China Travel Guide

The general trend in offices - airlines, travel services and the like - is for relatively early opening and closing, with long lunch hours. Typical hours are 8-11.30am and 1.30-4.30pm, with a half day on Saturday. Generalization is difficult, though, as there is no real equivalent to the Western Sunday, the universal day of rest.

Post and telecommunications offices open daily, often until late at night. Shops , too, nearly all open daily, keeping long, late hours, especially in big cities, and although banks usually close on Sundays - or for the whole weekend - even this is not always the case. Tourist sights such as parks, pagodas and temples open every day, usually 8am-5pm and without a lunch break. Most public parks open from about 6am, ready to receive the morning flood of shadow boxers. Museums , however, tend to have slightly more restricted hours, including lunch breaks and one closing day a week, often Monday or Tuesday. If you arrive at an out-of-the-way place that seems to be closed, however, don't despair - knocking or poking around will often turn up a drowsy doorkeeper. Conversely, you may find other places locked and deserted when they are supposed to be open.