Beijing City Public Transport Information
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Public Transport In Beijing
Beijing has four main forms of public Transport. current public transport. The biggest of these is the the bus network. There are around 20,000 buses operating on 650 bus routes in the Beijing. The Metro system (underground) consists 4 lines with a further seven currently under construction. There are eight suburban rail routes operating from Central Beijing. There thousands of taxis - which are tightly regulated and most are honest!
The Beijing Metro (Undergound System)
Link To Map Of The Beijing Metro
The Beijing Metro, the first underground railway system in China, history began in the late 60's in response to detoriating relations between China and Russia. Line 1 was designed to move several divisions troops in the event of a Soviet invasion. The Line crosses Beijing from East - West through central (downtown) Beijing where it serves the the Tiananmen Suare area. Line 1 is the red line on the map below. Line 2 the Beijing Circle or Loop line (light blue on the Beijing Metro Map) is the other line key line. Line 13 & the Batong Line are the only other operational lines at the moment.
Line 5 opened in 2008. The Airport Line & The Olymic Stadium Line will opened in June 2009 with the other lines shown opening at later dates. Euromost acknowledges the input and information from Wikipedia for this rare updated information. They will be happy to accept your donations!.
Flat fares of 3 Yuan apply to lines 1 & 2 which are inrerchangeable. The Batong Line & Line 13 have their own flat fares of 2 & 3 Yuan respectively. The flat fare for transfers between lines 1 2 & the Batong lineis 4 Yuan. The flat fare for transfers between 1,2 & Line 13 is 5 Yuan.
Bus Services
Beijing Bus Services charges depend on the age of the bus. The fare for new buses is 2 Yuan and old buses 1 Yuan. Both rates apply for up to 10 Kilometres after which higher charges apply.
For information on the actual routes and services please go to this website.
Rail Services For Beijing & China
In Beijing there are two major railway stations: Beijing Railway Station (sometimes referred to as Beijing Central Station) and Beijing West Railway Station. There are six other important stations which handle the remainder of the Beijing surburban rail services. They are: Beijing East, Beijing North, Beijing South, Fengtai, Guanganmen, and Xinghuo.
Visitors should note that it is at certain times necesscary to book your tickets in advance on some services.
Most trains offer tickets on a two tier basis. 'Hard' seats (which are upholstered) equate well with economy airline seats. 'Soft' seats are more comfortable and offer more legroom - they are generally twice the price of hard seats. Hard seats are often sold out and soft seats are more readily available.
A similiar system applies on 'Sleeper' Trains to and from Beijing which are are compartments shared with other passengers. There is no privacy on these trains, and though there are washing facilities they wc's are often very dirty and unhygenic and without paper.
For information on Beijing and other Chinese rail services please go this excellent English website. Thanks Duncan
Taxis In Beijing
Taxis in Beijing are regulated safe and cheap. The vast majority of Taxis drivers are honest (are you listening in St Petersburg? )but they rarely speak English.
The easiest way of explaining where you want to go is to have your destination written on a piece of paper in CHINESE CHARACTERS. Ask staff or the concierge at your hotel to do this for you wherever you are going. A phrase book can be used in ad hoc situations.
When hailing a taxis try to avoid stretches of the road with a single thick white line as taxis should not stop there. They definitely will not stop there id Police are around. At the end of the journey pay as per the receipt issued by the meter.
All Jouneys have a starting fee of 10 Yuan and after the initial part of the journey cost 2 Yuan a Klm. The journey from Beijing Airport to central Beijing which is about 20 Klm will cost between 90-100 Yuan