Beijing Transportation

Planning a Trip

Visiting China isn't as hard as you might think it is. If you can manage Paris by yourself without speaking French, you can manage Beijing without Mandarin. Tens of thousands of visitors travel in China independently each year, making arrangements as they go and without more than a guidebook and phrase book to help them. You can certainly arrange various levels of assistance, either on arrival or from home, but you can also travel just as freely as you would elsewhere, perhaps using agents to get your tickets and picking up the odd day tour.

But whether you plan to travel at random, with a pre-booked route, or with a fully escorted tour, it's vital that you read this guide carefully in order to understand how the way you travel, even in many other developing nations, doesn't apply here. Much supposed wisdom on China travel is far from wise, and what's good advice in the rest of the world is often the worst advice in China. Without absorbing what's below, some of the rest of this guide may seem inscrutable.

So put down your preconceptions, and read on . . .

Online Traveler's Toolbox

• ATM Locators: Visa ATM Locator (www.visa.com) gives locations of PLUS ATMs worldwide; MasterCard ATM Locator (www.mastercard.com) provides locations of Cirrus ATMs worldwide.

• Online Chinese Tools (www.mandarintools.com) has dictionaries for Mac and Windows users, Chinese calendars for conversions between the solar and lunar calendars (on which most Chinese festivals are based), and more.

• China Pulse (www.chinapulse.com/wifi) provides listings of restaurants, cafes, and hotels in Beijing that have wireless Internet access. Choose "Browse Hotspot Listings" and click on the entries to find out what network is available, and whether there's a charge involved.

• The Oriental-List is a noncommercial mailing list dedicated solely to the discussion of travel in China. This spam-free list, moderated to stay on-topic, offers swift answers to just about any China travel question not already dealt with in these pages. To subscribe, send a blank e-mail to subscribe-oriental-list@datasinica.com.

• Travel Warnings are available at: http://travel.state.gov, www.fco.gov.uk/travel, www.voyage.gc.ca, and www.smartraveller.gov.au.

• Universal Currency Converter (www.xe.com/ucc) posts the latest exchange rates of any currency against the YRMB.

• Weatherbase (www.weatherbase.com) gives month-by-month averages for temperature and rainfall for individual cities in China.

• Xianzai.com (www.xianzai.com) provides free entertainment listings for Beijing and other Chinese cities, as well as special offers from China for hotels and air tickets.

• Zhongwen.com (www.zhongwen.com), an online dictionary, looks up English and Chinese and provides explanations of Chinese etymology using a system of family trees.

Getting There

By Plane

On direct, nonstop flights, China's own international airlines always offer rates slightly lower than those of foreign carriers. Cabin staff try to be helpful but are never quite sure how. Air China only recently suffered its first and only fatal accident and should not be confused with China Airlines from Taiwan, at quite the other end of the scale. Departure tax is now included in the price of your ticket.

From North America -- Among North American airlines, Air Canada (www.aircanada.com), Continental Airlines (www.continental.com), Northwest Airlines (www.nwa.com) (via Tokyo), and United Airlines (www.ual.com) fly to Beijing.

Air China (www.airchina.com.cn) also operates direct flights to Beijing from various cities in North America. Japan Airlines (www.jal.co.jp) flies via Tokyo to Beijing, as does All Nippon Airways (www.ana.co.jp). Korean Air (www.koreanair.com) and Asiana Airlines (us.flyasiana.com) fly via Seoul.

From the United Kingdom -- British Airways (www.britishairways.com) flies to Beijing. Fares with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (www.klm.com) via Amsterdam, Lufthansa (www.lufthansa.com) via Frankfurt, or Finnair (www.finnair.com) via Helsinki, can often be considerably cheaper. Fares with eastern European airlines such as Tarom Romanian Air Transport (www.tarom.ro) via Bucharest, and Aeroflot (www.aeroflot.com) via Moscow, or with Asian airlines such as Pakistan International Airlines (www.piac.com.pk) via Islamabad or Karachi, Malaysia Airlines (www.malaysiaairlines.com.my) via Kuala Lumpur, or Singapore Airlines (www.singaporeair.com) via Singapore, can be cheaper still. There are even more creative routes via Ethiopia or the Gulf States.

From Australasia -- Sydney is served by China Eastern, Air China, and Qantas (www.qantas.com.au) to Beijing and Shanghai, and by Air China and China Southern to Guangzhou, where you can catch a connecting flight to Beijing. Air New Zealand (www.airnewzealand.com) flies to Shanghai, and there are possible indirect routes with Philippine Airlines (www.pal.com.ph) via Manila, Malaysian Airlines (www.malaysiaairlines.com.my) via Kuala Lumpur, and Vietnam Airlines (www.vietnamairlines.com) via Ho Chi Minh City. Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific (www.cathaypacific.com) flies directly from six Australian cities and Auckland.

By Road

Foreign visitors are not permitted to drive their own vehicles into China, unless arrangements are made far in advance with a state-recognized travel agency for a specific itinerary. The agency will provide a guide who will travel in your vehicle, or in a second vehicle with a driver, and make sure you stick to the planned route. You will have to cover all the (marked-up) costs of guide, driver, and extra vehicle if needed, and of Chinese plates for your vehicle. The agency will book and overcharge you for all your hotels and for as many excursions as it can. Forget it.

By Train

From Hung Hom station in Kowloon (Hong Kong), expresses run directly to Beijing's West Station on alternate days (visite www.kcrc.com for schedules and fares). From Moscow there are weekly trains via Ulan Bator in Mongolia to Beijing, and weekly via a more easterly route directly to Harbin in China's northeast and down to the capital. There's also a separate weekly run from Ulan Bator to Beijing. Trains run twice-weekly from Hanoi in Vietnam to Beijing West via Guilin. There's also a service between Beijing and Pyongyang in North Korea, but you'll only be on that if you've joined an organized tour.

By Ship

There are ferry connections from Incheon in South Korea (http://english.tour2korea.com) and from Shimonoseki and Kobe in Japan (www.celkobe.co.jp) to Tianjin, a couple of hours from Beijing.

Getting Around

The major street layouts in Beijing are often well planned: sidewalk for pedestrians, a fenced-off bike lane, two lanes for cars, another bike lane, and then sidewalk again. This is one of the benefits of the hideous boulevardization, or would be if only the inhabitants used these layouts properly. However, cars are parked on the pavement, usually at an angle so as to drive pedestrians into the bike lanes, and even pushbikes are usually parked so as to cause quite unnecessary obstruction to pedestrians. So the pedestrians are forced to get in the way of the cyclists, who are anyway going in both directions in the lanes on each side of the road, as well as along the edges of the lanes for cars, often in the wrong direction. Meanwhile, cars come along the bike lanes, also often in the wrong direction, so as to get access to the pavements and drive at a few pedestrians before parking.

Although residents quickly become inured to all this madness, and although if visitors use taxis and buses they are unlikely to get injured, they'll certainly see a few accidents and injuries. The best way to get around the city is by metro or by taxi, or often by a combination of the two.

By Metro

The Beijing metro system (ditie) is undergoing a process of rapid expansion. This is leading to traffic snarls at ground level, which make using the existing four lines (two underground, two light rail or chengtie) essential. Although other cities have involved foreign companies in the construction of up-to-date rolling stock, Beijing seems to have stuck to a locally made product, which is slow and squeaky. And whereas other cities have switched to modern electronic gates to read your ticket, Beijing has stuck with a paper ticket system and lots of staff to check the tickets.

Eventually there will be 15 metro and light-rail lines, but for now the system consists of the Circle Line (sometimes known as Line 2), which follows the upper portion of the Second Ring Road, cutting across under Qian Men, effectively following the line of the Tartar City walls that were demolished to make its construction possible (the Dongnan Jiaolou, home to the Red Gate Gallery, was spared because the metro takes a turn at that point). Line 1 runs from Pingguo Yuan in the west, the site of Capital Iron and Steel and other heavy industry which are the sources of much of Beijing's pollution, right across town beneath Chang'an Jie and its extensions to Si Hui Do[il]ng in the east. Line 8 extends Line 1 into the eastern suburbs. The light-rail Line 13 swings in a suburban loop to the north, from the Circle Line's Xi Zhi Men to Dong Zhi Men stations. Several other lines, such as north-south Line 5, and one to the airport, should be completed by the time you read this. Stations are numbered, signs on platforms tell you which station is the next in each direction, and English announcements are made on trains, so navigation is not difficult.

For now, ticket booths are below ground, and a ticket costs ¥3 (40¢/20p) for a ride anywhere from any Circle Line or Line 1 station to any other on those two lines, with free interchange. Because there's a fair bit of pushing and shoving at the ticket counters, buy a few tickets at one time (just hold up a number of fingers), but note that the two lines have different colored tickets, and you must use the right color as you start your journey. A ticket allowing you to start from or switch to Line 13, a huancheng piao, is ¥5 (65¢/35p), ¥4 (55¢/25p) for Line 8. Alternatively, you can buy an electronic card that can be used for subway and bus rides. The metro card, officially known as the "Municipal Administration and Communication Card" (Shizheng Jiaotong Yikatong) can be bought for a ¥40 ($5.35/£2.65) minimum, including ¥20 ($2.65/£1.35) for deposit.

Entrances are not clearly marked. Find them on maps, marked with a D (for ditie) in a circle, and look for the same sign at entrances. Escalators are up only, staircases are long, and there are no elevators. Those with limited mobility should stay on the surface.

By Taxi

Beijing's rapid conversion from a city for bicycles to one for cars has brought the inevitable traffic jams. Get on the road well before 7:30am to beat the rush, or forget it until about 10am. The city's arteries start to clog again about 3pm, and circulation slows to a crawl until 7:30pm. Take the metro to the point nearest your destination and jump in a cab from there.

By the time you reach Beijing, the cheap but poorly air-conditioned Xiali rattletraps should be a thing of the past. There are now essentially two fare types available, with their per-kilometer rates posted on the side window.

The red Fukang, a Citroën joint-venture built in Wuhan on the Yangzi River, are slightly older than the green or yellow Xiandai (Hyundai, a Beijing-based joint venture). The Xiandai have better air-conditioning and are much roomier. Both have an initial charge of ¥10 ($1.35/65p) which includes 3km (2 miles), and each subsequent kilometer is ¥2 (25¢/15p), ¥3 (40¢/20p) after 15 kilometers.

There are a mix of old and new Santana and Jetta cabs built in various Volkswagen joint ventures around China. They're similar to popular Volkswagen models in the West and are equally solid. Occasionally, there are larger vehicles charging as much as ¥3 (40¢/20p) per kilometer. Some of these have dodgy meters and hang around larger hotels where corrupt bellhops call them for you.

All taxis are metered. But on the front of the meter they also have a button, for one-way trips out of town, which is pushed regardless of the type of trip to be taken. This causes the rate per kilometer to increase by 50% after 15km (9 miles). If you are hiring the vehicle to take you somewhere, wait, and bring you back, or to run you around town all day, then you should insist that the button is not pushed. As elsewhere in the world, the meter also ticks over slowly when the vehicle is stationary or moving very slowly.

Between 11pm and 5am the meter starts at ¥11 ($1.45/75p) and rates increase to ¥2.40 (30¢/15p) per kilometer, ¥3.40 (45¢/25p) after 15 kilometers.

Consider taking taxis for trips out of town. Your hotel's transport department would love for you to take one of their cars for the day -- and they would love to separate you from up to ¥1,200 ($160/£80) for a trip you can bargain for yourself for ¥400 ($53/£27), which is what most drivers take in each day. Even after overhead, this puts them well above the average Beijing resident in income, but they often work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week to obtain it, and the vehicle often works 24 hours, with a separate driver on the night shift. They are also squeezed by the taxi companies. So a trip out of town is a welcome change, and better than spending much of the day cruising the city empty. But the rate you pay should be well under the official per-kilometer rate, and a price should be negotiated. Again, deal with drivers stopped at random and not those targeting foreigners or better hotels, and begin getting quotes the day before you want to travel. The lack of a common language need not deter you, as long as you have the characters for the name of your destination and can write down the start and return times. Prices can be negotiated using pen and paper or a calculator. ¥400 ($53/£27) for a round-trip of around 200km (124 miles) is fine. You should also be prepared to pay road tolls and parking fees (probably in total no more than about ¥60/$8/£4), and it's a nice gesture to buy the driver lunch.

Ten Tips for Taking Taxis Around Town -- 1. Never go with a driver who approaches you at the airport (or railway stations). Leave the building and head for the rank. As with everywhere else in the world, airport taxis are the most likely to cause trouble. Drivers who approach you are usually hei che -- illegal and meterless "black cabs."

2. Cabs waiting for business outside major tourist sights, especially those whose drivers call out to foreigners, should be avoided, as should cabs whose drivers ask you where you want to go before you even get in. Always flag down a passing cab, and nine times in ten the precautions listed here will be unnecessary.

3. If you're staying in an upmarket hotel, do not go with taxis called by the doorman or waiting in line outside. Even at some famous hotels, drivers pay kickbacks to the doormen to allow them to join the line on the forecourt. Some cabs are merely waiting because many guests, Chinese and foreign alike, will be out-of-town people who can be easily misled. Instead, flag down a passing cab for yourself. Take the hotel's business card to show to a taxi driver when you want to get back.

4. Better hotels give you a piece of paper with the taxi registration number on it as you board or alight, so that you can complain if something goes wrong. Often you won't know if it has, of course, and there's no guarantee that anything will happen if you complain to the hotel, but hang onto it anyway.

5. Look to see if the supervision card, usually with a photo of the driver and a telephone number, is prominently displayed, as regulations require. If it isn't, you may have problems. Choose another cab.

6. Can you clearly see the meter? If it's recessed behind the gear stick, or partly hidden by an artfully folded towel, for example, choose another cab.

7. Always make sure you see the meter reset. If you didn't see the flag pushed down, which shouldn't happen until you actually move off, then you may end up paying for the time the cab was in the rank. This is a particularly popular scam outside better hotels.

8. If you are by yourself, sit in the front seat. Have a map with you and look as if you know where you are going (even if you don't).

9. Rates per kilometer are clearly posted on the side of the cab and vary by vehicle type. The flag drop of ¥10 ($1.35/65p) includes 2km (1 1/4 miles), after which the standard kilometer rate begins. But in Beijing, after 15km (9 miles), the rate jumps by 50% if the driver has pushed the "one-way" button on the front of the meter. This button is for one-way trips out of town and usually should not be pushed, but always is. As a result, it's rarely worthwhile to have a cab wait for you with the meter running and take you back.

10. Pay what's on the meter, and don't tip -- the driver will insist on giving change. Always ask for a receipt (fa piao). Should you leave something in a cab, there's a remarkably high success rate at getting even valuable items back if you call the number on the receipt and provide the details. You'll need the assistance of a Mandarin speaker.

By Bus

Unless you are on the tightest of backpacker budgets and are traveling alone, your first choice for getting around town is the metro, your second choice is taxi, and your last resort should be the bus, although the introduction of dedicated bus lanes will make them more appealing. Most buses have conductors who'll need to know your destination in order to work out how much to charge. Sometimes fees are payable into a slot at the front of the bus with no change given. Regular buses charge a flat fare of ¥1 (15¢/5p), while air-conditioned buses charge ¥2 (25¢/15p) and up. Entrance and exit doors are marked with the shang and xia characters respectively.

By Pedicab

Unless you are competent in Mandarin and obviously familiar with the city, a ride in a pedicab will always end in grief, and arguments over the agreed fare ("No! Thirty dollars!"). A taxi is cheaper, quicker, and less stressful, and it won't make you look like an idiot tourist.

By Bicycle

There used to be considerable charm in being one fish in a vast shoal of bicycles, but cycling is now ill-advised for the timid (or sensibly cautious). But enthusiasts for two-wheeled travel will certainly find that at some times of day they can get around more quickly than anyone else. Many upmarket hotels will rent you a bicycle for around ¥80 to ¥100 ($11-$13/£5.35-£6.65) for the day, however a new bike may be purchased for as little as ¥130 ($17/£8.65), so if you're going to be using a bike for a few days, buying one is a better deal. Don't expect sophisticated accessories such as gears on rental bikes or bikes purchased for these prices. Flat Beijing does not require them anyway. Budget accommodations and some bike enclosures next to metro stops charge a more appropriate ¥10 ($1.35/65p) for the day. Check the bike's condition carefully, especially the brakes and tires. Sidewalk bicycle-repair operations are everywhere and will make repairs for a few yuan, if worst comes to worst. Always park the bike in marked and supervised enclosures, using the lock, which is built in or provided, or expect the bike to be gone when you get back. The parking fee is usually ¥0.20 (3¢/1p).

On Foot

The vast width of Beijing's boulevards makes maps deceiving. Blocks are long, and everything is farther away than it seems. Save your feet for getting around temples, palaces, and markets, which can be very extensive, or for our self-guide walking tours. Use pedestrian underpasses and footbridges wherever available, or be prepared to adopt the matador approach of the locals, letting cars sweep past you to either side as you wait for the opportunity to cross to the next lane. Traffic turning right at lights does not give way to pedestrians, nor does any other traffic unless forced to do so by large groups of people bunching up to cross the road.

By Car

The rule of the road is "me first," regardless of signs, traffic lights, road markings, safety considerations, or common sense, unless someone with an ability to fine or demand a bribe is watching. In general, the bigger your vehicle, the more authority you have. Maximum selfishness in the face of common sense characterizes driving in general, and there is no maneuver so ludicrous or unexpected that someone will not attempt it. Residents have time to adapt -- visitors do not. Our strong advice is to forget it, and take a taxi.