How to Open an ICBC Bank Account in Beijing

ICBC or Industrial and Commercial Bank of China can be found in almost every place in Beijing. You can find 2 or more banks in a single location and ATM Machines can be found almost everywhere. Just look for the Union Pay Icon and you can instantly access your account. If you're planning to stay for a long time in Beijing, you can consider opening an RMB bank account in this bank.

For Beijing Language and Culture University students, there are 2 branches within the vicinity that you can choose from. The first one is located inside the school, right behind the East building (the biggest school building). While the second branch is located outside the school, somewhere around the South East Corner. I don't really think the directions I'm giving right now are relevant, but you'll know their locations once you get here.

Advantages of Opening an Account

First and foremost, the greatest advantage of having an account is being able to put your money on a safe place. Rather than keeping all your money in the wallet and taking the risk of losing it throughout the semester, it will be better if you just decide to put it in the bank.

Getting an ATM card is a breeze. As soon as you open an ATM account, the bank immediately provides you an ATM card and you can withdraw from it anytime.

After converting your money, you can just put everything in and be worry free. You can also use the ATM as a debit card so you can use it like it's a credit card (in places that accept card payment of course).

Requirements in Opening an Account

In order to open an account, you'll should just bring with you two things, your Original passport and the money you want to deposit. You'll also be filling up a few forms.

Steps in Opening a Bank Account

Once you enter the bank, you can just get a number from the machine and wait for your number to be called. If they ask you what you want to do, you can just say you want to open a bank account and Exchange your money (if it's still not in RMB). If you can't speak Mandarin, no worries, just speak in English and they'll find a way to understand you.

Before filling up the forms, you will be asked to choose whether you want a checkbook account or an ATM account. It actually depends on your preference. In my case, I chose the ATM account since it's tiring to keep on returning to the bank each time I need money.

If your money is not yet in RMB, and you want to convert it, you must first fill up a Currency Exchange form. On top is an example photo of the Currency Exchange Form I filled up back then.

After filling up the Currency Exchange Form, you can start filling up the form for opening a bank account. I think there are 2 sheets of paper for opening an account. It includes several details about you, including your passport number. Once your done, you just need to wait for a while until your numbers are called. Remember to give the Currency Exchange form first.

Once your account is opened, you'll be asked to enter a 6-digit password for your ATM card. Simply press the numbers on the machine and in a few more minutes, you're done!

Did this article provide relevant information?

Tips on Pocket Money and Currency Exchange for Students in Beijing

Weeks before I started my study in Beijing Language and Culture University, I encountered this problem on exactly what currency, how much and where to keep the money I'll be using for my entire stay in Beijing. This post will give you a few tips about what to do with your cash and pocket money before traveling to Beijing.

Amount
Rather than bringing just your credit card, I would suggest that you also bring cash. In my case, I brought the whole amount I was going to need for my entire stay in Beijing. Take note though that you can't bring more than $10,000 cash with you(due to some airport rule that I'm not so familiar about).

So, yes, the whole amount. It included my tuition fee and my allowance for the whole semester. It was really a risky thing to do, but it was an assurance for me that I have money to survive in Beijing.

If bringing that much cash with you makes you feel uneasy, you can just bring some cash and your ATM card with you. Just make sure that it has the Visa, Cirrus or Master card logo on it. Else, the machines won't be able to recognize it and you won't be able to withdraw. Since it is an international card, each pull will cost you around 30 RMB and it also has a daily withdrawal limit.

Currency

If you intend to bring cash with you, it wouldn't be a smart decision to bring everything in RMB. This will be equivalent to bundles and bundles of cash and it will not be easy to handle.

I would suggest that you bring some cash in RMB, any amount that you think can last you around 3 weeks in Beijing would be good enough.

For the remaining amount, you can use a different currency. The best currency to bring with you is US dollar. The thinner your wallet looks, the better. ;)

Currency Exchange in Beijing
If you cannot exchange your money to RMB in your own country, you don't need to worry. There are currency exchange counters found in the arrival area of the airport but it will cost you an extra 50 RMB if I'm not mistaken.

But the best place to get currency exchange would be at the ICBC bank, located inside the school. It is packed with people especially during the first few days of enrollment, but it gets better after a week or so. They don't have extra charges for the currency exchange and the rates are not so bad either.

Did I give enough information? :) Your comments will be highly appreciated.

Dormitory versus Apartment

Prior to their stay in school, many students encounter this dilemma of either renting an apartment or living in one of the school dormitories in Beijing Language and Culture University. In choosing your own living space, here are some points to ponder:

Personalized space
One of the main differences of apartments and dormitories is the way they can actually design the space. If you rent a dormitory, then you'll only probably have a bed, a study table with chair, a closet for your clothes and a toilet. There will be no area for hanging your clothes outside, so you should buy a clothes dryer rack or maybe just hang your clothes on top of the curtains. The space is not very generous and you cannot really decorate it since pasting on walls is prohibited. If this doesn't bother you and you don't really have passion for interior decorating (like me), then living in the dorm will be fine. Otherwise, if you want a homey space with a living room, kitchen,dining area and personalized room, then you should stick with the apartment.

Convenience
For people who take convenience as the most important priority for a living space, then I suggest that you stay in a dormitory. If you live in a school dormitory, especially at Dorm 4, then everything is just so near to you! The classroom is less than a hundred steps away and the Dining hall is just in front of the Intensive Building. You can wake up at 7:30 a.m. and still be early for class! If you stay in Dorm 17, it's quite farther away from the classrooms but still, it will only need 10 minutes by foot and around 5 minutes by bike. There are some apartments nearby, but the closer the apartment, the higher is the price to pay. So, if you don't mind spending extra few minutes to ride the bus to school, you can take an apartment. 

Residence permit
For dorm residents, the residence permit will be given within the enrollment procedure. For those residing in apartments, you and your landlord should go together to the police station and claim your residence permit. This will only take less than a day or so, so the earlier you come to Beijing (before the class starts), the better.

Safety
The BLCU school ground is open to the public so anyone can just enter the school and pass by, but each dorm has a front desk and a number of CCTV cameras to watch who comes in and out the dormitories. Apartments don't have front desks, but it shouldn't be that unsafe either since the main doors have big locks to keep you safe from burglars and the like.

Electric and Water bill
When you rent a school dorm, your rental fee includes your stay, water and electric bill. You can use the electricity without limits provided that they are included in the dormitory guidelines. You don't need to refill electric cards so the problem about getting power shutdowns are out of the question. But if you're renting an apartment, you should coordinate with your flatmates in paying for the bill since it will be divided among yourselves. I'm not sure how much it costs every month, but it shouldn't be that big. Electricity is not very expensive in China.

Internet
The most people that can share an internet connection in the dormitory are two people (in a double room), unless you have friends next door who are willing to share with the internet expense. Routers can be rented at a really low price so it won't cost too much. In an apartment, you can have at most around 3-4 flatmates, so you can share the cost amongst yourselves.

Chill time
Since most apartments have a living room, with a sofa and television and a little bit more extra space, then this will be great for people who like to chill with friends. You can invite friends over for dinner or drinking sessions anytime since it doesn't have limits on visiting hours like dormitories have.

Where do you think it's more suitable for you to stay and why? Tell us more about it!

Adventures in Inner Mongolia!

After being away for my 4-day trip to Mountain Heng Hanging Temple, Datong Yungang Buddhist Caves, Inner Mongolia Grassland and Desert, I have this irrevocable feeling of having the need to post a blog about that indescribable trip! With a mix of fun and a few woeful events, it was indeed a very, very memorable one.

When I enrolled in BLCU, I wasn't able to prepare extra money for this additional expense trip to Inner Mongolia. The school arranges a 4-day trip and it costs about 1,750 RMB. My friends told me that it would be much cheaper to join a trip arranged by an agency, so my classmates and I chose to go with an agency instead. True, the trip costs only 1,460 RMB compared to the school's trip so we saved around 300 RMB in the expenses.

The trip was organized by Happy Holiday - an agency located on the 9th floor of the Conference Center. They organize people in groups. So if you're planning to have friends with you, register yourselves under one name so that you can be together in the bus and the places you are going to.

The first day of our trip was spent on visiting the Mountain Heng Hanging Temple and the Datong Yungang Buddhist Caves. The place isn't really enormous or entirely breath taking but they do have positive sides. First is, your stay in the bus will be shortened immensely and you'll spend the night in a hotel, so the number one priority of including these places in the tour is your comfort. You can also spend some time appreciating how much effort, time and skill were placed in creating the Buddhist caves. I'm giving a salute on how perfectly they carved on the stones to create the altars for their gods.

The second day was spent in the Inner Mongolia Grassland where we met the locals and rode horses through the grassland. I've never really seen a grassland before, but when I saw it, I just knew why it was called a grassland!! Haha. There weren't any trees and the wind was so cold. At first, we didn't pay the 300 RMB cost for the horse because we thought it was too expensive. But realizing that we can only stay in the bus while waiting for our friends to finish riding the horses, we knew it was going to be extremely boring. So we got the cheaper one at 200 RMB and still rode the horse but to fewer places. We never regretted spending extra though. At night we slept at the Yurts (without heater and hot water), so I kind of suffered the whole night with roughly 3 hours of sleep due to the cold weather.

On the third day we went to the Inner Mongolia desert and I think this was the best day of the trip. We rode the cable car, the camel and took the sand slide. The camel-riding was really a cool experience. It was much slower than the horse but the experience was unique in it's own way. At night we were able to stay in a hotel so it made up for our 1 night stay at the cruel yurt!

Going back to Beijing took us around 13 hours and that includes a couple of stops (for lunch and stopping by the toilets). 13 hours and we were counted lucky because the tour guide said that it could have extended to 17 hours if we were caught in the traffic jam. That was indeed an adventure!

If you are planning to go to a trip to Inner Mongolia, be ready to bring hand sanitizer, face moisturizer, baby oil for your hair, lots of tissue, a face mask (to cover your face when using the most gruesome toilets) and as many thick clothes as you can! Enjoy!

Beijing's Week-long National Holiday

Every year, Beijing (as part of China) celebrates it's National Holiday for a week. This is the time when many workers, including students, get a week off from their daily schedules and enjoy their vacation by doing any of the following activities:

Visiting Different Tourist Spots

Inner Mongolia - The usual package for Inner Mongolia includes a trip to Mountain Heng Hanging Temple, Datong Yungang Buddhist Caves, Inner Mongolia Grassland, Desert and Beijing. Inner Mongolia has a rich history and culture, the scenery is also somewhat odd but incredibly amazing. This trip will last for 4 days and 3 nights by bus. For the people who want a backpacker's trip and experience a camper's life, you should try this trip. It will cost you around 1,450 yuan.

Shanghai - The tour includes visiting Nanjing, Wuxi, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Shanghai. This whole trip will take about 7 days by train. The trip will mostly be comprised of viewing scenery like rivers and gardens and taking a glimpse of the city life in Shanghai. It will also cost you around 1,450 yuan.

Tibet - The places you will visit will include Lhasa, Podala Palace, Dazhao Temple, YangBajing, LinZhi, NiYang River and Lulang Forests. Since Tibet is located in a high-altitude area, it is advised that you ride a plane on your way there to avoid ear discomforts due to air pressure changes. This unique and peaceful trip will cost you around 7000 yuan.

Go Shopping for Winter 

Since the National Holiday is the season of transition from Autumn to Winter, it is the best time to shop for cold winter outfits and boots. By this time, many shopping areas have already changed their season's wardrobe collection and you can haggle for the best bargain before the prices shoot up.

Best places to shop for great bargains will be: Xidan, Silk Street, Houhai and Golden Towers.

Spending the Free Time to Relax

After being in stressful daily situations, spending 7 days to rest will be more than enough to revitalize and refresh yourself. Chilling out in coffee shops or spending time with your closest friends can be the best activities to help you unwind and break free from your everyday worries.