Page 110 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Beijing

108 ❯❯ Streetsmart

Getting To and Around Beijing

Arriving by Air Arriving by Sea the crowds – and never
travel during the holiday
Until the new airport Beijing is a landlocked “golden” weeks, May 1
opens in late 2019, city, but you can disembark and October 1.
Beijing Capital Airport at Tianjin Port (Tianjin
remains the best way to Xingang) and take a Arriving by Bus
enter and leave the city. metro, bus or a taxi
There are direct links (around ¥25) to Tanggu Dong Zhi Men Station
to countless national and Railway Station for the (lines 2 and 13, Beijing
international locations bullet train. Airport Express) is
with China’s flagship Beijing’s main bus station,
carrier, Air China, as Arriving by Train but local stations are
well as international scattered around the
lines China Airlines, China’s extensive train city and services reach
China Eastern, and network is an excellent all over China.
China Southern, plus way to travel. Newer
numerous local carriers. trains usually ferry Getting Around
It’s also worth checking businesspeople back by Subway
on flights to neighboring and forth, but the older
Tianjin and traveling to trains are ideal for fam- Beijing now has 19
Beijing by 40-minute ilies. Bring snacks to subway lines, with more
bullet train, which runs share, and you’ll enjoy on the way. The fare
every 30 minutes and warm, cozy journeys. varies with distance,
costs ¥58. Check for The hub of the country’s but you can get almost
flights on Ctrip or Elong. travel industry, Beijing anywhere for ¥4. Buy a
A taxi from Capital offers direct interna- Transportation Smart
Airport to central Beijing tional routes to Moscow, Card from any station for
should be ¥100–150, Hanoi, Ulaanbataar, and bus (discount) and metro
including the ¥5 toll, Pyongyang from Beijing (no discount), and top
depending on your Railway Station (metro it up at any counter or
lo cation and traffic. line 2), South Railway machine. The subway
Make sure your driver Station (lines 4 and 14), is well lit and frequent
uses the meter, and and West Railway trains operate between
have your hotel’s name Station (lines 7 and 9). 5am and 11:30pm. There
and phone number North Railway Station is a teller at each stop who
written in Chinese. It is (also called Xizhimen will sell you a ticket if you
best to avoid the illegal Station, lines 2, 4 and 13) point to your intended stop
drivers who approach is for domestic travel. on a subway map. A bus
you in the airport. Trains come in an and subway schedule is
A cheaper option, at alphabet of classes, from available online. Signs
¥25, is the Beijing Airport G, the highest-level speed and announcements are
Express, a subway line train, with business class in Chinese and English,
that terminates in and soft sleepers, to K, but street maps are only
Dong Zhi Men. Buy your with hard and soft seats, in Chinese, so ask for an
metro card here (start hard and soft sleepers, exit letter. Most venues
with ¥50 for a week, and deluxe soft sleepers. are metro accessible.
which you can then top The hard sleeper is ade-
up as necessary), then quate, but avoid the hard Getting Around
transfer to city metro, seats. Numbered trains by Bus
bus, taxi or san lun che are the slowest and have
(pedicab). Eight shuttle seats only. Stations are For non-Chinese speakers,
bus lines also run from signposted in Chinese buses are harder to nav-
early morning to around and English, but arrive igate, but show the
midnight, and tickets at any station one to two Chinese address to a
for these cost ¥16. hours early to navigate friendly passenger, and

Eyewitness Travel – Top 10 series LAYERS PRINTED:
Streetsmart – practical, 8.25pt grid “UK” LAYER
(SourceReport v1.2)
108-109_Top_10_Beijing.indd 108 27/06/2017 14:33
Date 10th June 2015
Size 100mm x 191mm