| In Beijing, every household has an IC card issued by the Beijing Power Grid (or sth like that). You have to bring it with you when you need to buy some electricity from a bank. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) provides such service in Beijing, but I don't know if it is also available from other Banks, since this is the first time that I used the card. The price of electricity in Beijing is 0.48_ (I don't have the exact figure) yuan/kwh. So chances are that the staff at the bank will ask you how much you want to buy, and by saying how much, they are expecting you to say the sum of money you are planning to pay, not how many kwhs you want to have (but of course it's Okay to say 'I want to buy 300 kwhs.' to him/her, but if you say, like, 'I want to buy 299 kwhs', then probably the staff will look at you carefully to check if there is something wrong with you :) After payment by cash or by deducting from your bank account, the staff will "replenish" your IC card. The number of kwhs on your meter will display when it's running below 50. At this time you can insert the card in the slot of the meter. The amount of eletricity you bought will then recognised by the meter. |