American coming to Beijing

Posted by miami13 (879 days ago)

Hi everyone, I will be traveling to Beijing for a few months at the end of April. And I am wondering if anyone could tell me a few of the specific satellite channels. My realtor only keeps telling me CNN, BBC and CNBC.
Also, it may be useful to know that my location will be a Serviced Apartment in the ChaoYang district.
Thanks So Much.

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Posted by Ed (879 days ago)

HBO, Star Movies, ESPN/STAR Sports, Discovery Channel.... those are all available....

Posted by miami13 (879 days ago)

Certainly appreciate the info.
Regards...Gail

Posted by rosa (879 days ago)

Some serviced appartments dont have HBO so you might want to check first if you particularly want that or another channel

Posted by kitty25 (878 days ago)

Dear
miami 13
well and than service about housekeeper(have nanny from philippines) have too in here u can check this out www.leeo.com.cn or by phone number is 8610-65924495/65924496.ok welcome u to here china Beijing . ^^

Posted by miami13 (877 days ago)

Thanks a bunch "rosa" and "kitty25".
One more question...Is it relatively easy and/or cheap to buy Air Purifiers in Beijing? I'm told I need to have at least one for each room in the apartment. However, I would hate to cart over three or four units and then run into operationally difficulties because the adaptor/transformer doesn't quite work. Thanks...

Posted by profiterolle (877 days ago)

Domestically manufactured air filters are suprising effective, cheap, and easy to find. I lugged over three air filters from the US but my wife likes the two Yadu filters we bought at Carrefour for a fraction of the price. Buying a domestic brand also makes purchasing replacement filters easier.

Try Carrefour, Walmart, Da Zhong Si, or Guo Mei. Ask for a "kong qi jing hua qi." Hepa filters are pretty much standard. However, I have not found any models here that have a substantial carbon filter for VOC's. Most Yadu filters have a thin carbon prefilter which is essentially just good enough for some odors.

I've seen some expensive photocatalytic filters in the basement of the Tai Ping Yang Bai Huo (on Gongti Bei Lu). The few consumer reports on the technology that I have seen are not terribly favorable.

Posted by goodws (877 days ago)

yes, I wouldn't bother bringing air purifiers in Beijing. Like Profiterolle said, it is very reasonable to buy here.

Posted by miami13 (877 days ago)

Many thanks Profiterolle and Goodws...I was actually in the process of having two of those Ionic Breeze filters from Sharper Image shipped over to Beijing.
Your "heads up" just saved me almost a couple hundred in shipping and duty.
Thanks again...

Posted by profiterolle (876 days ago)

Your welcome. By the way, Ionic Breeze will not help with very fine particulate pollution. You will need a hepa filter. The Ionic Breeze also produces a potentially harmful amount of ozone, depending on the size and air circulation of your room. Basically, as a back up filter for managing large dust particles in a room, it is not a bad choice. But for the pollution in Beijing that I worry about, it is useless. What I use may be useless too against what is floating out there. You can check out the link below for daily pollution levels:

http://www.zhb.gov.cn/english/air-list.php3

By the way you might want to also consider a water filter for showering and dishwashing. The water here is hard and the air is already very dry. You can use humidifiers to alleviate the problem, but then that would mean breathing vapor from water you would not even drink. I brought some Aquasana filters. My shower filter only lasted four months and is in need of a replacement. You can also find water filters for the entire apartment at Ju ran zhi jia.

Posted by profiterolle (876 days ago)

Just a minor comment...Have you ever remodelled a part of your home or apartment? Think of all the chemicals and other pollutants that you had to watch out for. Then, once you get here take a look around and note the number of large construction sites. Add on the congested traffic pollution for a metropolis and industrial pollution from steel plants and other factories. Beijing sits in a little basin surrounded by mountains with the wind blowing from the North East. On days when there is no wind, the pollution just sits and hangs in the air. Did I mention the dust from the dessert that we are also currently enjoying? Wind or no wind, we just cannot catch a break. I think I will start smoking.

Posted by miami13 (870 days ago)

Hi there, I hope profiterolle is still part of this forum...'cause you have been so helpful thus far.
Question for you or anybody else who may know....
Is there any kind of Chinese firewall that would prevent me from accessing AOL ? I really hope there isn't.
Thanks Much for your answer.