Beijing Travel Tips 5 : newspapers, books, maps

Newspapers and Periodicals

The excellent english language newspaper 'China Daily' (monday to saturday) is readily available in most hotels and newsagents, and is a nicely presented summary of national and international news. The 'Beijing Weekend' that comes with it on fridays features information about events of interest to both visitors and residents. The China Daily is usually free in hotels and elsewhere just 1 yuan.

Most four-and five-star hotels also have copies of the quarterly newsletter 'Welcome to Beijing' in guest rooms.

Shops in hotels usually offer a wide variety of newspapers, magazines and books from Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Europe and the US.

Beijing has a number of very good english language 'what's on' guides (weekly and monthly) with interesting features, restaurant reviews, classifieds and more. Pick these up to find out about current exhibitions, shows, films, activities, music, bars ... They are also useful for listings of dentists, tours, apartments for rent, etc.

English Language Books

The best selection of English-language books in Beijing can be found at the clearly marked Foreign Languages Bookstore in Wangfujing opposite the Sun Dong An Plaza.

Maps

A city map is extrememly useful. These are available at bus and railway stations, and at airports, for around 5 yuan. Street vendors also sell maps with english.

If writing a destination for a taxi driver, have it written in chinese characters rather than pinyin. Also, collect your hotel's address card to show to taxi drivers for your return journey.

Television

China Central Televsion's channel 9 (CCTV 9) is entirely in the english language and presents a wide vaiety of shows. Hotels and apartments with satellite or cable also show foreign TV channels such as CNN.

Beijing Guide