Useful Numbers
The following numbers may prove useful during emergencies:
Police (called from land line): 110
Fire (called from land line): 119
Ambulance: 120
Directory Enquiries: 114
Time: 12117
Weather: 12121
Telephone
There is a telephone numbering system, called the Chinese Telephone Code Plan, for telephones in China. Domestic phone numbers has at least 7 digits, with large cities having 8 digits. Mobile phones have 11 digits. The IDD number for China is 86, while those of Hong Kong and Macau are 852 and 853 respectively. Mobile phone numbers in China have 11 digits beginning with 13, 15 and 18. For example, 13x-xxxx-xxxx.
How to dial from China to another country? Dial 00 followed by the Country Code, Area Code and Phone Number. For example, if you're calling the number 04-555 6666 in Penang, Malaysia from Japan, you would dial 00-60-4-555-6666.
Phone Area Codes
China is divided into 10 phone area codes. Area 1, with the prefix 10, is for Beijing; Area 2, with prefixes 20 to 29, is for specific municipalities. It also includes one reserved for Taipei, which presently is following its own phone system. The remaining eight area codes denote specific China provinces. Area 1
Beijing: 10 Area 2
Guangzhou: 20
Shanghai: 21
Tianjin: 22
Chongqing: 23
Nanjing: 25
Taipei: 26
Wuhan: 27
Chengdu: 28
Xi'an: 29 Area 3: places in Hubei, Shanxi and Henan provinces Area 4: places in the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia and provinces in northeast China, namely Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang Area 5: places in Jiangsu, Shandong (a few), Anhui, Zhejiang and Fujian provinces Area 6: places in Taiwan (proposed), Shandong (the rest), Guangdong (a few) and Yunnan (a few) provinces Area 7: places in Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong (most), Jiangxi provinces and Guangxi autonomous region Area 8: places in Sichuan, Hainan, Guizhou, Yunnan (mostly) provinces and Tibet autonomous region Area 9: places in Shaanxi, Gansu and Qinghai provinces, and Ningxia and Xinjiang autonomous regions
China Yellow Pages
China Yellow Pages: http://www.chinayellowpages.org/
Mobile Phones
China uses the GSM system common everywhere outside North America. About receiving calls while in China, please note that you may be charged a very high rate for receiving calls from callers who are unaware you are abroad. Prepaid cards are easily available at kiosks in most cities.
About the Author: AsiaExplorers is researched and written by Timothy Tye. We take reasonable care to check and verify the accuracy of the content. However, we disclaim any responsibility for any inconvenience, mishap, injury or death resulting from following the advice provided directly or indirectly by AsiaExplorers and the comments on its pages. All the photographs in AsiaExplorers are available for publication. Please contact AsiaExplorers at the following email address for your enquiries:
