Intelligent cell phones designed to help foreigners overcome the language barrier in daily life were made available for rent on Sunday in 94 hotels in Beijing at a cost of US$5 per day.

"The cell phone acts as a guide and translator for English speakers," said Chen Xinxiang, chairman of the Capital Information Development Company Ltd., developer of the cell phone.

The cell phone provides four types of services: city information, voice assistance, emergency hotline and tips on living in Beijing.

Visitors have access to assistance including maps, introductions to places, addresses and telephone numbers of hotels, scenic spots, shopping malls, and hospitals. The translation feature is particularly helpful when taking a taxi or ordering a meal. The user inputs the English name of a place or food, and the phone does an audio translation.

Other useful information includes find tips on where to buy cheap goods and how to use chopsticks.

Users can also call an emergency hotline for around-the-clock translations if they come across a problem they cannot tackle on their own.

This cell phone service is only available in Beijing.

(Xinhua News Agency July 25, 2006)