it's usual for them to use north east west south (NEWS!) to give directions. it's pricks my ears each time i hear people mentioning "go west 50m...". malaysian never do that. and european don't do that as well. basically we say pusing kiri pusing kanan and that's it. the concept of directions is rooted in chinese. caroline once wondered, "did everyone of them swallowed a compass into their stomach?" a friend taught me to identify directions by looking at the sun. of course this only gonna work in day time.
oh and, most "gates" are differentiate by directions. we have more than 5 entrances in our uni. west gate, east gate, side west gate, south gate etc.. often have misunderstandings on which gate to meet. and sometimes i had to cycle 10 mins from east gate to west gate 'cause it's so confusing when people say "i'll meet you at the MAIN entrance!", that's the fatal word you should mention last. i really can't tell which is the MAIN entrance or MAIN gate. each gate has its unique function and unique definition to different people.
so do learn to observe directions when you first arrive in beijing. that's my advise to juniors.
