A Great Chinese Institution – The Net Bar

For the homesick traveller in China, an internet café promises an opportunity to check up on news from home, contact friends or organise the next stage of your tour. However, you will have to brave stale air, sticky seats and chain-smoking teenagers to enjoy your online bounty. Net bars have opened networks of communication to people who previously had very little contact with the outside world; and they use it 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Non-Chinese nationals wishing to use a net bar anywhere in China should bring their passports on every visit and register at the reception desk. Basic internet use costs around Y1 per ten minutes, with money being subtracted from the Y10 deposit that is paid at the beginning of every session. If you use up your original payment, top up your funds at reception.

So how do you spot a net bar in China? Keep an eye out for these conveniently illustrative Chinese characters.

Wang=Net Ba=Bar

By: Lynch

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