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Fast Facts

American Express -- Beijing: Room 2313-14, China World Tower 1, China World Trade Center; tel. 010/6505-2838. After hours: U.S. hot line tel. 001336/393-1111. Emergency card replacement: 00852/2277-1010. Stolen traveler's checks: 010800/610-0276 (toll-free).

Area Codes -- In mainland China, area codes begin with a zero, which must be dropped when calling China from abroad. The whole area code can be dropped when calling another number in the same area.

Babysitters -- Babysitting services are widely available in hotels but are usually carried out by regular members of the housekeeping staff. Don't expect special qualifications, but do expect your children to be spoiled rotten.

Banks, Currency Exchanges & ATMs -- Larger branches of the Bank of China typically exchange cash and traveler's checks on weekdays only, from 9am to 4pm, occasionally with a break for lunch (11:30am-1:30pm). Most central is the branch at the bottom of Wangfujing Dajie, next to the Oriental Plaza. Other useful branches include those at Fucheng Men Nei Dajie 410; on Jianguo Men Wai Dajie, west of the Scitech Building; in the Lufthansa Center, next to the Kempinski Hotel; and in Tower 1 of the China World Trade Center. Outside the airport, Bank of China ATMs accepting international cards 24 hours a day are now widespread, and include those outside the Wangfujing Dajie branch mentioned above. Others exist further north on Wangfujing Dajie, outside the Xin (Sun) Dong An Plaza; on the left just inside the Pacific Century Plaza on Gongti Bei Lu east of San Li Tun (only 9am-9pm); and adjacent to the Bank of China branch next to the Scitech Building (also 24 hr.). The Citibank ATM east of the International Hotel, and the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank machine at the entrance to COFCO Plaza, roughly opposite each other on Jianguo Men Nei Dajie, are Beijing's most reliable. There are also six ATMs at the airport.

Books -- The best selection of English-language books in Beijing can be found at the clearly marked Foreign Languages Bookstore (Waiwen Shudian; 9am-8:30pm) at Wangfujing Dajie 235, opposite the Xin (Sun) Dong An Plaza. Look on the right side of the first floor for China-related nonfiction, glossy hutong photo books, cookbooks, the full range of Asiapac's cartoon renditions of Chinese classics, and even Frommer's guides. Cheap paperback versions of a huge chunk of the English canon, as well as a number of contemporary works, are sold on the third floor. The Bookworm in San Li Tun carries a smaller but more daring collection of fiction, and also houses Beijing's most intriguing library of English-language materials.