Picture choosen by: MissWang Yenshan Communications in China Internet
China has more Internet users than any other country in the world. Internet cafes (wangba) are abundant throughout China.
Some hotels provide access from the rooms that may or may not be free; others may provide a wireless service or a few desktops in the lounge area. A word of caution: as elsewhere, public computers and the Internet are not secure. Assume
that anything you type is not private. Do not send extremely sensitive data such as banking passwords from an Internet cafe.
The Chinese government has implemented a policy of Internet censorship. This includes the blocking of certain websites (over 18,000 according to a Harvard University study). As of July 2009, Facebook and Twitter are blocked. Youtube is occasionally blocked as well.

Getting news
China has some local English language news media. CCTV 9 is an English channel available 24/7 in most cities; CCTV 4 has a short newcast in English every day. China Daily is an English language newspaper available in hotels, supermarkets, and Beijing newstands.
There are also a few English magazines such as China Today and 21st Century. There is no longer any problem getting most foreign news in China.

Post
Post office open time Mon-Fri 0800-1900
The Chinese Post Office is generally reliable and sometimes quick. There are a few things you need to adapt to: Incoming mail will be both faster and more reliable if the address is in Chinese. If not, the Post Office has people who will translate but that takes time and is not 100%
accurate. This will almost always be searched, even if it is just a personal letter. Do not seal outgoing packages before taking them to the Post Office; they will not send them without inspecting the contents. Generally it is best to buy the packing materials at the Post Office, and almost all Post Offices will pack your materials for you. Most Post Offices and courier services will refuse to send CDs or DVDs, this can be
circumvented by placing them in CD wallets along with lots of other things and finally packing the space in with clothes, giving the appearance of sending your stuff home, also easier to send by sea as they care less.

Fax
International fax (Chuánzhēn) services are available in most large hotels for a fee of a dozen renminbi or more. Inexpensive faxes within China can be made in the ubiquitous photocopy outlets that have the Chinese characters for fax written on the front door.

Telephone
Telephone service is more of a mixed bag. Calling outside the country is often difficult, and usually impossible without a calling card, which can often only be bought locally. The good news is these cards are fairly cheap, and the connection is surprisingly clear,
uninterrupted and delay-free. Look for IP Telephone Cards, which typically have a value of ¥100 but sometimes can be had for as little as ¥25. The cards have printed Chinese instructions, but after dialing the number listed on the card English-spoken instructions
are available. As a general indication of price, a call from China to Europe lasts around 22 minutes with a ¥100 card. Calls to the US and Canada are advertised to be another 20% cheaper.
If your line allows for international direct dialling (IDD), the prefix for international calls in China is 00. So if you wish to make an overseas call, you would dial 00-(country code)-(area code)-(tel number). Note that calls from the mainland to Hong Kong and Macau require international dialling.

Cell phones
Cellular phones are very widespread and offer very good service in China. They play an essential role in daily life for most Chinese and for nearly all the expatriates in China. The typical expat spends a few hundred yuan buying a phone, then about ¥100 (US$14) a month
for the service; tourists might use it less. If you already have a GSM 900/1800 cellphone, you can roam onto Chinese networks, but calls
will be very expensive ($2-5/minute is typical). If you're staying for more than a few days, it will usually be cheaper to buy a prepaid Chinese SIM card; this gives you a Chinese phone number with a certain amount of money preloaded. If you need a phone as well, prices start
around ¥100/200 used/new. Chinese phones, unlike those sold in many Western countries, are never "locked" and will work with any SIM card you put in them.
China's two big operators are China Mobile and China Unicom. Most SIMs sold by the two work nationwide, with Unicom allowing Hong Kong/Macau/Taiwan usage as well, but there are some cards that work only in a single province, so check when buying. You may also need to manually activate national roaming, which may incur a small daily surcharge as long as it's active. To recharge, visit the neighborhood office of your mobile service provider, give the staff your number and pay in cash to recharge your account. Alternately, many shops will sell you a charge card, which has a number and password that must be used to call the telephone company to recharge the money in your account. Charge cards are sold in denominations of ¥30, 50 and 100.

Area codes
The country dialing code for mainland China is 86. Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan have their own separate country dialing codes which are 852 for Hong Kong, 853 for Macau and 886 for Taiwan. Major cities with eight-digit numbers have a two-digit area code. For example, Beijing is (0)10 plus an eight-digit number. Other places use seven- or eight-digit local numbers and a three-digit area code that does not start with 0, 1 or 2. So for example: (0)56 plus 7 digits for Zhuhai. The north uses small numbers, the south has larger numbers.
Normal cell phones do not need an area code.

Emergency numbers
The following emergency telephone numbers work in all areas of China; calling them from a cell phone is free.
Patrol Police: 110
Fire Department: 119
(Government-owned) Ambulance/EMS: 120
(some areas private-owned) Ambulance: 999
Traffic Police: 122
Directory inquiries: 114
Consumer Protection: 12315