Beijing Flights

Beijing Capital is today the busiest airport in the People's Republic of China. The airport is the main hub of Air China and China Xinhua Airlines. It is located to the northeast of the central districts, 26 km from the city centre. Most people use taxicabs to reach town from the airport. Get your travel agent to get you the Chinese name of your hotel so that you can let your taxi driver read where you want to go. A taxi from the airport should cost between 70 - 120 RMB. You will have to pay the fee shown on the meter (make sure the driver uses it) plus 10 RMB toll for the airport expressway. Don't leave Beijing on the May Day holiday, it took me nearly 3 hours to reach the airport.

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It sits a bit of a ways outside of Beijing, but is still close enough to serve the city. Figure a fifteen minute ride by cab from the airport to the city, factor another 10 to 15 to get to the city center.

The airport iteslf has two terminals, with a third one scheduled to open a year before the Olympics in 2008.

Getting around inside the airport is remarkably easy, and there is enough English writing to make sure foreigners don't get lost. Plenty of shops fill up the modern terminal 2, as do dining and ticketing centers.

Just a warning for first time travelers though. Getting into Beijing is easy, getting out is going to cost you. As with most airports in Asia, you must pay a tax to leave. Be sure to save some money to pay your way out. The airport will have more information about the current tax rate, but it was a lot more than I expected on my first trip back in 2001. Keep $50 on you (in Yuan) at the airport, and you should be able to make it through alright, with some dough to spare.

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Getting the layover in Beijing for six hours was a tough assignment. I could have gotten a VISA for China and go into town or stay in the Terminal 3 that is huge by all standards. I opted to save $120, the cost of the VISA and stayed in the Terminal that is so large and should have many shops and restaurants. My six hour stay in the terminal 3 was in Mid March...it was freezing and I just came from the tropics, so I had shorts on. It was cold. There was plenty of duty free shopping as I past the time away 1 hour and then decide to use the free internet. I was tired though and cold, so I decided to treat myself to food. I thought for a big airport that they would have more variety and chain store but no...most are local and not well run....the food look horrid and over priced...I tried it anyway and threw away ten dollars for a bowl of noodles and a beer. The national beer , Tsingtao was cheaper than a cup of coffee or tea. (weird) Anyway the restaurants were open air meaning it was cold also. The only other place was a Pizza Hut that just open but doesn't serve pizza at ten in the morning, Basically there was not much to do at the huge complex and I had three hours to go, but it was cold with the marble floors and I just couldn't sleep eventhough there were many empty seats to make a bed.

The Beijing airport is big, with excellent conditions. We use the taxi to go to the city, because it was late and did not know the locate of the hotel. Not expensive and becomes more comfortable.

However, our driver spoke no English, did not know where was the hotel and the phone number was wrong. It was a mess, so I recommend that you always have on hand the hotel phone to communicate with each other in Chinese.

The way back was in a bus, that makes the transfer between the airport and city and has determined collection points. More economical, comfortable and just a short walk.

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We traveled Hainan Airlines to Beijing. Hainan had just begun international flights to Seattle this year. The plane was a brand new Airbus. And what a delight! We benefited from very reasonable air fares, excellent service and great Chinese food. One of most interesting items on the whole flight were the directions (or hints) the airline imparted for a more comfortable flight. They were included as one of the video selections. I took pictures of the screen and hope to have those up soon. It can definitely spark some lively discussion.

I just came back from Beijing (13 September 2008 weekend) and the taxi ride from Beijing Capital Airport was almost hassle free. After clearing customs, I exited the secure area and was surprised not to see the touts that we were warned about. It seems the police cleared them out during the Olympics. I had my hotel name and address written in Chinese characters and this is where the hassle began. It seems the taxi driver did not know that particular hotel (strange since it was on Wangfujing, a major tourist street). Fortunately, I had the hotel telephone number which the driver called through his mobile phone. The hotel operator gave him detailed instructions on how to get to the hotel. My tip then is to make sure you also have the hotel telephone number since most if not all taxi drivers have mobile phones. My last resort would have been to stop the taxi, open my suitcase and show him the street map of Wangfujing. Fortunately it was my second trip to Beijing and was confident that I can find my way around. To summarize - name and address of hotel in Chinese characters, telephone number and worst case, city map showing hotel location.

When flying to Beijing, verify if your airline is landing the new Terminal 3 or the older Terminal 2.

Thai International Airways, Singapore Airlines uses Terminal 3 while at this time of writing, Malaysian Airlines uses Terminal 2.

Terminal 3 exterior has the "scales of a dragon" and is one of the largest and most modern airport terminals. There is a replica of an ancient astronomy bronze structure as well as a fountain in the tranist of the departure hall.

There is a post office that sold philatelic stamps, postcards at the arrival hall before immigration. So not too late to send a mail before you leave Beijing.