Time Difference

Even though China is a large country and covers 5 time zones, only one time (Beijing Standard) is used across the entire country.

During summer day light saving time, Beijing Standard time is 12 hours ahead of US Eastern Standard time. That means if it's 3pm EST here, it's 3am in China the next day.

Electricity

Electricity in China is 220V/50Hz, vs. 110V/60Hz in the US. Also the plugs and outlets could be of different shape. You should bring adapters or convertors if you need to use your US bought appliances. Most laptops bought here in the US can directly work with 220V voltage but you should check carefully to make sure.

Climate

China is a large country with similar climate as the US. As far as temparature goes, you can pretty much relate the southern China to southern US and northern China to northern US.

Just remember that AC and indoor heat might not be as readily available everywhere as in the US. So you might need to prepare extra layers of clothes for winter travel and ready to endure heat during summer.

Currency

The Chinese currency is RMB with basic unit Yuan. One US dollar can exchange for about 7 yuan. Click here to check the current rate.

US dollars are usually not accepted. But major credit cards (Visa, Master) can be used in many large shopping centers.

You should exchange some RMB in various bills to use when shopping at smaller street stores.