Foreigners are welcome at almost any Beijing hospital, but they should be careful which ones they choose.

Traveling to Beijing for the first time? Don't get caught in, out, or up by culture shocks. Find how things should - and shouldn't - be done to ensure your trip is a memorable one for the right reasons.

Hardly a tourist to Beijing ever leaves the city without first having contracted some sort of traveler's disease - the prettified term for an intestinal disorder. You may think you are immune to the side effects of exotic foods as you bolt down those hotpot-drenched slices of beef, but you will likely reconsider in the morning. For most, the treatment is a few hours spent on the ceramic chair with a couple of issues of China Today in hand. But if the bug is as violent as a Sichuan chili pepper, or if you host some other type of illness (bing), a visit to the doctor may be in order.

Private GPs are few and far between in Beijing, so for a consultation (kan bing) you will have to visit a hospital (yi yuan). There are a number of private hospitals scattered around the east of the city, but unless you're adequately insured, your bank balance will soon require a medic, too. The good news is that Beijing's once ailing public hospitals are well on the road to recovery.

In the past, foreigners could visit only a limited number of hospitals (one), but now you can hobble into almost any in the city and demand to see the daifu (doctor). But be advised that the standard of service ranges dramatically in Beijing's public hospitals. In some you will be treated promptly and effectively by a bilingual medic, while in others you may find yourself waiting so long that your condition remedies itself by the time you receive attention.

Unless your visit is urgent (read: a matter of life and death), you should seek out a hospital that caters to foreigners. While those Western-inclined facilities are far more costly than the average Chinese infirmary, you will be spared the inconvenience of a crammed and malodorous waiting room that doubles both as a cancer ward and an emergency room. More importantly, it's likely that most nurses, doctors and hospital administrators will speak fluent English. Many hospitals with an international department (guoji yiliao bu) actually provide English classes for their staff.

If your leg is hanging on by anything more than a thin piece of skin, you will have to register with administration before you get to see the doc. Procedures here vary among the hospitals, but the lower down the scale you go, the more time-consuming and frustrating they will be. Basically, you find the registration department (gua hao chu), and request to see relevant specialist. They will hand you a slip of paper with your registration fee (gua hao fei). This you bring to the cash handlers (which are rarely located next to registration) and duly pay. Bring your receipt back to the registry department, and they will give you another slip of paper.

Now you must locate the department that specializes in your particular malady. These are usually marked bilingually in hospitals, whether or not they have an international section. But don't be surprised - or shocked - at some of the English versions. (The translation for "gynecology department" in one Beijing hospital is not fit for print within these pages.) Once you have found their reception desk, they will (usually) exchange your slip for yet another imprinted with a number. Then, it's time to wait for the doctor.

If at any of the stages described above you encounter a "queue," an element of aggression is prescribed. Otherwise, you will lose your place to a hitherto dying centenarian who somehow manages to muster up the strength to shove you out of the way.

If you splash out on a decent institution, you will probably be tended to immediately. You may be the doc's only patient (bing ren) that day. But if you decide to rough it, be ready to wait, and when you see the doctor, expect company. As is so often the case in China, the huge population is to blame. Doctors sometimes have a daily patient list numbering 100, and holding multiple consultations is a great way of ensuring that everyone gets treated. If you find yourself in this situation, you had better be prepared to have your complaint "overheard" by others. Then it will be described, discussed and diagnosed by the ear wigging medical professionals such as waitresses, bus drivers or mechanics with whom you share the room.

Once you have received the more qualified opinion, you'll be instructed to purchase a cure. Perhaps you'll be advised to buy more than one. Many hospitals in Beijing - and throughout China - encourage their medical professionals to over-prescribe medicines (yao) so as to boost their own income levels, as well as the profits of the relevant pharmaceutical companies with which they are in cahoots. Abuse of antibiotics is particularly rampant. These medications are often prescribed as a cure for the common cold. Foreigners, however, are generally well looked after by the docs in Beijing, so don't worry too much about this happening to you.

You will usually have to take your prescription to the in-hospital pharmacy (yao fang). For many Westerners, this part of the visit may actually be a pleasant surprise. Drugs in China tend to be far, far cheaper than their western counterparts. If you visit the international department of the hospital, you will have to fork out anything between RMB 50 and RMB 300 for registration (this includes the consultancy fee). Your medicinal bill will likely be a fraction of that amount. Once you've stocked up on (hopefully the right amount of) medicine, start knocking back those pills, get yourself better, and enjoy the rest of the trip.