- China Trip Planner
Beijing Transportation
Airport Taxi 
A taxi (using its meter) should cost about RMB85 from the airport to the centre, including the RMB15 airport expressway toll. A well-established illegal taxi operation at the airport attempts to lure weary travellers into a RMB300 plus ride to the city. One man acts as a taxi pimp for a squad of drivers he will usually solicit you while you're still inside the airport terminal building. Ignore him and head out the doors to the queue for the official taxis.
Subway
The subway (ditie) is probably the best way to travel around. The Underground Dragon can move at up to 70km per hour - a jaguar compared with the lumbering buses. The system is modest and trains are showing their age, but it will be given a Herculean makeover with some five new subway lines planned to take the strain off the roads before the 2008 Olympics. There are two established lines, the Circle Line (Huanxian) and the East-West Line (Yixian). The fare is a flat RMB3 on both lines, regardless of distance. Platforms have neither seats nor toilets. Trains run at a frequency of one every few minutes during peak times. It can get very crowded, but it sure beats the buses! The carriages have seats for 60 and standing room for 200. The subway runs from 5am to1 l pm daily; platform signs are in Chinese characters and pinyin.
To recognise a subway station (di tie zhan), look for the subway symbol, which is a blue English capital 'D' with a circle around it. Another way of recognising a subway station is to look for an enormous cluster of bicycles.
Taxis
Taxis are everywhere, and finding one is only a problem during rush hour and rainstorms.
One government brochure claims that 80% of Beijing taxi drivers can speak English. Perhaps they mean 80 drivers, since out of the total 100,000 that would be approximate. If you don't speak Chinese, bring a map or have your destination written down in characters. It helps if you know the way to your destination; sit in the front with a map. If it seems like you've been taken totally out-of-town, you could be in for quite a long ride.
Taxis come in different classes. All taxis sport a red sticker on the side rear window declaring the rate per kilometre. Red Xiali taxis are the most economical (RMB10 for the first 4km; RMB1.20 per kilometre thereafter). Next are the larger RMB1.60 taxis (RMB10 for the first 3km; RMB1.60 per kilometre thereafter), many of these are red Citroens; it pays to take these if you are going a long distance as there's more leg room and they're cleaner. Volkswagen Santana 2000 taxis cost RMB 12 for the first 4km and RMB 2 for each kilometre thereafter. Don't expect rear seat belts in any but the best cabs. Taxis are required to switch on the meter for all journeys. Between 11pm and 6am daily there is a 20% surcharge added to the flagfall metered fare.
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