchange business in order to provide convenience for foreign tourists.

 Credit Card
It is very convenient for tourists to use credit cards in star hotels and the large emporiums of Beijing. At present main credit cards accepted in China, are Master card, Visa, American Express, JCB and Diners.

 Communication

Telephone Booth on the Street

 Telephone:
Phone booths can be easily found along the roads. The fees of such public phones are as follow:
IC card phones: local call - 0.5 Yuan for the first 3 minutes and then 0.2 Yuan per minute. The charge for DDD is 0.8 Yuan per minute and the charge for IDD is 8.2 Yuan per minute.
 Useful Phone Numbers

 Post Office:
Letters posted within the city need a stamp of CNY 0.6 and letters posted within the country need to stick a stamp of CNY 0.8. According to the different region and weight every international airmail letter costs more than CNY 5.4. Letters posted to Hong Kong or Taiwan needs about CNY 2.5. The International Post Office located on the east side of Jianguomen North Street, operates a receiving and posting international and domestic letters, parcels and express mails, making out invoice, cash draft and telegram drafts, domestic and international telegram etc.

Yong' an Road Post Office: 173, Yongan Road, Xicheng District
Fangzhuang Post Office: 22, Pufang Road, Fengtai District
Huashi Post Office: 67, Huashi Street, Dongcheng District
 Area Code & Zip Code

 Internet:
Surfing the internet is not an adventure any more, for internet cafes' can be easily found on the streets. If you come to the city by yourself and want to do business via the internet, chat with family or friends, there are plenty of venues to choose from.

 Education
Universities & Institutes
Beijing boasts the classic and most education resource in the country. There are over 100 universities and institutes, including many famous ones like Peking University and Tsinghua University. The campuses are mainly located in Haidian District and Xicheng District.

 International Schools
Beijing has a foreign population of over 200,000. More and more international schools are set to meet the demand of the foreigners and also enrich the education of the local students.

Libraries & Book Bars
Big public libraries like the National Library and the Capital Library with abundant foreign books are introduced for you to find materials in different languages. There are also some featured book bars in the city for you to find leisure readings or just kill time.

 Bookstores
Xidan Books Building: C17, West Chang'an Street
Wangfujing Xinhua Book Store: 235, Wangfujing Street, Dongcheng District

 Medical Service
 Hospitals & Clinics
Peking Union Medical College Hospital: 1, Shuaifu Yuan, Wangfujing, Dongcheng District(east section); 41, Damu Cang, Xidan, Xicheng District (west section)
Friendship Hospital: 95, Yong'an Road, Tianqiao, Xicheng District
International SOS First Aid Center: open 24 hours a day; Tel: +86 10 6462 9100
China-Japan Friendship Hospital: Yinghuayuan East Street, Chaoyang District

 Drugstores:
Tongrentang: 120, Xidan North Street, Xicheng District; 248, Zhushikou West Street, Xicheng District
Yongantang Drug Store: 2, Huangsi Street, Dongcheng District
Chaoyang Drug Store: 8, Chaoyang Xinjie Dayuan, Chaoyang District
Jinanjian Medicine Selling Center: 53, Majiabu Xili, Fengtai District

 Beijing Churches
South Church – Xuanwumen Catholic Church: 141, Qianmen West Street, Xicheng District
Zhushikou Church: 129, Qianmen Street, Xicheng District
East Church – Wangfujing Catholic Church: 74, Wangfujing Street, Dongcheng District
St. Michael's Church - Dongjiao Minxiang Church: 13, Dongjiao Minxiang, Dongcheng District

 Toilet Facilities
It is easy for tourists to find public toilets in the subway stations, railway stations, airport, bus stations or sightseeing spots and most toilets in the downtown area are free except for some mobile ones.

 Temple Fairs in Beijing

 Getting to know more tips for travel in the country, please visit China Travel Advice.

 Recommended Tours:
Highlights City Tour: 4-Day luxury city tour
5-Day Tour: visit the most popular attractions in the city
Essence of China: 11-Day of Beijing - Xian - Guilin - Yangshuo - Guilin - Shanghai
More Beijing Tours, China Tour Packages