Visiting or living in another country is always a difficult experience. From greetings to where to put the toilet paper (or even where to get the toilet paper), food shopping to apartment hunting there’s a wealth of information that we’d like to know NOW.

Now there’s a way. Send us an email with your question and if we choose your question our resident experts will answer it for you. Drop us a line at cs@eChinacities.com. Don’t worry, help is on the way.

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Questions:

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16. Where do I go in Beijing to get my medical examination done for my visa?
17. Where can I get a professional second hand bike in Wudaokou?
18. What do the Chinese characters on license plates stand for?
19. What is this 3G I keep hearing about?
20. When does Spring Festival start and what year of the Chinese zodiac is it?

Where do I go in Beijing to get my medical examination done for my visa?

Unfortunately, there is only one official place in Beijing to get the visa medical exam done, and it has to be done in China. You used to be able to get your examination done at the clinic on He Ping Li Jie but in May, during the run up to the Olympics, the government moved the examination spot way far away out to the mountains (or hills) that surround Beijing.

The name of the place is the Beijing International Travel Healthcare Center or 北京国际旅行卫生保健中心.
The address is: #10 De Zheng Lu, Haidian District.
In Chinese: 北京海淀区德政路10号.
The phone number: 010 8240 3675.

There seems to be little public transportation that goes nearby so you’ll probably be taking a cab. If you’re just going to pick up your results ask the driver to wait for you as you’ll have a hard time finding a cab back into town. You will almost certainly need the driver to call for directions!

The exams can only be done Monday to Friday between 8:30 and 11:00 AM.

You must bring with you:
- your passport or ID
- 3 photos, yes THREE passport-size photos

And you CANNOT EAT BREAFAST the morning you go because it will skew the results on the blood work they do. Bring snacks to scarf immediately afterwards.

Where can I get a professional second hand bike in Wudaokou?

Many people want to get second hand bicycles because we hear that second hand bikes have already had all the problem parts replaced. Another good reason to get a second hand bike is they’re less likely to be stolen than the shining new Giant mountain bikes with three different suspension systems.

In Wudaokou there are a number of individual shops where one can buy bicycles (there should still be a Giant store across from the East gate of the Beijing Language and Culture University) and a whole street packed with bike stores just a few minutes further away. Hopefully this map will help.

Most of the bikes being sold are new but most shops will have a couple used bikes if you’re persistent about wanting to see them. It’s true used bikes have already had a lot of parts repaired or replaced but there’s no guarantee that the replacement parts and labor will be any better than the originals.

Another possibility is to check the classified ads – many students returning home try to sell their bikes online.

What do the Chinese characters on license plates stand for?

Most of the characters represent the region or province where the car is licensed.

Most of them are easy for foreigners with a bit of Chinese to understand:
京 = Beijing, 津 = Tianjin, etc.
But some are trickier because they’re based on alternate names for a specific region:
沪 = Shanghai, 冀 = Hebei, 鲁 = Shandong, etc.

Some of the characters refer to the government bureau the car is associated with:
军 = Army, 未 = Navy, WJ = 武警 which means military police, etc.

What is this 3G I keep hearing about?

China is unveiling its new 3G cell phone network this week. It’s a mammoth technological infrastructure project that cost 187 billion RMB and it’s getting endless coverage on CCTV9 and in the Chinese media. 3G stands for 3rd generation but in this instance 3G means really fast cell phone connections – potentially as fast as cable modems - that allow you to download and stream video and do all sorts of new multimedia things on your cell phone that previously weren’t feasible.

The project has faced a lot of setbacks and it may be some time before bugs are worked out. To use the network you will need a 3G enabled phone which should be flooding the market any moment now. China Mobile claims you will be able to use your existing SIM card but they don’t sound too confident about this.

When does Spring Festival start and what year of the Chinese zodiac is it?

In 2009 Spring Festival starts on the 26th of January which is a Monday. It officially lasts 15 days which means it ends on Tuesday February 10th. After the first week or so of the holiday many store open back up and things return to normal. Read more about Spring Festival.

This year will be the Year of the Ox (牛| niú).

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