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 | Beijing Transportation | Tips 1 - 10 of 423 |  |
 | |  |  | Taxis: Taxi tips at Beijing Airport | Tip Rating:   |  |  | |  |
The taxi situation at Beijing Airport is almost as bad as it is at Beijing Zhan railway station now. The taxi sharks are particularly active at the international arrivals doors, so turn right and walk the length of the terminal concourse after you come out. It is crowded but easy enough, even with heavy luggage. When you come to the exit doorway for domestic arrivals, walk outside and get an official taxi. Official taxis have a taxi sign on the roof, and on the dashboard on the passenger side is a placard with the drivers registration number. If this placard is missing then avoid it. The driver should start the meter immediately and it will play a tinkly tune and there will be clicking as it starts. If the meter does not work, you do not have to pay. Don't get involved in arguments with the driver en-route. You could end up being dumped at the roadside in the middle of nowhere. Tackle it when you arrive! At your destination and demand a fappiao (a receipt, which is generated by the meter). If the meter isn't working or hasn't been switched on you can refuse to pay, and if the driver threatens to call the police, encourage him to do so. At this point he will write a hand-written fappiao, but make sure he (or you) writes down the car registration and the driver registration before even getting your money out. If you are being helped by a doorman, ask him how much it should cost in a taxi (it will vary depending upon whether it is a 1.20, 1.60 or 2.00 taxi). If the police do get involved, you will win the argument. I have posted here before that the vast majority of Beijing taxi drivers are honest, friendly and likeable chaps (and a few ladies among them as well), but the worst rogues are attracted to the railways stations and the airport like moths to a lamp. It is nothinbg to be worried about, but just be firm and be prudent! Leave a Comment Theme: Car/Motor Home
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| | | | Taxis: Taxi Rides in and around Beijing | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Taxi is one of the most easily accessible public transport in Beijing. It is fairly cheap compare to any other metropolitans. All taxis in Beijing are charging based on the reading on the meter. When you begin a journey, the meter will automatically reads 10RMB which is approximately US$1.25. There are 3 types of taxi in Beijing with different ratings based on the size of the car. They are of 1.20, 1.60 and 2.00 per km ratings.Moving around is easy by hopping to any of the 25,000 red taxis on the road. Always carry a card from the hotel in the event you get lost in the city. Shown the car to the driver and ask him to bring you there. Most of the drivers are not able to speak in English with exception of a few that was specially trained lately for the games. A hotel card in Chinese will be very helpful. Taxi ride from the airport to central of the city using a standard Citroen taxi will range around RMB 80 to RMB 100. In the past, I have heard of many visitors were conned into paying as much as US$300 to get into the city from the airport. This should not happened any more as strict rules applied on drivers found cheating will be prosecuted with long term banned. As most taxi drivers have to queue in line for hours to get a passenger from the airport, a small tips of RMB10 or RMB20 will make the day of any of these drivers especially if your journey is a short one (around Lido Hotel area). You can also chartered a taxi/private own car for day trips to the Great Wall (which is around 40 to 1.5 hour drive from city) or just to move you around various locations like Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Pan Jia Yuan, Wang Fu Jing, etc. As long as it is within the city, most drivers are more than willing to let you charter their car for the day. A typical 2 litre care (Passat, Bora, Hong Qi) will cost around RMB450 to RMB600 for an 8-hour day rental with chauffer. Each car can seat 4 comfortably. If you are sharing among 4, that is less than US$15 for a day. Leave a Comment Theme: Car/Motor Home
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| | | | Subway: Getting around Beijing by subway | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Most visitors, Chinese or foreigners will find the subway train clean, fast and relatively comfortable, except during weekends or rush hours, when the subway train is very crowded. The subway runs every 4 or 5 minutes daily from 5:00 to 22 or 23:00, according to different first stations and the fare is 3RMB per ride for any distance. There are two subway lines in Beijing: one runs under Chang'an Avenue and its line extends from Sihuidongzan in the east to Pingguoyuan in the west; another one circles under the northern part of the Second Ring Road. You can transfer between these lines at Fuxingmen station and Jianguomen station with no transfer fee. To find a subway entrance, you can study your map first, to see which intersection is the nearest station. At each station there are usually four entrances in four directions. Then you should look for a large blue sign with letters BD inside a circle. If you still can not find it, you may ask a Chinese "di tie". Then walk down stairs to enter a station and go to get the ticket. The tickets are sold above the platform. When going down to the platform, hand your ticket to the checker at the top of the stairs. On both tunnel walls of the platform, you can see signs and maps in Chinese and Pinyin indicating the next station and helping you to decide which subway train to take. Over the door inside the train you also can find complete system maps in Chinese and Pinyin, and an announcement tells you the name of the next station both in Chinese and English. So if you find you are on the wrong way, you can just get off at the next station, (It usually takes about 4 or 5 minutes to travel between stations.), and get on the train running to the opposite direction. No transfer fee will be charged. Here I put a complete subway system map for you. Leave a Comment Theme: Subway/Metro
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