IRT Beijing, China 2008
From CDGWiki
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May 21-23 2008
Beijing, China
Hosted by China Unicom
THEME: Revenue Assurance
REGISTER HERE
Click HERE for agenda
Check out the PARTICATION LIST as of May 14, 2008
On behalf of the CDMA Development Group International Roaming Team (IRT), you are invited to attend our IRT Meeting taking place May 21-23, 2008 in Beijing, China, hosted by China Unicom. This meeting is Free of Charge to members of the CDMA Development Group. The theme of this meeting is Revenue Assurance
In just three days you will:
• Meet industry contacts that will help you grow your roaming business
• Learn techniques to increase your bottom line through revenue assurance
• Gain business and technical knowledge that will help you to implement CDMA roaming for voice, SMS, data and Location Based Services
• Discover more about the future direction of CDMA roaming
The IRT is a quarterly gathering place CDMA operators to network, develop real world solutions, discuss compatibility and envision the future of CDMA international roaming. The event is fully supported and sponsored by key industry members from carrier and vendor companies. Combined, these groups help to formulate the most effective means of growing the CDMA roaming footprint around the world. Participation by roaming managers,contract negotiators, marketing managers and technical staff from the carriers is highly encouraged in order to help develop real world solutions that will advance CDMA roaming.
Last quarter's event attracted over 135 participants who benefited from meeting CDMA roaming experts, finding new partners, and consider business relationships.
Online registration is now OPEN.
Sponsorship and speaking opportunities are available. For more information, please contact roaming@cdg.org
[edit] Registration
Registration is required to gurantee a seat in all meeting sessions. Please be sure to register before May 7th, 2008 in order to receive a badge and printed material. To register please click HERE
[edit] Attire
- Meeting Attire: Conservative suits for men with subtle colors are the norm. Women should avoid high heels and short sleeved blouses. The Chinese frown on women who display too much. Subtle, neutral colors should be worn by both men and women.
- General: Casual dress should be conservative as well. Men and women can wear jeans. However, jeans are not acceptable for business meetings. Revealing clothing for women is considered offensive to Chinese businessmen.
[edit] Hotel Information
China Unicom has opened a room block at:
Westin, Beijing
9B Financial Street
XiCheng District
Beijing, Beijing 100032 China
Phone: (86)(10) 6606 8866
Click HERE to make a reservation at the hotel
Room rate: 1800 yuan ($256.43)
Room rate includes breakfast and taxes
Cut-off Date: May 08, 2008
Click HERE to view hotel website
- General Hotel Information
Calm the mind. Excite the senses. Find renewal. Escape to a realm of relaxation and rejuvenation at our award-winning hotel, The Westin Beijing, Financial Street.
Located in the heart of Beijing’s financial district, the Westin Beijing is just minutes from cultural icons like The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. The city's business, shopping, sightseeing, and entertainment districts are all easily accessible. Beijing international and domestic airport terminals are approximately 40 minutes away and Beijing West Railway Station is just a 20-minute drive.
- Room Amenities:
Guest rooms offer the ultimate in comfort and technology, including Westin's signature Heavenly Bed®, rainforest shower, complimentary wireless High Speed Internet Access, LCD flat screen television, and IP phones with cordless handsets. Or choose our new WestinWORKOUT® Room to maintain your wellness routine and fitness regime in the privacy of your room.
Select rooms and suites offer additional amenities and services including an executive work area with oversized desk, Herman Miller chair, BOSE wave radio, and a Bath Master who will prepare your bath and fill it with rejuvenating oils especially blended for you to relax and refresh.
The suites capture the luxury of space, essence of style, and personalized services. Ranging from 70 - 160 square meters (754 - 1723 square feet), the calming feeling is designed to make you feel your best.
The Westin Executive Residences are fully equipped apartments tailored toward longer stays. These 194 serviced apartments offer a combination of one, two, and three-bedroom apartments. Featuring a separate entrance from the main lobby, each apartment features contemporary furnishings complete with a kitchen setup and appliances, home entertainment system, LCD flat screen television, and complimentary High Speed Internet Access. These apartments also offer Westin's signature products such as the Westin Heavenly Bed®, Westin Kids Club®, Service Express®, WestinWORKOUT®, rainforest shower, as well as complimentary access to all the services and facilities provided to our hotel guests.
[edit] Passports and Visas
- Passports
A valid passport is required to enter China before traveling to China. Americans arriving without valid passports and the appropriate Chinese visa are not permitted to enter and will be subject to a fine and immediate deportation at the traveler's expense. Chinese authorities have recently tightened their visa issuance policy, in some cases requiring personal interviews of American citizens. Although a bilateral United States-China agreement provides for issuance of multiple entry visas with validity of up to one year for tourists and business visitors, Chinese consulates often limit visas to only one-entry. Visit the Embassy of China for the most current visa information.
- Visas
Visas are required to transit China. Persons transiting China on the way to and from Mongolia or North Korea or who plan to re-enter from the Hong Kong or Macau Special Administrative Regions should be sure to obtain visas allowing multiple entries. Please check with your local visa processing agency for requirements.
5/12/08 UPDATE: we are no longer able to process a business visa invation letter for you due to the timing it takes to receive a visa inviation letter. Thank you for understanding.
We have been notified that the visa requirements have changed as of April 11, 2008 for those seeking business visa’s to enter China. The Chinese government has requested that a visa invitation letter from the Ministry is required in order to process a business visa. This process can be lengthy and could delay your travel plans. Unless you are carrying extensive equipment for testing or feel uncomfortable traveling on a tourist visa, please request a tourist visa from your visa processing agencies/consulates.
Should you require a visa invitation letter to process a business visa, please send the following information to Sara at saab@qualcomm.com:
1. Fill out this FORM
2. Please send a picture of your passport with your picture and passort details.
3. If you have traveled to China before, please send a picture of your previous Chinese visa's.
Please allow 7-10 business days for turn around.
[edit] Getting There
Please fly into the Beijing International Airport (PEK). The hotel is located roughly 40 minutes from the airport. The recommended approach to get to the hotel is via taxi.
Taxi:
Many taxi drivers in Beijing do not speak english. Here's a Chinese NOTE for you to hand to the driver which will direct a taxi to the hotel. (If you don't have the necessary character support in Word, click HERE for an image file instead).
From East
Take the Jianguomennei Dajie (Second Ring Rd) and follow the Xichang-An Jie (Second Ring Rd). Turn right onto Fuchengmen Beidajie (Second Ring Rd) and continue to Fuchengmennei Dajie. Turn right into Fuchengmennei Dajie.
From North
Take the Deshengmen Dongdajie (Second Ring Rd) and turn left onto Xizhimen Nandajie (Second Ring Rd). Continue to Fuchengmen Beidajie (Second Ring Rd) and proceed to Fuchengmennei Dajie. Turn left into Fuchengmennei Dajie.
From West
Take the Fuximenwai Dajie and turn left into Fuxingmen Beidajie (Second Ring Rd). Proceed to Fuchengmennei Dajie and turn right.
From South
Follow the Fuchengmen Beidajie (Second Ring Rd) and turn right into Fuchengmennei Dajie. The hotel is located on the right side.
These directions are informational only. No representation is made or warranty given as to their content, road conditions or route usability or expeditiousness. User assumes all risk of use, Mapquest, Starwood, and their suppliers assume no responsibility for any loss or delay resulting from such use.
[edit] Visitor Information
About Beijing
Beijing, also known as Peking, is the capital and the second largest city of China. The total area of Beijing is approximately 16,800 sq km, and has over 7.23 million people, 3 million of which are temporary residents. The temporary residents are comprised of business persons, teachers and students. Beijing's permanent residents are from all of the different ethnic groups found in China with the Han's comprising over 96% of the population. Mandarin Chinese is the language spoken in Beijing, with Beijing's dialect being the standard form of Mandarin.
Climate
Beijing has four definite seasons. Summer and winter are the two longest seasons with fall and spring being the shortest. The climate varies according to the season with autumn being the most pleasant time to visit. Autumn is usually clear with cool temperatures, while winter is dry and, at times, bitterly cold with temperatures dropping below 5 degrees F (-15 C). Spring is usually dry but very windy (protect eyes to keep out blowing debris), while the summer is rainy and hot with temperatures soaring above 100 degrees F (38 C).
For average weather temperatures click HERE
Culture
Many ethnic groups have existed in China. In terms of numbers, however, the pre-eminent ethnic group is the Han Chinese. Throughout history, many groups have been assimilated into neighboring ethnicities or disappeared without a trace. At the same time, many within the Han identity have maintained distinct linguistic and regional cultural traditions. The term Zhonghua Minzu has been used to describe the notion of Chinese nationalism in general. Much of the traditional cultural identity within the community has to do with distinguishing the family name.
Since the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors period, some form of Chinese monarch has been the main ruler above all. Different periods of history have different names for the various positions within society. Conceptually each imperial or feudal period is similar, with the government and military officials ranking high in the hierarchy, and the rest of the population under regular Chinese law.[1] Since the late Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BCE), traditional Chinese society was organized into a hierarchic system of socio-economic classes known as the four occupations. However, this system did not cover all social groups while the distinctions between all groups became blurred ever since the commercialization of Chinese culture in the Song Dynasty (960–1279 CE). Ancient Chinese education also has a long history; ever since the Sui Dynasty (581–618 CE) educated candidates prepared for the Imperial examinations that drafted exam graduates into government as scholar-bureaucrats. Trades and crafts were usually taught by a sifu. The female historian Ban Zhao wrote the Lessons for Women in the Han Dynasty and outlined the four virtues women must abide to, while scholars such as Zhu Xi and Cheng Yi would expand upon this. Chinese marriage and Taoist sexual practices are some of the customs and rituals found in society.
Most social values are derived from Confucianism and Taoism with a combination of conservatism. The subject of which school was the most influential is always debated as many concepts such as Neo-Confucianism, Buddhism and many others have come about. Reincarnation and other rebirth concept is a reminder of the connection between real-life and the next-life.
Sites of Interest
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Ancient Observatory |
Liulichang Street of Chinese Culture |
Pictures and links available HERE
Crime
China has a low crime rate. Pickpockets target tourists at sightseeing destinations, open-air markets, airports, and in stores, often with the complicity of low-paid security guards. Americans are perceived as wealthy and may be specifically targeted by petty criminals. Violence against foreigners, while rare, is on the increase. Over the past year, incidents of violence against foreigners, including sexual assaults, have taken place, usually in urban areas where bars and nightclubs are located. Robberies, sometimes at gunpoint, have occurred in western China and more recently in Beijing. There have been some reports of robberies and assaults along remote mountain highways near China’s border with Nepal. Travelers are sometimes asked by locals to exchange money at a preferential rate. It is illegal to exchange dollars for RMB except at banks, hotels, and official exchange offices. Due to the large volume of counterfeit currency in China, unofficial exchanges usually result in travelers losing their money and possibly left to face charges of breaking foreign exchange laws. If detained by police under suspicion of committing an economic crime involving currency, travelers may be delayed for weeks or months while police investigate the allegations.
Travelers should have small bills (RMB 10, 20 and 50 notes) for travel by taxi. Reports of taxi drivers using counterfeit money to make change for large bills are increasingly common, especially in Guangzhou. Arguments with taxi drivers over fares or over choice of route usually are not easily resolved on the scene. In some cases, Americans who instigate such arguments have been detained for questioning and are not usually released until the fare is paid or a settlement is reached and the American offers an apology. There has been an increase in the number of Americans falling victim to scams involving the inflation of tea and drink prices. Normally, the scam involves young people who approach English speaking tourists and ask to have a cup of tea with them to practice their English. When the bill comes for the tea, the charge has been inflated to an exorbitant amount. When the tourist complains, enforcers arrive to collect the money. A similar scam involves buying drinks for young women at local bars.
Throughout China, women outside hotels in tourist districts frequently use the prospect of companionship or sex to lure foreign men to isolated locations where accomplices are waiting for the purpose of robbery. Travelers should not allow themselves to be driven to bars or an individual's home unless they know the person making the offer. Hotel guests should refuse to open their room doors to anyone they do not know personally.
Recently, American visitors have encountered scams at the international airports in China whereby individuals appearing to work for the airport offer to take American tourists’ bags to the departure area, but instead they carry the bags to another area and insist that the visitor pay an airport tax. Travelers should be advised that the airport tax is now included in the price of the airline ticket. The airport police or security officers should be contacted if this happens.
The U.S. Embassy is aware of reports that airport thefts and robberies of travelers in China are on the rise, specifically in the domestic airports of Beijing, Zhengzhou, Shenyang, Dalian, Qingdao and Taiyuan. Additionally, some Americans report that they have been the victims of robberies while in their hotel rooms in tourist areas and some have been assaulted during these robberies.
[edit] Map
See also the Olympics E-map
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