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Beijing, the host city of the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, is expected to attract a large number of overseas visitors in the coming months.

Here are phone numbers that may be of use in Beijing:

China country code: 0086

Beijing city code: 010

EMERGENCY SERVICES

Police: 110

Fire: 119

Ambulance: 120 or 999

Traffic Accidents: 122

Traffic First Aid Hotline: 6845 5655; 6845 5665

Poisoning First Aid Hotline: 8316 3388; 8316 0233

Helping Fight Cancer Hotline: 6827 6491

Pick-pocketing Report Hotline: 6401 1327

International SOS Assistance Top: 6590 3419

Emergency Contraception Hotline: 6217 3454

Division of Aliens and Exit-Entry Administration of the BeijingPublic Security Bureau: 6525 5486; 8402 0101 (24-hour automatic inquiry)

TELEPHONE SERVICES

Local Directory Assistance: 114

International Long-distance Register: 115

National Long-distance Operator: 116

Time Inquiry: 12117

Weather Forecast: 12121

Long-distance Phone Inquiry: 176

Civil Aviation Information Inquiry: 2580

Air Ticket Booking Service: 2581

Inquiry of Railway Information: 962585

Railway Ticket Booking: 962586; 5101 6666 (for individual); 5101 6688 (for group)

Beijing Bus Public Transportation Service Hotline: 96166

Taxi Reservation Service: 6837 3399; 96103

Taxi Service Complaint Hotline: 6346 4134; 6835 1570

Reporting Illegal Taxi and Tour Guide: 96310

Construction Noise Complaint Hotline: 6841 3817

Travelers’ Cheque Inquiry: 2850

24-hour Tourist Hotline: 6513 082

Tourist Complaint Hotline at the Beijing Tourism Bureau: 6513 0828

Price Reporting: 12358

Consumer Complaint Hotline: 12315

Beijing Association of Consumers: 6224 1234

Time Inquiry for every morning’s Flag-raising Ceremony at Tian’anmen Square: 6525 7900

Hotline for Budget Hotel Information: 1601123

Anti-Drug Hotline: 6521 4111

Women- and Child-Friendly Healthcare Hotline: 6612 2429; 6618 8089

Patent Consulting Hotline: 2629 1111

Legal Aid Hotline for Environment Protection: 6226 7459

Psychological Consultation Hotline: 6605 5431 ext. 332

Beijing Emergency Center: 6525 5678

Pets Hotline: 160101011

Television Information Entertainment Service Audio Message System: 2858

Film Information Entertainment Service: 2859

Postcode Inquiry: 6303 7131; 6303 7132; 6303 3148

Rescue Hotline for Vehicle Breakdown: 6293 8888

Reporting Public Health Accidents and Complaining Public Sanitary Conditions: 12320

Food Safety Complaint Hotline: 8269 1421; 12315

Reporting Offence in Dog Keeping: 6973 8604

Beijing Municipal Hotline: 6308 8467

Beijing Mayor Hotline: 12345; 6512 8080

COURIER SERVICE

China Post Express Delivery Service and Flower Delivery: 11185

DHL-Sinotrans: 800-830-9871; 6780 6680

Federal Express: 400-889-1888; 6434 8999

TNT: 8733 2214

UPS: 800-820-8388

PHONE NUMBERS FOR MAJOR BANKS

Bank of China: 95566

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC): 95588

China Construction Bank: 95533

Agricultural Bank of China: 95599

China Merchants Bank: 95555

Citibank: 800-830-1880

HSBC: 800-820-8878

Standard Chartered Bank: 800-820-8088

CREDIT CARD HOTLINES

JCB International: 6437 3467

Diner’s Club: 6510 1868

Mastercard International: 6510 1090

Visa International: 6506 4371

American Express International: 6505 2838; 6505 2228

HOTLINES FOR BEIJING AIRPORT, MAJOR AIRLINES’ BEIJING OFFICES

Beijing Capital International Airport information (24-hour hotline): 6454 1100

Air China: 4008100999

China Southern: 95539

China Eastern: 8441 5000

Hainan Airlines: 950718

Aeroflot-Russian Airlines: 6500 2412

Qantas Airways (Australia): 800-819-0089; 6567 9006

Air France: 6588 1388; 6459 0129

All Nippon Airways: 6505 3311; 6590 9191

Japan Airlines: 6513 0822; 6459 0061

Singapore Airlines: 6505 2233; 6459 0050

British Airways: 6512 4070; 6459 0082

Emirates Airline: 5108 8696

Lufthansa German Airlines: 6465 4488; 6468 8838

United Airlines: 800-810-8282; 6463 1111

Northwest Airlines: 6505 1353; 6459 8891 (Airport Office)

Alitalia: 8511 2958; 8511 2959

Air Canada: 6468 2001

Cathay Pacific: 10800-852-1888; 8486 8532

Thai Airways International: 8515 0088

Pakistan International Airlines: 6505 2257

Swiss International Airlines: 8454 0180

Qatar Airways: 6886 6633

American Airlines: 5879 7600

The cradle of Chinese civilization was long considered to be the region around the middle Yellow River. But recent archaeological discoveries from far-flung corners of China are forcing scientists to reconsider the origins of ancient Chinese civilization.

Some are now even questioning the existence of a legendary Chinese dynasty, the Xia (about 2100 BC - 1600 BC), according to a collection of news reports in today’s issue of the journal Science.

The origin of Chinese civilization has long been a complicated and confusing issue in China’s academic circles.

Though boasting 5,000 years of civilization, the widely acknowledged beginning of the civilization with historical records could be dated to the Shang Dynasty (1600 BC - 1100 BC), thanks to the discovery of oracle bones.

With the inscriptions on the oracle bones, the earliest characters in China, archaeologists outlined what the society was like in the Shang Dynasty.

But there are still 1,000 years unaccounted for in China’s 5,000-year civilization, making it essential for the archaeologists to find out what the pre-Shang society was like.

As a construction boom continues to alter the physical face of the country - inadvertently uncovering vital clues to China’s past, illuminating ancient trade routes and long-lost cultures - a new and more complex history of the Chinese people is emerging.

Recent archaeological discoveries show that there were many advanced cultures in the valleys of several major rivers in China about 4,000 to 5,000 years ago.

Among all, the excavation in 2007 of a 4,300-year-old city at the lower reaches of the Yangtze River is challenging what the Chinese people once thought about their country and themselves.

The ancient city is believed to be part of the Liangzhu culture dated to Neolithic times, between 4,000 and 5,300 years ago.

Archaeologists are speculating that the city could be the lost capital of the Liangzhu kingdom, which, if it existed, would outdate the Xia dynasty, now considered the nation’s oldest. The Xia dynasty is traditionally believed to have emerged about 4,000 years ago.

“Before these astonishing finds, we were focused on the central plains,” said Wang Wei, director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, as cited in the Science news report.

Since 2004, Wang’s institute has been coordinating an ambitious multidisciplinary effort to outline the chronology in the prehistoric millennium from 4,500 years ago to 3,500 years ago by bringing to bear the latest methods for analyzing the past 25 years of finds.

Less willing to take ancient texts at face value than their predecessors, this new generation of Chinese researchers is relying on physical data - and more “Western” methods - in their attempts to accurately retrace Chinese history.

“Most of us accepted that the Yellow River was the origin of Chinese civilization. But as we’ve done more research, we have found other cultural areas as numerous as the stars in the sky,” said Wang. “Now it is clear that the development and expansion of regional centers contributed to the formation of Chinese civilization.”

By drawing on researchers across China and collaborating with foreign scientists, Wang hopes to paint a more nuanced and data-driven view of the country’s ancient past while pushing China’s archaeological community toward the forefront of the field.

Andrew Lawler, author of the Science news reports, said with the exciting discoveries made recently across China and the country’s fast-paced development, it is “an opportune time to dig into new questions about China’s origins, the state of its threatened ancient sites, and the increasing expertise of its archaeologists.”

Lawler’s special news package also covers the accidental discovery and later excavation of Jinsha, an ancient site near downtown Chengdu in Sichuan, and about 1,000 km from the traditional center of Chinese civilization along the Yellow River.

Another article by Lawler illuminates the earliest Silk Road, which brought valued goods, including bronze, from the west and possibly the staple grain of ancient China, millet, to the west. These recent discoveries have led Chinese researchers to acknowledge significant outside influence on their ancient culture.

For our current “Rad Rents” cover story, we arranged to meet up with Beijing-based author and etiquette guru Dr. Hedy Lee to profile her gorgeous Park Hyatt Residences apartment. After we had discussed some issues on finding the right apartment in Beijing, Dr. Lee sent us 47 tips on Beijing real estate. We were quite impressed with Dr. Lee’s suggestions. She should know too. Her book Chasing Justice in Beijing chronicles her legal battles with Beijing real estate and property management companies. You can read 42 of Dr. Lee’s tips here:

SHOULD HAVE

Look for manicured gardens, safe play areas, clean swimming pools and locker rooms and functioning exercise machines. Well-maintained gyms, lobbies and hallways are indicative of a good homeowners association. Do not forget the garages, boiler room and electricity room!

Look for good ventilation in public areas, especially elevators and hallways. Cooking smells from other apartments can easily seep into yours.

Check the most recent inspection to verify that the fire extinguishers are up-to-date, and loud speakers and fire alarms work properly.

Homeowners associations and property management are very crucial. Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to find professional ones, even with foreign brands like FPD Savills, Grubb & Ellis and Jones Lang Lasalle, who hire local management to look after properties.

Talk to the security. Are their uniforms clean? Are they smiling and standing up straight?

Make sure that the receptionist of your property management speaks English, does not fall asleep at the desk, and has prior experience in the service industry.

Look for bulletins with memos in both English and Chinese.

It is best to find a place with back-up electricity and water-softening agents, although most developers will not invest in these.

Many embassies hang large flags and put bronze plaques in hallways or lobbies. It is both tacky and illegal to hang anything outside your front door.

SHOULD NOT HAVE

Never rent or purchase an apartment with restaurants, car repair shops, nightclubs, beauty salons or dry cleaners downstairs or inside.

Take a peek at the mailbox – illegal ads are signs of bad security and unsafe surroundings.

Check if there are any large dogs around. It is illegal to have dogs over 35 cm inside the Fifth Ring Road.

Look for illegal business and fishy employees – if even ONE owner objects, residential buildings are not allowed to have businesses.

Check for unleashed dogs; residents wearing pyjamas; people spitting, yapping, cursing or smoking in public areas; mysterious license plates; and children roller-skating or playing soccer in hallways or the lobby. These may portend future problems.

Look up at the balconies for ads, hanging underwear, neon lights and birdcages.

Bikes, plants, boxes, shoes, toys and trash at front doors are illegal. The fire department will fine property management.

Do not get an apartment with China Unicom ads.

If you live in villa areas, look for road signs, wild dogs, illegal construction and illegal taxis.

THINGS TO CONSIDER

Do building spot checks at night.

Ask a resident who is not involved in property management or real estate about her experience living in the building.

Ask for the water inspection.

Check to see that all fire exit doors work but are not constantly propped open.

Read the residents’ manual, paying attention to the “no noise” hours. A good property should not allow moving and construction during weekends. Weekday moving and construction should be limited to 9am until 12pm, 2-5pm.

Google or Baidu the developer or property management to see if there are any existing lawsuits.

Know both the history and the head of your property management.

Examine empty lots around your building. Will a developer construct a new building right next to your bedroom window? What about future subway lines or another gong ti nightclub?

Test each satellite television channel list to make sure it works.

If you enjoy the single life, avoid apartments with many gardens and schools nearby. These attract children and dogs.

Notice if there are mysterious ladies living in your community. Some properties, such as St. Regis Apartments, are known to be mistress pads.

SIGNING THE CONTRACT

Sign a three to five year lease in order to reduce monthly rent.

Always ask the landlord to pay property management fees. Try to have them pay ADSL, electricity, water and satellite TV as well. An extra bonus would be parking space and gym membership. Try telling them you do not need a receipt.

If you are a light sleeper, ask the owner to double-tape your windows.

Do not trust real estate agents who force you sign statements – go to the apartments yourself and ask the property management or onsite leasing office.

MOVING IN & LIVING THE GOOD LIFE

All Beijing homeowner rules and regulations can be found in the State Council Information Office of the PRC, although individual communities may add their own amendments.

Keep a list of phone numbers for the police station, foreign police, phone company, ADSL company and embassies.

When a new neighbour moves in, purchase them a housewarming gift. Not only are flowers, chocolate, pastries and fruit one way of welcoming a new neighbour, it also “butters them up.” They will be more likely to obey the building’s rules in the future.

Do not allow other residents to leave their doors open.

Most properties offer a lounge for drivers. Do not accept drivers loitering around lobby areas.

Do not allow outsiders to park in your community.

Walk around with a camera, tape recorder and notepad to record illegal actions. The offender will usually back down or curse at you. If there is a lawsuit, you will have excellent evience.

If you run into problems with expats and property management refuses to take up the issue, you can ask their employers. Keep track of their embassy plates in order to know what country they are from.

If you are in a bad situation and must leave a binding contract, your landlord may relent somewhat if you lay out the facts.

Chief Negotiator of the Sudanese government and Presidential Adviser Ghazi Salah al-Din stressed on Thursday that his government was ready for the next round of peace negotiations with Darfur rebels in Doha, Qatar.

;Ghazi made these remarks after meeting with joint mediator of the United Nations and the African Union Djibril Bassole who returned to Khartoum earlier Thursday from Libya, where he held talks with leaders of some eight Darfur rebel groups.

“We are ready to respond to the call for the resumption of the peace negotiations within 24 hours even if the call is made this evening,” the Sudanese official told reporters, adding that “we expressed to the joint mediator our firm goal to reach a peaceful solution.”

“We welcome any unified position of the (rebel) movements, no matter whether it is a political or an organizational one,” the Sudanese official noted, referring to differences between various rebel factions.

“There are efforts and attempts to unify their positions, but the issues and problems are well known,” Ghazi said, underlining the Sudanese government’s support for encouraging the crystallization of a political will “which is crucial for the negotiations.”

After talks with rebel representatives in Tripoli on Wednesday, the UN-AU joint mediator announced that the next round of Darfur peace negotiations would be held in Doha after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

He disclosed that the leaders of eight rebel movements had expressed to him their willingness to participate in the Doha talks.

No major tangible progress has been achieved since the Sudanese government signed a peace deal in May 2006 with a main rebel faction in Darfur.

However, other rebel groups, including the Sudan Liberation Movement and the more powerful Justice and Equality Movement, refused to accept the peace deal, claiming that it failed to meet their demands.

The war-weary people in the post-Taliban Afghanistan are going to polling stations on Aug. 20 to elect the country’s second president after three decades of war. Following are key candidates in the race: 　
Karzai, ethnic Pashtun, was born in Kandahar, south Afghanistan,on Dec. 34, 1957. He obtained master’s degree in Political Science from Simla University of India in 1976.

In 1992, Karzai was appointed as Deputy Foreign Minister in Mujahidin administration after the fall of Moscow-backed regime inKabul. After a few months, he resigned and worked for organizing a traditional Afghan Loya Jirga or Grand Assembly to establish durable peace in the country.

In December 2001, immediately after the fall of Taliban regime, Karzai was chosen as president of provisional administration, and in June 2002, he was chosen as head of transitional government.

In the first election after Taliban regime in 2004, Karzai bagged more than 54 percent of the votes and took oath as the first elected president of Afghanistan on Dec. 7, 2004 and since then he has been ruling the country. Polls say Karzai could win at least 44 percent of the electorates.

Rescuers have retrieved five bodies in a collapsed coalmine in Heilongjiang Province after more than three weeks of searching efforts, the local government said Saturday.

They were still trying to locate the 18 missing workers in Xinyongfeng coalmine in Jixi City, according to the municipal government.

The mine shaft caved in at 11:30 p.m. on July 22 amid a downpour when 24 miners were working underground. Water and mud gushed into the pit, trapping 23 workers.

A miner named Song Xiuzhao came out of the mine with a stomachache at 10 p.m. on the day of the accident.

Song said he was near the mine entrance when he heard a great noise and then saw a huge cave appear several hundred meters away.

The cave is about 50 meters long, 60 meters wide and 10 meters deep. Rescuers estimated that 30,000 cubic meters of soil had subsided.

U.S. President George W. Bush said Friday that he was strongly opposed to the partition of Iraq, saying that the will of Iraq will prevail.

Bush made the remarks in an interview with satellite channel Al-Arabiya. Asked whether the partition of Iraq is very bad news for Iraqis, Bush responded with a “yes,” according to transcripts released by the White House.

“I don’t think it will happen. I don’t think it’s going to happen,” Bush added, in response to a follow-up question over what would happen if the next administration or another U.S. president comes into office and embraces the idea.

“An American president must understand that Iraq is a sovereign nation operating under its own constitution. And I’m very confident that the will of Iraq will prevail,” Bush said.

“I know there’s some noise about partition. But most folks who follow this issue don’t support partition, and they don’t think it’s a good idea,” he said, referring to a recent Senate vote calling for the partitioning of Iraq on ethnic lines.

The U.S. Senate voted last week to endorse a non-binding resolution, calling for the division of Iraq into regions under a weak federal government — one Kurdish, one Shiite and one Sunni.

The resolution provoked a storm of protest from Iraqi politicians including Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who warned that it would be a disaster for Iraq. Gulf Arab countries also expressed their strong opposition to any partition of Iraq.

As part of one of Hollywood’s most watched couples, Katie Holmes lives an incredibly high-profile life – but says many people still have the wrong idea about her, PeopleMagazine reported.

“There’s a misperception about me that I just became this wallflower, this woman who doesn’t have any control of her life,” the 29-year-old actress tells the T: The New York Times Style Magazine in the issue hitting newsstands Sunday. “And that’s pretty wrong. From the very beginning, I’ve made choices in my life that have been very strong. ”

Holmes, who married Tom Cruise in Italy in 2006 after a whirlwind romance, says that she had a girlhood crush on her now husband, and was surprised how down-to-earth he was in person.

“When I met Tom I was completely in love and, yes, I admired him growing up – he’s Tom Cruise! … When I met him, he was so warm and I thought, Wow! You can be a superstar and a human being. He made me feel so amazing.”

Cruise, 46, who is also interviewed in a separate Q&A in the Times Style Magazine, also addresses his early relationship with Holmes. “I knew I wanted to marry Kate when I met her,” he says. “After our very first date, I was sure. At one point, I thought she was going to ask me to marry her first and I cut her off by changing the subject. I wanted to ask her.”

Asked if Holmes, who has a 2-year-old daughter Suri with Cruise, misses having a more anonymous existence, she says not at all. “My life has expanded. My family and friends are all part of this bigger life.”

She maintains her happiness, she says, by tuning out a lot of the chatter about herself and the outside world. “I have too much to do,” says Holmes who is currently starring on Broadway in All My Sons. “I’m a mom and an actress with a play to do every night. I can’t pay attention to all that noise.”

Holmes and Cruise also participated in the Times’ video Screen Test.

Six people died and 12 were injured when a landslide destroyed a key road link for reconstruction efforts in areas hit by the Wenchuan earthquake.

The bodies of the last two victims were found on Saturday afternoon, several hours after rocks smashed Chediguan bridge, sending cars into Mingjiang River at about 5am.

The Wenchuan county civil affairs bureau said five bodies had been identified and 12 injured people were being treated in Wenchuan County People’s Hospital.

At least six destroyed trucks and a minibus were found, said an official with the information center of Wenchuan, Aba Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture.

Rescuers were not sure how many vehicles had plunged into the river but added the death toll could rise if more cars are found in the water.

More than 100 meters of the 300-m-long bridge collapsed, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The Chediguan Bridge is called the lifeline for the reconstruction of Wenchuan, the epicenter of last year’s devastating earthquake, which left about 87,000 people dead or missing.

The bridge is part of the No 213 national highway, a major link to Wenchuan. President Hu Jintao officially reopened the bridge in May.

An emergency road has been temporarily provided for small vehicles, Luo Deyong, the vice chief of Wenchuan, said yesterday.

Yang Zeming, who survived the collapse, had left for Chengdu with his son and a driver from their home in Mao county of Sichuan province on Friday night.

He woke his 21-year-old son who was sleeping on the back seat when he heard the noise and saw falling rocks on Saturday morning.

They jumped off the truck and ran forward to escape. His son’s body was later found under a truck destroyed by rocks. More than 10,000 vehicles cross the bridge every day.

Storms pound south

In another development, storms battered central and southern China yesterday, killing 10 people in Hunan province at the weekend.

Torrential rain, mud and rockslides began to ease in Hongjiang district of Huaihua yesterday. The local authority announced that 10 people had died, one was missing and 30 injured. More than 30,000 people were affected by the storms, it said.

The local authority started an emergency plan and more than 18,300 people were working on rescue efforts.

Chief Negotiator of the Sudanese government and Presidential Adviser Ghazi Salah al-Din stressed on Thursday that his government was ready for the next round of peace negotiations with Darfur rebels in Doha, Qatar.

;Ghazi made these remarks after meeting with joint mediator of the United Nations and the African Union Djibril Bassole who returned to Khartoum earlier Thursday from Libya, where he held talks with leaders of some eight Darfur rebel groups.

“We are ready to respond to the call for the resumption of the peace negotiations within 24 hours even if the call is made this evening,” the Sudanese official told reporters, adding that “we expressed to the joint mediator our firm goal to reach a peaceful solution.”

“We welcome any unified position of the (rebel) movements, no matter whether it is a political or an organizational one,” the Sudanese official noted, referring to differences between various rebel factions.

“There are efforts and attempts to unify their positions, but the issues and problems are well known,” Ghazi said, underlining the Sudanese government’s support for encouraging the crystallization of a political will “which is crucial for the negotiations.”

After talks with rebel representatives in Tripoli on Wednesday, the UN-AU joint mediator announced that the next round of Darfur peace negotiations would be held in Doha after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.

He disclosed that the leaders of eight rebel movements had expressed to him their willingness to participate in the Doha talks.

No major tangible progress has been achieved since the Sudanese government signed a peace deal in May 2006 with a main rebel faction in Darfur.

However, other rebel groups, including the Sudan Liberation Movement and the more powerful Justice and Equality Movement, refused to accept the peace deal, claiming that it failed to meet their demands.