Hello Readers!

The other day I got into Beijing from Newark and was in for a bit of a surprise.  You see, when I arrived at #2 航站楼 (terminal), I needed to withdraw some money from the 汇丰取款机 (HSBC ATM).  I didn’t expect for my 卡 (card) to be 吞 (swallowed) by the machine.  I had chosen the machine because it supported 银联 (UnionPay), since I am a Bank of China user.  Immediately after inserting the card, the 屏幕 (screen) showed a message saying that the machine was out of order, but no 凭条 (slip) came out.  On top of that, there was no 显示热线号码 (displayed hotline number) for me to call.  I eventually reached the bank with the help of an airport employee.  At any rate, today I am going to the bank to get that card back.  Be careful with your cards in China!

航站楼 hang2zhan4lou2 – terminal
取款机 qu2(3)kuan3ji1 – ATM
卡 ka3 – card
吞 tun1 – swallow
银联 yin2lian2 – UnionPay, basically a nationwide debit network
屏幕 pin2mu4 – screen
凭条 ping2tiao2 – slip
显示 xian3shi4 – display
热线 re4xian4 – hotline
号码 hao4ma3 – number