Beijing Travel Tips

1. How to get from the Beijing Capital International Airport to the town Beijing?

When you arrive at the Beijing Capital Airport, you may take a rest and have some coffee at Starbucks or KFC that have new outlets outside the international arrivals. 

Most of the international incoming flights land on the terminal two while terminal one is for a few domestic flights. The first floor for terminal two is for arriving flights and the second floor is for outgoing flights. So when you arriving at Beijing capital airport, you are on the first floor of the terminal two. Right now, you have two ways to reach the city from the airport. One is to take the airport shuttle bus. You go out of the hall and will find some coaches waiting outside. There are several lines. Please be sure where you are going and choose the right line. It costs about RMB 16( USD 2.5 ). Or you may take taxi. Lots of taxis are waiting outside.

For taking taxi, please pass through the "black cab drivers" who are following at your heels. These black taxi whose rates are far above the going fare. So just head straight for the taxi line outside the arrival doors. Make sure they use the meter, and if you notice irregularities, just point it out. Even local residents are sometimes the victims of meters that ominously read RMB100 (until, with the push of a button, the original fare is restored). You will have to pay an extra RMB10 (roughly US$1.2) for the Airport Expressway toll. Once it is learned that a foreign tourist is overcharged RMB 400 from the airport to the downtown area! Normally the ride costs around RMB 120. Most taxi driver speaks little English, maybe , just a few words. So please show your hotel in Chinese. Airport taxis come in RMB2. Taxis can be rented for the whole day for 8 hours, and the best way to do this is to bargain directly with the driver. Expect to pay at least RMB350 for the day.

2. Beijing City Layout

Beijing is very big and quite extending. The present city still find its the basic outline of the Imperial City 500 years ago in Yuan Dynasty with a clear north-south axis and a lot of narrow lanes. The round line of the subway and the second-ring road almost liken the none-existant old city wall. The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square are located in the middle of the city. The place cycling the Forbidden City once housed the court officials and noble families. Many of these old residential housees can still be found in the hutongs or alleys. These hutongs now become the popular sites for a visit to the city. It's a shame in some other parts of the city, the old alleys are being fast destroyed for new buildings. 

Not far from the south of the Forbidden City is Wangfujing Street, a busy walking commercial street and the layout of some famous hotels. Wangfujing is just a walking distance to Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. 

To the Northeast of the Forbidden City is Chaoyang District, which holds a lot of the city's expat community and also the layout of lots of hotels which are for foreign clients. Far to the North is the Badaling Great Wall and Juyongguan Great Wall. The Beijing Capital International Airport is located to the northeast of the city with about 40 minutes by drive. 

Northwest to the Forbidden City is Weigongcun which hold lots of higher learning institutes, like Beijing university, Tsinghua University and more. The Summer Palace is also situated to the northeast of the city center. 

3. Beijing business hotels, tourist hotels and hostels

There was certainly lots of hotels in Beijing. The local govenment classifies the hotels into five classes: 5 star, 4 star, 3 star, 2 star, 1 star. Each stared hotel has a plaque with the star on it. While each Beijing hotel listed here will provide rooms, dining, health and fitness facilitiesand necessary business service. Beijing business hotels, of course, are on par with the best anywhere in the world. Each deluxe hotels has a 15 percent service charge. Beijing hostels are the best way to go for budget lodging in Beijing. Ask to see a hostel room before you pay and choose a dorm (several bunks in one room) for the cheapest Beijing lodging. Expect to pay US$ 8 - 15 for a Beijing hostel bunk. 

3. How many sections of the Great Wall around Beijing? 

There are many sections of the Great Wall and the section closest to Beijing (and thus the most crowded and touristy) is Juyongguan and Badaling. The next further section is Mutianyu. Beyond that (about 2 hours away from Beijing) lies Simatai and Jinshanling. The further sections are more rugged and you get to see more the real Great Wall but their distance tends to discourage folks from visiting them. To visit the Great Wall, you have three main choices: taxi, Public bus or organized tours. 

4. Will we have language barrier in Beijing China?

Many of the large and popular restaurants tend to have an English menu these days so it shouldn't be difficult. As for hotels, they will give you a card with the address of the hotel. NEVER lose this card, and just give it to your taxi driver when your done sightseeing, and he'll take you back. The major signboards on the streets are both in Chinese and English. 

5. Would appreciate any indication of tipping practices in Beijing?

Usually tipping is generally not practiced in China, but for some hotels you book, or organized tours you take, you should pay a little. 

6. Is it advisable to purchase Travel Insurance for a trip to China?

No matter you travel independently or buy an organized tour, you should purchase Travel Insurance for a trip to China on your own at your home country. You never know when you are out of luck and what situation you might encounter. When you visit a public hosptial in China, very often, the first thing they ask, other than your name, is money. In addition, the local tour operators in China usually don't buy a travel insurance for you, they only buy the travel agency insurance for themselves.

7. We are going to book an overnight sleeper train to Xi'an, when should we buy the ticket?

You have three ways for train ticket booking. First, you can get them in the hotel directly. Many hotel tour desks have ticket booking service from the front desk, but you need pay about RMB 20 -30 yuan for handling charge. 

The second way is that you can buy the tickets directly from the train station. For this it is quite hard for you, lining up and having some language barrier. Last way is for you to turn to a local travel agency or ticket booking agency. When you use this method, you should book early. Many local travel agencies only offer package tours including ticket booking and tours. And don't offer ticket booking only service. By the way, you are advised not to take trains during Chinese big holidays like Spring Festival, May Day, and National Day. There will be a huge nunber of travelling people. It is very much difficult to buy the train tickets.

8. I am a single traveller in Beijing for one week, any safety in Beijing?

If friendly young Chinese people approach you on the street for tea or art, just say "no". This is a common problem in Beijing: the old teahouse and art student scams designed to extract money from unsuspecting tourists. Never accept rides from taxis that don't have a working meter. Just get out and find another one. Don't go hiking far alone on remote sections of the Great Wall. There are no dangerous areas of downtown Beijing that you need to be concerned with as a foreigner. Petty theft is always a problem in the vicinity of China's train and bus stations.

Please be careful of the following:

-Stay away from local quarreling

-Keep away from drunk locals. 

-Put your belongings close and under your eyes. 

-Question what people will tell you. 

-Keep every taxi reciept or goods'reciept. Never follow any "black taxi driver" who approaches you (especially at airports).

-Always make sure the taxi driver turns on the meter. 

-Never agree to a fixed price before you get in a taxi and start to go.

-Never give money to beggars, who are very often controlled by some kind of organzation

-Never pay for bus tickets till the bus is driving on the road and you are in it. 

All these are just warnings. Each country has its problems. China is comparatively safer than many places in the world. just be confident about these things.

By the way, if you bring your mobile phone to China and you are from Aus, or the UK, or most of Europe, then you have the same cell phone system with China. Once you are in Beijing, buy a chinese sim card for around 50-100RMB. The phones use a pre-paid system and you will find it helpful.