EMERGENCY NUMBER ENGLISH If you ring the emergency hotline number 110 there are English speakers who have been specially recruited to provide an English speaking service.
Foreigners can dial code 110 to report theft, fires and traffic accidents. The hotline can also be used for other emergencies, such as first aid the operator will connect the caller to other agencies.
The ‘110’ emergency call system is part of an emergency call and processing centre, just as the ‘911’ system in the United States and the ‘999’ system in Britain. There is no need to call any other number, as this is the central processing system for all emergencies, including fire.
The listed numbers for ambulance 120 and traffic accidents 122 go to the same switchboard as 110.
In most areas in the city, the police are expected to arrive at the location of an incident within five minutes after receiving a report. To reference where you are, Shenzhen has numbered poles so look for a number on a pole on the side of the street. This will tell the police exactly where you are. The numbers are written in white and contain quite a few digits.
The Shenzhen Daily has an expat hotline with English speaking operators. It operates from 8 am to 8 pm. The number is: 969766
