Traffic Guide -- china.org.cn

Downtown traffic

You'd better travel in downtown Beijing out of rush hours. Subway is the fastest among all means of transportation. Usually the trains come in a three to five minutes interval. There are over 60,000 taxis running in the city, bringing more convenience. However, the cheapest transportation is public bus. For a short trip in Beijing, the Time Card is a good choice.

Subway

The entrance to a subway station is a grey, square concrete building with a lamp box on the top as symbol. The ticket offices are in both ends of the platform. Usually there are more than one entrances (exits) to a station marked with A, B, C or D. Please read the instructions before you leave the station to save time.

Most of the stations along subway Line 2 are major tourist destinations or transportation hubs:

Qianmen Station --Tian'anmen Square, Qianmen, Dashilan, Laoshe Tea House. The largest tourist bus terminal locates in the northeast corner. A taxi ride from here costs you RMB 10 to Liulichang, the Temple of Heaven or Wangfujing.

Jianguomen Station -- the Ancient Observatory, Silk Market, Yabaolu Market

Xizhimen Station -- a major transportation hub to Peking University, the Summer Palace and the Fragrant Hill

Yonghegong Station – the Lama Temple, Guozijian, Confucius Temple, the Temple of Earth

Dongzhimen Station – coach station for tours to Miyun and Huairou counties, Chengde and Tianjin cities as well as the Great Wall (Gubeikou, Jinshanling and Simatai sections); it is also a port to Beijing Capital Airport.

Beijing Railway Station – for taking a train

Fuxingmen Station – the interchange station between Line 1 and Line 2; following the instructions you may transfer to another subway line within the station on foot.

Ticket price: fixed price at RMB 3, and RMB 5 for Line 1 and Line 2 transfer

Bus

Nowadays in Beijing, fixed price at RMB 1 is charged for a public bus numbered within 200, Transportation Cards are also accepted. Buses numbered between 300 and 599 charge by distance, i.e. RMB 1 for a ride within 12 (including 12) kilometers, and RMB 0.5 is accumulated for every additional 5 kilometers.

Please make it clear that some buses have "Partial Route", "Branch" or "Extend" after their numbers.

Visit this website for public transportation and transfer information:

www.bjbus.com

Time Card

There are three types of Time Cards: 3-Day Card valued RMB 10 which can be used for 18 times within 3 days; 7-Day Card valued RMB 20 which can be used for 42 times within 7 days and; 15-Day Card valued RMB 40 which can be used for 90 times within 15 days. Applicant should pay a RMB 20 deposit while buying a Card. When returning a Card, only deposit is refunded, neither the left times nor cash is returnable. A Time Card has no photograph and is not limited to the applicant. A Time Card is only valid for ordinary buses. Duration of the Card starts from the moment of buying, and the first day ends at 23:59 of the same day.

Taxi

The most common taxi cars in Beijing are Hyundai ELANTRA and Citroen FUKANG. ELANTRA cars are new cars and usually green, red, blue and purple on yellow background. Each taxi in Beijing has a sign upon the roof reads TAXI and a red one sign can be seen in the middle of the front window when it is ready to serve you.

Passengers had better to hair hail a car in at the taxi stops. All taxis have price labels on both side windows near the back seats. The rent starts from RMB 10; however the meter runs after 4 kilometers and charges you RMB 2 per kilometer. If your ride between 23:00 and 5:00, the meter automatically charges you extra 20%.

Furthermore, toll fee and parking fee go to the passenger, and charge for return ride occurs in case of a ride over 15 kilometers.

You are entitled to make the taxi driver use the meter, and never forget to ask for an invoice with the plate number and the company of the car as well as its telephone number for complaint, through which you may find the car in case that you have lost your valuables in it or been soaked, or complain to administrative authorities.

(Source: Beijing Tourism Administration)