United Family Hospitals & Clinics

A glance at life in Beijing:

Travelers from abroad often come to Beijing to soak in the historical sights like the Forbidden City and The Great Wall. But many are surprised to find what a modern city the Northern capital has become. Nowadays, there are few amenities that an expatriate can't enjoy in Beijing.

Beijing today is a bustling, international city teeming with well dressed, savvy citizens on the way up. A mere decade ago the bicycle bell was the signature sound of the city; now it's the ring of the mobile phone.

Beijing is a food lovers paradise. Every type of Chinese cookery is available in Beijing from Sichuan to Cantonese, as well as many not found in the west. Other Asian cuisines are also plentiful, Thai and Japanese are especially good and excellent value for money. Just about every kind of Western food can also be found when people start to miss home cooking.

Beijing has a thriving music scene where you can catch anything from jazz to heavy metal. And for the lover of the fine arts, there are a plethora of art galleries, theatres and concert halls featuring both Chinese and International artists.

The Scenery:

Probably the most well known of China's famous sights, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall are located in and around Beijing. The Forbidden City is still the center of Beijing. Beijing spreads out from the Forbidden City in a North-South, East - West grid from this historical sight. The Forbidden City played home to 24 Emperors in its 600 year history and was the setting for "The Last Emperor".

The Great Wall was started 2500 years ago, to keep out the invaders from the north thought he pieces that survive today were built between the 14th and 17th century. In China the expression goes "If you haven't seen the Great Wall, you are not a real man (Woman) Mao

The Mother Land's Mother Tongue:

Mandarin is the official language of China and is considered to be one of the harder languages to learn. Mandarin is a syllabic language using one character for one syllable. Pinyin is the name of the alphabet that codifies the pronunciation of words. Nowadays, many signs feature both characters & pinyin making it easier for foreigners to get around. Beijing United Family Hospital provides language classes for all doctors who wish to try their hand at learning Chinese.

The People's Currency:

Chinese money is known as "The People's Currency" (ren min bi -RMB) and is not a "hard" currency. Renminbi can only be bought in China. Bills come in 1,2,5,10,20,50 and 100's. For the last 4-5 years the official exchange rate for the RMB has been around 8.3 RMB to the US dollar. ATMs (cash machines) are becoming more and more common, and travelers checks can be changed in all hotels and some banks.

The Modern Day Rickshaw:

Beijing's public transport system is poor and short journey can mean many changes. Most foreigners get about Beijing in taxis. Taxis are cheap and plentiful, you never have to wait more than a minute or two to hail one down. Most journeys cost no more than a dollar or two.

Passport to the East:

All foreigners must have a passport and visa to get into China. For those coming to take licensing exams a tourist visa is sufficient. If you come to work at Beijing United Family Hospital we will provide you with all the correct paperwork to obtain a work visa and provide you with residence & work permits.

Climate:

Beijing has four well-defined seasons with temps in the dry winter reaching 0*C. Winter lasts from December to March and is cold, dry and sunny. Summer in contrast sees highs of 38*C and has occasional "monsoon" - like rains.

What's happening in Beijing this week?

Check out this web site to get a look at what you might be doing if you were here this weekend www.xianzai.com