A Guide To Volunteering and Charity Work in Beijing

Volunteering In Beijing

If you can spare even a few hours a week, there are plenty of organisations in Beijing which are in need of willing volunteers. As well as improving the lives of others, volunteering provides a great way to meet new friends and learn new skills. Here are just a few suggestions of how you can get involved. For much more detailed information, please contact info@apachina.com

1. Children’s Charities

Bethel www.bethelchina.org/

Bethel is a training center for the Chinese visually impaired orphans. It is a self-sustainable, environmentally friendly center. Their mission is to provide foster care, education and professional training to foster independent living skills.

Fang Shan District, Beijing

BEAM  www.beamalliance.org/

Project Big Brothers and Sisters requires potential volunteers to make a long-term commitment to spending a few hours each Saturday with one migrant child.

Blue Sky Healing Home www.blueskyhealinghome.org

Blue Sky Healing Home provides in-house care of orphans with medical needs in a homelike setting, and rehabilitation training sessions for disabled orphans and their caregivers.

Chaoyang, Beijing

Included (Formerly Compassion for Migrant Children) www.cmc-china.org

A nonprofit organization founded in early 2006 to help China’s urban migrant children, primarily through offering social and educational programs. It also seeks to be a ‘think tank’ for all things related to migrants and migrant issues in China. Many teaching opportunities currently available.

Chaoyang, Beijing. Email Stacy Wu at stacy.wu@cmc-china.org 

Sun Village  http://www.sunvillage.com.cn/eng/organization_intro.php

Home to over 100 children whose parents are in prison. Volunteers can drop in for one day, or schedule weekly visits over a longer period of time. Some of the activities include educating the children in subjects like English or music, working on the facility's small farm, and teaching the kids how to perform simple domestic chores.

         

2. Community Charities

Operation Blessing www.obchina.org

Operation Blessing aims to "help alleviate suffering, restore human dignity, and give hope for the future." To realize these goals, Operation Blessing conducts a wide array of internationally recognized projects, including free medical clinics for those without healthcare access, free life-saving or life-impacting surgeries, water cisterns for those without access to clean drinking water, disaster relief for those who have lost everything, educational grants for orphans or poor children unable to pay their public school tuition fees, as well as volunteer assistance, medical services and nutritional aid for orphans.

Chaoyang, Beijing

Roundabout Charity Store  www.roundaboutchina.com

A Shunyi- based charity store which needs volunteers to sort donations and run the shop.
Contact Leslie Simpson – Roundabout Founder -

13718 777 761 or Thecharitystore@gmail.com

 


Hua Dan  http://www.hua-dan.org/

A program which uses drama to reach vulnerable groups, although it tends to work with migrant women and children. To date, Hua Dan has helped over 1,000 migrant women gain confidence in themselves and learn skills relevant to their lives. Volunteers with skills in English, art, drama and management are especially sought after.

Prevention Through Education http://www.pte-china.org/ 

A charity that supports AIDS victims in China. Currently, it needs volunteers to assist with research and also has a tremendous need for experienced fundraisers.

Huiling http://www.huiling.org.cn/ 

A Beijing-based organization that helps the intellectually disabled reach their full potential. It helps place adults in group homes, and runs an education center for the intellectually disabled. Huiling is most in need of volunteers with music, art or dance skills, but if you aren't skilled in those areas, volunteers who can come in and interact with the intellectually disabled are also appreciated.

Tongyu   http://www.tongyulala.org/

An LGBT center that needs volunteers. English translators, event planners, legal experts and mentors are some of the positions that are available.

Little Bird 

Helps give legal advice to migrant workers, informing them of their rights and helping them resolve labor disputes. If you have great Chinese and legal expertise, consider giving your time to helping vulnerable groups understand their rights.

Animal and Environmental Charities

Beijing Human and Animal Environmental Education Centre (BHAEEC) www.animalschina.org

An animal shelter 40 minutes outside of Shunyi

Friends of Nature   http://www.fon.org.cn/

One of China's oldest environmental activist groups. It does a tremendous amount of grassroots activism, which helps raise awareness about China-specific environmental issues among all classes of society.

Beijing Cat    www.beijingcat.org

This Wudaokou-based organization works to rescue homeless felines from the streets of the capital. You can help out by fostering a kitty until a new home is found for it or welcome it into your family on a more long-term basis via adoption. All cats are healthy, de-wormed, neutered and vaccinated.

 

Understanding Chinese Money - An Essential Guide for Travelers and New Residents

Understanding Chinese Money - An Essential Guide for Travelers and New Residents

History

Money as a payment mechanism in China can be traced back 3,000 years, with cowry shells believed to have been the earliest form of currency. The Chinese are credited with the early development of the modern coinage and banking institutions which are used today.

The Chinese were the first civilization to use paper money- having invented paper and learning to print on it by 1040 AD. Chinese notes were made from the bark of mulberry trees and the strings of money depicted on the front showed the value. In contrast, the West didn’t start using paper money until the 16th century!

The Chinese currency today  

The official currency is known as RenMinBi (RMB), which literally means ‘The People’s Currency’

It comes in three units:

1 Yuan (元) = 10 Jiao (角) = 100 Fen (分)
(NB. Yuan is often referred to as Kuai, and Jiao is often referred to as Mao)

Notes are issued in denominations of:

100元, 50元, 20元, 10元, 5元, 2元, 1元, 5角, 2角 and 1角.

Coins are issued in 3 denominations. 1元, 5角and 1角

 

 

Beware!

1. Counterfeiting
You need to be careful of fake currency, as it can be common in China. Before leaving a store or taxi, check the texture of the note and the Mao Zedong watermark on the left hand side. You could also look for the silver foil stitched strip, which is difficult to fake convincingly

2. Security

Due the relatively low value of the highest denomination (100 yuan) bank note in China when compared with other currencies, bear in mind that if you intend making any large cash transactions while in China  you will need to consider your security in carrying such a conspicuous volume of money around with you.

Banking

China’s major banks include the Bank of China, ICBC, China Merchants Bank, China Construction Bank, HSBC, and Citibank. There is variation in the services which these banks offer to expats, and each has benefits and drawbacks depending on your requirements. For example, all of the banks mentioned above allow foreigners to open multi-currency accounts, but not all offer adequate English online banking.  The documentation needed to open an account also varies between banks, but all require passports. 

HSBS and Citibank both apply fees to certain accounts, and impose charges if the balance drops below a set level. 

Due to the potential lack of English-speaking advisors at you local bank branches, and the complexities of opening a Chinese bank account, we strongly advise that you get in touch with APA before proceeding. We can help and support you in choosing and opening the best bank account.

Converting Currency

Converting Foreign Currency into RMB

•  A maximum of 50,000 USD （or the equivalent in another foreign currency）can be converted into RMB every calendar year

•  If an individual wishes to transfer over 50,000 USD, they will need to provide supporting documents to the bank to explain the purpose of that money

• This means that expats who rely on foreign currency transfers for the bulk of their living costs are faced with difficulties

• When converting money, a foreign national needs to take their original passport to the bank every time.

•   However, HSBC has the option whereby the account holder can change a foreign currency into RMB without going to a branch of their bank.

Converting RMB into Foreign Currency

• Converting RMB into a Foreign Currency to take out of China can be complicated. The applicant will require their original passport, employment contract, Work Permit, a proof of income from their company, and an after income tax certificate which shows how much tax they have paid in China

• If an assignee wishes to transfer only a small amount of RMB to a foreign currency, and the initial foreign currency to RMB transfer happened in the same bank, then the bank may transfer this upon providing only the original transaction record, rather than the above list (this is not applicable at Bank of China, nor at China Construction Bank)

International Credit Cards and ATMs

Credit cards can be used for withdrawing money, shopping and other transactions in most major cities of the country, but generally not accepted in rural areas. Be prepared to pay in cash in smaller shops, cafes and businesses. Note that it can be difficult for foreigners to obtain a Chinese credit card.

You may use your foreign bank cards at a local ATM if your card is covered by the PLUS, Cirrus, MasterCard, Visa or American Express networks. However, in some cities and some branches, this may not be possible. If you wish to use your foreign ATM cards, consult http://www.mastercard.com/atmlocator or http://visa.via.infonow.net/locator/global for suitable ATM locations. Transaction fees may be applied either by the local bank or your home country bank. Withdrawal limits also vary from bank to bank, but are generally between 1,000-3,000 RMB per day.

Note that China Construction Bank is a member of the Global ATM Alliance which allows customers of certain foreign banks to use their bank card at a China Construction Bank ATM without encountering a transaction fee. The list of foreign banks includes BoA, Barclays, BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank, Scotia Bank, Santander Serfin and Westpac.

Chinese bank cards are all connected to the China UnionPay network which allows you to use any ATM in China as well as certain ATMs in over twenty countries worldwide. For an updated list, see http://en.chinaunionpay.com/englobalization/index.html