Subway, Beijing

In my opinion the subway network of Beijing is not as great as Tokyo/Hongkong but it's the fastest, punctual, reliable, economic means of transportation touring Beijing .
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http://www.chinatips.net/english/beijingsubway/beijingsubway.html

You can find metro map and all stations

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.

the subway is a convenient way of getting around for sure but avoid the peak periods in the morning and in the evening (5:30 - 7??) it can be rather suffocating (as with the buses) and people lose their sense of governance when it comes to getting a place on the subway to get home. DO NOT join in the crowd pushing at Xizhimen subway. they are rushing to get a seat. its a mad, mad crowd!

a trip on the bus is better than the subway cos you can see a lot of things along the way and learn more about beijing than travel underground along destinated subway routes. you may want to check out www.bjbus.com or www.newbjbus.com for routes....yeah, english versions available! i'm impressed!

A far easier alternative to the bus is the subway. Beijing has two underground lines: East-West and Circle. In early 2003 a third overground route was introduced to the north, and more are planned before the 2008 Olympics. At present though, the reach of the subway is far more limited than the buses - although it does cover most major tourist sites. Much quicker than buses, which can take an age in the Beijing traffic, the subway makes the city seem a much more manageable size. It costs 2 Yuan per journey, which can involve a change of lines and unlimited travel until you come back overground. You have to pay another 2 Yuan to use the third line. Trains are frequent and in reasonable condition. Locals complain that it's slow and crowded but if you're used to the London Underground then it's heaven! There are about 40 stations on the main two lines and they display a blue D sign. Another advantage over the buses is that station names and train announcements are in English - it's virtually impossible to get lost! Most major tourist areas are near subway stations and wherever possible I'd recommend it over the bus.

Though not as luxe as some Pacific rim metro systems such as those in Hong Kong or Singapore, Beijing's subway is safe, clean, user-friendly and very nice... The trains are quite timely... All of the signs are quite helpfully done in both Chinese and English such as you see in the photo here... I rode the subways quite often on my most recent trip to Beijing and had no troubles whatsoever...

A way to get around is taking the subway for 3 RMB. When we were there I think there were three lines: Line 1, Line 13 and the loop line. We stayed at the Radisson SAS hotel and it was possible to take the subway from the hotel but it took about 15 minutes to walk to the nearest station (Liufang station on line 13). The subway is nice but the connections (e.g. from line 13 to loop line)was not all that great. I had to walk quite a bit and and you have to buy another ticket when you switch from one line to the other.

The trains are less crowded and the fare is a flat five jiao (S$0.10) regardless of the distance travelled. Trains run at a high frequency during rush hours. There is nothing to see in the depths but it beats having to fight the crowds in the bus. The subway is open from 5am to 10.30pm. There are information boards displaying maps of the network, however, these are only written in Chinese.