Beijing Airport and City Info

Generally no visa is required for Japanese visitors staying 15 days or less. A visa is required to stay longer than 15 days or if traveling for special purposes. Note that the type of visa varies with the travel purpose. For tourism, obtain a thirty-day tourist visa (L visa).

Your passport should be valid for at least six months. It should also have at least two unused visa pages.

When visiting from Japan, it is prohibited to bring the following items into China.

• a. Live animals (excluding dogs and cats*1)
  Includes any mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians, insects, and other invertebrates and animal genetic material.
• b. (Live or aged) meat (including offal), meat products, aquatic animal products.
• c. Animal-derived milk or dairy products
  Includes raw milk, fresh milk, yogurt, and animal-derived cream, and other dairy products such as butter and cheese.
• d. Eggs or egg products
  Includes fresh eggs, preserved eggs, pickled eggs, liquid egg, eggshells, mayonnaise, and other egg-derived products.
• e. Swallow's nests (excluding canned)
• f. Oils, fats, skin, furs, hooves, bones, horns, and products made from those items
• g. Animal-derived feed (meat meal, bone meal, fishmeal, whey powder, blood meal, and other single ingredient feed)
  Animal-derived herbal medicines, animal-derived feed

• h. Fresh fruit or vegetables
• i. Tobacco leaves (excluding cut tobacco)
• j. Seeds, seedlings, and other plants with reproductive ability
• k. Organic culture mediums

• l. Bacteria, viruses, or other biological pathogens, noxious insects or other noxious organisms, cells, tissues, organs, blood, or products made from those items or other biological specimens
• m. Animal carcasses, animal specimens, animal-derived waste
• n. Soil
• o. Genetically-modified biological specimens
• p. Other plants, animals, biological specimens, or Quarantine plants or animals that are prohibited from import to the country
• q. Plants or animals that are related to a country (or region) where plant or animal pathogens are spreading
• r. Wastes, radioactive materials, or other items that are not allowed to be brought in to the country

• * Of plants or animals, plant or animal specimens or other Quarantined plants or animals being carried in or sent by mail, those for which a Quarantine certificate has been issued from an official organization from the exporting country (or region) are excluded.

These cards are on a single form, but are often found separated into halves.

• * Visa, passport, and other information is subject to change without notice. Be sure to check with the Embassy, Consulate, or travel agency.

The scope of tax exemption is up to the equivalent of 400 cigarettes of smoking tobacco and an external device worth up to 5,000 yuan.

• Tobacco: 400 cigarettes, 100 cigars, or 500g of cut tobacco
• Liquor: 1.5L of liquor containing over 12% alcohol

There is a one-hour time difference between China and Japan (12:00 in Japan is 11:00 in Beijing). With Beijing time as the standard, different time zones are not established within the country. However, in the eastern and western ends of this large territory, calculation leads to a time difference of roughly 4 hours, and there are cases of an unofficial Xinjiang time (Beijing time -2 hours) being used in the Xinjiang-Uighyr Autonomous Region.
Daylight saving time is not observed in China.

When purchasing video software such as DVD, BD or VCD, take note of both the broadcasting system and the region code. The broadcasting system in Japan is NTSC and China is PAL. To play PAL in Japan, a PAL compatible VCR, video player and TV, or a video player that can convert PAL into NTSC is required (BD is compatible with both). The DVD region code for China is 6 and Japan is 2, and the BD code for China is C and Japan is A (does not apply to VHS and VCD). Although the code for the video software and video player must match in order to be played, it can still be played if either is all-region compatible.

The color of the postal service in China is dark green, so the mailboxes are in dark green, not red. For airmails to Japan, postcards are 5 yuan and sealed letters are 6 yuan (up to 20g) and above.

When calling (03) 1234-5678 or (090) 1234-5678:

1. dial 00 (International telephone identification number)
2. 81 (Country Code, Japan)
3. 3 or 90 (Remove the first 0 for area codes and mobile telephone numbers)
4. 1234-5678 (Other parties telephone No.)

1. International Telephone Company No.
   • 001 (KDDI)*1
   • 0033 (NTT Communications) *1
   • 0061 (SoftBank Telecom) *1
   • 005345 (au Mobile) *2
   • 009130 (NTT DoCoMo Mobile) *3
   • 0046 (SoftBank Mobile)*4
2. 010 (International Identification No.)
3. 86 (Country Code, Mainland China)
4. Remove the first 0 from telephone numbers for area codes

• * If you want to stay on the phone you bring from Japan for the three cell phone carriers, hold down 0 until + appears, then add the country code and the phone number your wish to dial.

China's national holidays are a combination of the western calendar and the lunar calendar (Chinese calendar), and it should be noted that they include movable holidays that are observed on different dates each year. There are also national holidays and memorial days that fall on specific dates. Additionally, China is a multiethnic nation and there are unique festivals for each ethnic group that are not official holidays but many of which are very interesting to see.

• January 1: New Year's
• January 25: Spring Festival*1
• March 8: International Women's Day*2
• April 4: Qingming Festival*1
• May 1: Labour Day
• May 4: Youth Day*2
• June 1: Children's Day*2
• June 25: Dragon Boat Festival*1
• August 1: Army Day*2
• September 1: Mid-Autumn Festival*1
• October 1: National Day

• * Government approved ways of arranging holidays are announced at the end of the year, and are adjusted yearly.

The official language of China is Standard Chinese, a language that was created based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin which is spoken by China's most dominant majority ethnic group, the Han race. Different ethnic groups have their own official languages. Additionally, even Mandarin which is spoken by multiple ethnic groups is divided into the Northern dialect, Wu (around Shanghai), Min, Yue and Hakka dialects as a result of the large territory of China. Each of these dialects differs so greatly that speakers of differing dialects cannot converse with each other. English is often not understood on the streets.

Shops and restaurants may differ in hours, but holidays and business hours for public institutions are also not regulated. Below are general guidelines for business hours.

9:00 to 12:00, 13:30 to 17:00.Closed on Saturday, Sunday and holidays.

10:00 to 20:00. Open everyday.

11:00 to 15:00, 17:00 to 22:00. Many stores are closed during Spring Festival.

The legal age to obtain a driver's license in China is 18. The law does not restrict the age for drinking and smoking. As of now, there are no rental car systems that can be easily used by travelers.