I can now recommend the mobile phone unlocking service at The Travel Insider. This worked smoothly and quickly (even though I had to be without my phone for a few days, sending it to Washington State–some phones can be unlocked remotely but not mine), and I now have a Chinese mobile number, in my own mobile phone. All this required was purchasing a Chinese SIM card for 98 yuan, and I can do the same in other countries. It’s convenient for me, but more importantly makes it cheap for colleagues here to telephone me.

Buying a SIM card taught me something else: the importance of numbers. I had been told that 4 is considered bad luck, because the word for four sounds like the word for death, and that 8 is good luck. The reality of this belief struck home when I saw the sheets tacked to the wall showing China Mobile phone numbers available. There was a whole sheet with numbers predominantly 4, and I could perhaps have acquired a mobile number consisting of nothing but 4s. But I chose something similar to my US mobile, except, fortunately, ending in 8.

Resources for travel are a mixed bag. I was looking at the US Embassy website this morning and saw a box reading “Map of Beijing.” That sounded good. Then I read the fine print, “Here is an easy and interactive PDF map of Beijing (though be forewarned this is from 1993 and not up to date).” 1993? It is a great looking map, but people who return to Beijing after a year say they don’t recognize anything! This reminds me of the time elderly friends brought us their collection of guidebooks because we were making our first trip to Greece. “Things will have changed a little,” said our friend. The guidebooks were from 1955.