INTRODUCTION HANDBOOK. For the new intern at STB Beijing Office

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1 INTRODUCTION HANDBOOK For the new intern at STB Beijing Office

2 Table of Contents 1. Introduction Why be an intern at STB Introducing STB Mission Vision Goals The Organization Employees Projects in China Promotion in China Promotion Configuration Strategy Target audience Your assignments as an STB intern Working at STB - The Chinese Way Before Departure More official matters Registration at the police station Registration at your embassy Applying for a new visa in Beijing Living in Beijing Getting around or getting lost in Beijing Hostels Where to live and how to find an apartment How to get from the Airport How to get to the office Food Spare time Traveling around China Do not forget... 9

3 1. Introduction This is a handbook to the life as an intern at Scandinavian Tourist Board or STB as we call it. The handbook has the purpose of helping you - and us - to make your stay constructive and challenging. We hope you will find everything you might crave to know about working, living, and enjoying your stay here at STB and in Beijing. We have included a short introduction to STB and the way we work, as well as a description of assignments. Besides this, we have scribbled down some practical information about living in Beijing. 2. Why be an intern at STB Before we begin, it can be beneficial to reflect on why you even consider becoming an intern at STB in the first place. Take a minute to ponder over these questions: What was the first thing that caught your attention with STB? What was the first thing you thought of when considering becoming an intern at STB? Hopefully below mentioned are some of the many reasons: An international environment and intercultural workplace An interesting experience An opportunity to broaden your horizon A chance to experience something new 3. Introducing STB STB is a joint Scandinavian organization owned by the national tourism organizations in Denmark and Norway. Consequently, STB works with the two Scandinavian embassies, with our partners in the airline sector and in the Scandinavian and Chinese travel industry. The main purpose of STB is to promote Denmark and Norway as tourist destinations towards an Asian-Pacific target group. 3.1 Mission The mission of STB is twofold: 3.2 Vision To increase high-end Asia-Pacific travel to Denmark and Norway To boost awareness and knowledge of our partners products and travel solutions To ensure that STB is the main promotion coordinator, main hub for product- and market development and main tourism know-how/knowledge center in Asia for our Scandinavian partners To be a platform for Denmark and Norway s branding communications in Asia, in order to turn Denmark and Norway into household names in Asia 3.3 Goals Gain recognition as the most knowledgeable marketing center regarding Asia-Pacific outbound travel to Scandinavia Consolidate STB as a commercially oriented and competitive organization 2 P a g e

4 Increase awareness of the importance of the Asia-Pacific outbound travel market Be acknowledged as a PR agency for Scandinavian branding in Asia-Pacific countries 4. The Organization 4.1 Employees Currently, we have four full-time employees working in China. Cindy Zhu (Media & event manager), Deanna Shang (Trade executive) and Alice Liu (Accountant, administration & web executive) they are all located in the STB Beijing office. Furthermore, Kent Jia (Manager, Eastern China) is based in Shanghai. 4.2 Projects in China In China we focus on two major projects: Norway Asia Awareness (NAA) project Visit Denmark Strategic Cooperation (VSC) project NAA and VSC are, as the name reveals, projects focusing on Norway and Copenhagen. Besides the two projects, STB also make the Basic Marketing Promotion (BMP) including workshops, general seminars, sales calls, education trips and cooperation with Chinese key tour-operators and media. 4.3 Promotion in China Promotion Configuration In 2015, STB China will run the above mentioned projects along with general promotion of the Scandinavian region. All three promotional pillars are fully integrated and will work as a convergent entity Strategy STB will employ a focus differentiated strategy in China, working proactively with selected tour operators in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, respectively. STB will counsel these tour operators to develop and sell high-end tours to Denmark and Norway. Further, the focus differentiated strategy will also apply to STB s work with the media: it will only work proactively with upscale media that complements the push towards the travel trade Target audience Selected travel trade in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou Selected media in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou Selected travel trade specialized in MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Events) in Beijing and Shanghai 5. Your assignments as an STB intern Assist the preparation of 2015 Scandinavian workshop in China Attend events related to Copenhagen projects and other STB activities, when suitable Undertake research, information gathering in accordance with need of STB 3 P a g e

5 Directly contact Scandinavian companies to solve inquiries of Chinese travel agents or media regarding Denmark and Norway Formulating newsletters in English for the head office as well as one for internal use with news about Denmark and Norway Search and find partners news and pictures for monthly newsletter Searching for small Scandinavian cities finding necessary instructions about special sights and technical visit places Check and update website and brochures contents Checking the monthly cash report Collect questionnaires and analysing the results Assist the STB-team in the day-to-day activities such as updating databases, translating, finding media inputs, reporting and article writing 6. Working at STB - The Chinese Way The office hours are: Monday to Friday. It is unusual to work late, but during busy times flexibility is appreciated. Please be punctual. If you are delayed and cannot make it to the office before 9.30, please call STB and inform us about this. Lunch break is 1 hour, normally from to So if you wish to leave the office for purchases, it should be within this period of time. Normally, we eat lunch together in the office, but if you prefer you can also leave the office for an hour to eat at any of the many restaurants in Wan Da Plaza. There is no dress code at the office, but please bring a suit for official meetings, receptions or event. You do not need to bring your own laptop for work, as STB has extra computers at the office. Should you feel more comfortable using your own laptop, you can. 7. Before Departure Below we have listed the necessary papers and documents to hand in when applying for a visa to work for the STB office in Beijing in China. Addresses, phone numbers and opening hours for the respective embassies in Denmark and Norway are also included. At the end of the handbook you will find useful information and suggestions on items to add to your luggage. Applying from Denmark: You should apply for a business (Z) visa. Business visas are generally issued to applicants, who intend to take business trips to China and who will stay in China for less than 6 months. To apply for the visa you need log on: and act as the online introduction. Applying from Norway: You should apply for a business visa (Z), for more information see: Note: Before you apply for the visa, please send an to liu.wei@stb-asia.com.cn and request for an invitation letter, which is necessary when applying for a Chinese visa. 4 P a g e

6 8. More official matters 8.1 Registration at the police station When you have moved into your permanent apartment here in Beijing, you have to register at the police station, as they need to know where you are staying. You do this at your local office, it is free of charge and you need to bring your house contract signed by your landlord (preferably with their Chinese name, since the people at the police station rarely speak English), a copy of your landlords IDcard and your passport. The secretary at the STB office can help you find information on where your closest police station is. If you do not speak Chinese you might need to bring someone who does to ease the process. If you have any problems with your visa, while you are in China or if you want to extend it, or if you want more entries, you have to contact Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau. STB staff can help check the details for you before you apply in China. 8.2 Registration at your embassy It is optional to register at the embassy after arrival, but by doing so you will be included in their plan for a state of alert. It is highly recommended since, in case of emergency or in crisis situations they are aware of the fact that you are actually living in Beijing and they will then try to help you. Furthermore, the embassies also have a lot of event, for respectively Danish and Norwegian citizens in Beijing. It is possible to sign up for newsletter. Denmark: Register at the Danish embassy: Sign up for newsletter regarding events for Danes in Beijing: Norway: Register at the Norwegian embassy: Sign up for newsletter regarding events for Norwegian in Beijing: Applying for a new visa in Beijing You will need several papers to apply of which STB office will give you three: The original workcertificate with stamp and a copy of the same paper and an invitation letter for you to stay longer. Besides, you also need your permit registration from the police station, your passport and a pass photo in the size 2 cun. (Get one taken in a photo-shop). Process: BE THERE WHEN THEY OPEN in the morning at 9 pm!!! In the afternoon more than 200 people might be in line in front of you. The waiting can take many hours. Take subway 2 to Yong He Gong station. Take exit B and walk straight along the road for about meters. The address is MenDonglu no. 2. In the building take the left escalator (to the foreigner area) to second floor and take a number from the automat! Then grab an application form from one of the desks and fill it out. You should have plenty of time since there are always many people waiting. Take your form and picture to the desk where they display which numbers can go to the service desk. There they have to scan your application picture. When your turn is up, go to the line to the service desk and present all papers. The process usually takes days but they will give you a temporary Visa/stay permit. The price is 160RMB. (Oct 2013) When going to retrieve the passport, go to the second floor to counter 21 directly (Cashier) and pay. They stamp your yellow temp card. Then go to counter to retrieve your passport. 5 P a g e

7 9. Living in Beijing This is a city of over 21 million people so be prepared to get crammed into the buses and subways once in a while - just enjoy the fact that you will get off in a few minutes! Living in Beijing can be somewhat tricky and frustrating at times, especially if you do not speak Mandarin. Due to the fact that taxi drivers and people in general do not understand or speak English. Another problem when not speaking the language is that all places, persons and stores have Chinese names, which make it hard to get around if you only have the English name of your destination. Jumping into a taxi and ask him to drive you to for example; Temple of Heaven or to The Great Wall, will unfortunately not work. But this is also a chance for you to learn a little bit of Chinese. Chinese App To help you a bit on that way there is several dictionary App s from English to Chinese the best one so far is Pleco, however it is only available for iphone. Beijing is a very safe city, of course you should use common sense, but crime towards western people is very rare, since the punishments are higher for attacking a western person in China. Pocket thieves and robberies are not very common; however, when traveling by bus or subway, you should be careful. People are friendly and if you ask them they will absolutely try to help you, although the language barriers often result in that they point you to the opposite direction than the direction you were asking for. But hey-since you are a trainee at STB you probably like challenges. But do not let the cultural differences scare you - Beijing is a wonderful city with a lot of possibilities. There is always something to do, and there are a lot of western people here on expat-contracts, studies or internships, who are all thrilled to meet people from their side of the world. This is a city of opportunities, there is so much going on in China and Beijing right now, so enjoy your stay and try to ignore the pollution and crazy traffic. The following links are some general information to help you find your place in this magnificent and breath taking city - enjoy! Helpful links The Beijinger Tripadvisor City Weekend The Beijing page here you can find flats/rooms for rent Expat s guide to China Lonely Planet Getting around or getting lost in Beijing Beijing is pretty big and getting around can be quite daunting at first. Don t despair - others have managed before you. Beijing s geography is built on six ring roads that forms squares around each other and by learning the different point of the compass you will be keeping track. Our office is located in between of the third and fourth ring road. It might be a good idea to get a Beijing public transportation card as it makes your travel more convenient and easy. It costs 20 RMB for the card (when you return the card you get the 20 RMB back). You can deposit money on the card and make your journey more smooth and trouble-free. 6 P a g e

8 Subway. There are 13 lines in the Beijing subway so it covers great parts of the city. The 2008 Olympic Game made Beijing a more international city and you can now on all subway stations find maps, signs and directions written in English as well as in Chinese, which makes the subway very easy and convenient to use. A single ticket is 2 RMB. The subway station located closest to the STB office is Da Wang Lu on Line 1. When you get of the subway take exit D, go through the Gemdale Mall and walk approximately 2-5 minutes from here to Wanda Square Building 1 where STB is located on the 21 st floor. Metro App It is an interactive App for the different subways in Beijing. It is called Beijing Metro, and is really user-friendly. Bus. Will take you where the subways do not, but normally they are packed. They run very frequently, but be aware that traffic jams are kind of everyday life in this city, so if you are traveling during rush hours - don t be in a hurry! It is a cheap way of transportation, within the city you pay 1 RMB (0.4 RMB if you have a Beijing public transportation card) but be aware of pocket thieves. Bike. Practical if you don t mind a few surprises now and then. Short-distance you can go by bike, probably the fastest transportation during rush hour. Almost all the streets except from the ring roads have bike lanes in both directions, and it is a bike lane even though the taxi drivers seem to think that it is some kind of taxi lane, so you have to pay attention to the cars so you don t get hit. Remember to use the lane on your right hand side. You can buy a new bike in one of the many bike shops from around 300 RMB. Although, keep your bike at a safe place, bike-thefts are unfortunately very common. There is a fixed area for bike parking nearby our Beijing office. Walk. Apart from the risk of being run down by the before mentioned bikes, it s peaceful and safe. You can pay attention to the traffic (e.g. bikers) or you can do it the way many locals do. Until you know your way around, make sure to have a small piece of paper in your pocket with your home address written in Chinese. Then you can always find your way back. 9.2 Practical Information Hostels Unfortunately STB cannot provide any housing for our interns in China. However, the easiest way would be to start with living in a hostel, and then start to search for an apartment when you get here. You can find information about hostels in any guide book about Beijing. 7 Day Inn, located in Da Wang Lu. Prices are around 200 RMB for a double bed room. The English version of this chain hotel s website cannot provide an online booking system, so if you would like to book a room in this hotel, please contact Ms. Alice Liu at STB: liu.wei@stb-asia.com.cn For more information and places check this out: or Where to live and how to find an apartment Since the STB office is located in Da Wang Lu, you probably would like to stay close to that area. Personally I believe that as a Scandinavian trainee you better be staying close to Sanlitun or Shuangjing. This is where most of the night life takes place, many foreigners rent flats here and furthermore, these places are not far away from the office, so you can easily go there by bike. When looking for an apartment in Beijing you can visit the following websites: look under roommate or rent or see These are good websites where you can find other peoples ads, single apartments, room for rent or shared apartments. You could also place your own add for free. In Beijing there are several real estate agents. You can call them and tell them that you are searching for an apartment and they will help you. You might find it a problem to find an apartment if you are not willing to sign up for a whole year, but this is when you have to use your Scandinavian charm, 7 P a g e

9 they are not totally impossible. Some of them are more trustworthy than others, therefore you should be careful. However, I will provide one contact that I know from experience is a good and trustworthy agent: Mindy Li (Beijing Wuwoo Real Estate Agency Co. Ltd) Tel: , Mob: mindy.li@wuwoo.com Web: How to get from the Airport The easiest and most expensive way: is to take a taxi, take a green or a red one. They have some black taxis (the color of the actual car is black) don t take those; they are cheating people and taking much higher fares. And make sure that they start the taximeter. Going to Da Wang Lu will take about 40 minutes depending on the traffic, and cost you around 100 RMB. The fastest way: Is to take the airport subway to Dongzhimen station on ring road two. This will cost you 25RMB but it is quick and convenient. From Dongzhimen you can change to the normal subway or take a taxi to your final destination. The cheapest way: Take the airport-coach number 1, to Da Bei Yao station, the price is 16 RMB. From there you can take a taxi to Sanlitun or Da Wang Lu, or wherever you are heading and it will not be too expensive. For more information about the airport-coaches, see How to get to the office The address to our office in Beijing is: Room 2105, Building 1, Wan Da Plaza No.93 Jianguo Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing , China. Address in Chinese 北京市朝阳区建国路 93 号万达广场 1 号楼 2105 室 Tel: Web: Food Chinese food is very Chinese, and not as the Chinese food we are used to in Scandinavia. Something you cannot miss are the dumplings, baozi, hotpot, Xinjang food (a province in China with delicious food, famous for there skewers), and the most famous dish Beijing Duck. But Beijing offer a variety of food, Japanese, Vietnamese, Lebanese, Arabic, Italian, Belgian, Korean, Mexican, Thai and much much more, even Scandinavian food, so there is definitely food for everyone. Let us give you a helping hand: Spare time You ll be working daily and during the weekends you ll be trying to catch up on missing sleep from going out, but nevertheless - here s a list on Things to do and see in Beijing. Imperial buildings: Temple of Heaven - a magnificent temple & park where the emperors offered sacrifices, features circular Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. Lama Temple - Tranquil home of Tibetan Buddhism, with working monks and an 18 meter statue of the Buddha carved from a single piece of sandalwood tree. Bell tower - built in 1420 to announce time during the day Drum tower - built at the same time as the Bell tower to announce time at night. 8 P a g e

10 Summer Palace - Imperial retreat from Beijing s summer heat with gardens, lakes, hills and the famous marble boat. The Forbidden City The emperor palace in from residing a total of 14 emperors. The city now functions as a palace museum. Other tourist attractions Shopping The Great Wall (many different places you can go to, the closest and most touristy is Badaling) Dashanzi or 798, art district Houhai a big lake area close to the hutongs and the Drum and Bell tower CCTV tower (look at Beijing from above, there is a great view on a clear day) Panjiayuan market (antique market open in the weekends) Tiananmen Square Silk market (bargain, bargain, bargain), Is located close to the office Yashow (bargain, bargain, bargain), in Sanlitun Pearl market (bargain, bargain, bargain) Nali, in Sanlitun (a bit more expensive but more unique stuff) Pacific Plaza Oriental Plaza Wang Fu Jing (Here you can buy everything like books and clothes, forever 21 is located here) 11. Traveling around China China is a very interesting country with a lot of different places to see. You could for example go to Shanghai if you want to discover a more western city, in that way Shanghai is much more developed than Beijing. Traveling is not very expensive in China, but the prices will rise during the national holidays. You can travel with train or by plane. And if you are planning to travel during the holidays, make sure you book your tickets in advance since the planes will be full and the trains will be packed. If you are here during the winter, maybe you would like to take the opportunity to go to Hainan and enjoy the sunny beaches as a break from the cold and polluted city-life in Beijing. 12. Do not forget Shopping can be very cheap in Beijing, so if you have patience to play the little bargaining game you shouldn t bring too much stuff from home. You will probably end up going home with several kilos overweight anyway. When that is said, bear in mind that almost all crème here has got whitening effect meaning it contains some sort of bleach. Also, due to high custom barriers, foreign brands are more expensive here than in Denmark. So bring your favorite Deodorant, perfume or facial crème with you. 9 P a g e

10 TRAVEL OUT_ELEM_10_U10_p indd 86 10/05/ :53

10 TRAVEL OUT_ELEM_10_U10_p indd 86 10/05/ :53 10 TRAVEL 1 2 6 5 7 8 12 13 14 86 IN THIS UNIT YOU LEARN HOW TO: talk about train travel buy tickets talk about the time talk about transport where you live recommend places 3 WORDS FOR UNIT 10 1 Work