Important Places in the BLCU Area

Now that I've covered the campus, I wanted to share some info about places that are close to campus that may be useful to some people, as I went to these places quite often during my stay at BLCU. 

• If you walk past Dorm No. 17 outside of the West gate, there is a fruit and vegetable market with all the supplies you will need to cook yourself a meal if you choose to do so. They have some meat as well, but we used to buy it from Chaoshifa (超市发) instead, which is located on the corner of Chengfu Rd (成府路) and Xueyuan Rd (学院路). The Chaoshifa is pretty much the Walmart of China and can be your one stop for any grocery or supplies you may need. The only reason I mentioned the place outside of the West gate is because the vegetables and fruit are more expensive at the Chaoshifa than at the market. 
• The road outside of the South gate is Chengfu Rd and the road outside of the East gate is Xueyuan Rd. 
• Outside of the South gate there are a couple of bus stops and if you turn right and walk for about 10 mins, you get to the subway station and Wudaokou (五道口), which will need its own separate post because there is a lot over there.
• Straight across from the South gate is the Geological Sciences University (地质大学) and there is a Muslim canteen over there that has some of the best Kungpao chicken in Beijing, and it's extremely cheap to eat there too.
• Across from the Chaoshifa on the corner of Chengfu Rd and Xueyuan Rd, there is a McDonalds (which is 24/7), a place to buy train tickets, and a China Construction Bank ATM (which is awesome if you have a Bank of America debit card because it automatically converts your dollars into RMB and you won't have to pay any fees every time you withdraw money).
• If you turn right outside of the East gate, then there is a block with a few restaurants including a KFC (not 24/7), Beijing Beef Noodles, a Korean restaurant, and a Japanese restaurant, all of which are good places to grab a quick bite to eat.
• There is a Giant bicycle dealer store located on the other side of Xueyuan Rd across from the East gate (you have to walk across on the overpass bridge to get to the other side). Their cheapest bikes are around 200 RMB and the expensive ones are a few thousand RMBs, and you can certainly get cheap used bikes for a little more than 100 RMB but I bought a new one just because most of the other places did not have a bike large enough for me. I should also note that anytime you buy a bike from someone, repairs for the lifetime of the bicycle are to be done by the people that sell it to you usually for free, unless extensive damage is done to the bike to where you need a new one.
• If you turn left and go north on Xueyuan Rd outside of the East gate and walk to the first traffic light, there is a big shopping center (Jinma - 金码大厦) which is 4 stories high I think and it mostly has clothing on the first 3 floors and electronics on the 4th floor. Most of their stuff is knock offs and be sure to bargain with the vendors to get a good price because they will definitely quote you a higher price to start out because you are a foreigner. 
• There are also some more banks located in the vicinity of Jinma, as well as a Starbucks. There is also a tiny Lanzhou Lamian (兰州拉面) restaurant right next to Jinma where they have some of the best hand-pulled noodles that I had in Beijing. I still seriously crave that stuff, and price wise you could not beat it.