Air
Beijing's Capital International Airport lies 30 km (18.6 miles) northeast of the city center (a 45 minute car ride without much traffic). Reach the airport by taxi or airport bus (RMB 16) from the Xidan Civil Aviation Mansion, the Art Gallery, the entrance of Beijing Railway Station and the Princess Tomb. The trip from airport to the center runs about RMB 100.
Train
Beijing is home to two main train stations: Beijing Railway Station (Beijing Zhan) and Beijing West Station (Beijing Xi Zhan). Double check your ticket to make sure you know the correct departure station. Beijing Railway Station serves major destinations including Shanghai, Guangzhou and Harbin as well as Russia. Beijing West Station connects to long-distance destinations to the south and west including Vietnam and Hong Kong. Six smaller stations provide additional regional service. Purchase tickets at the foreign passenger ticket office in the main station's soft-seat waiting room or ask your hotel or travel agent to arrange train travel for you.
Bus
Beijing's 12 long-distance bus stations provide numerous options for travel to cities around China, however bus travel can be quite tricky if you don't speak some Mandarin. The main bus stations include Xizhimen, Dongzhimen and Zhaogongkou. Local buses are cheap but often slow because of traffic and almost always crowded. Fares are usually RMB 1 or 2; some routes charge extra for distance. A yikatong card saves money, bringing base fares down to .40 RMB for most routes. Tour buses can be arranged through travel agents and hotels.
Bicycle
For longer stays and short excursions, a bicycle is a cheap and traffic jamless alternative. Broad bike paths coexist with almost all streets, but crossing at an intersection is a small adventure every time because practically no one abides by traffic regulations.
Bikes can be found at marketplaces from as low as RMB 200, depending on your negotiation skills. However, they'll rust very quickly and are not in the least comparable in quality to western ones, nor can a light-weight bicycle be found.
Subway
The Beijing Subway or Beijing Underground Railway is an extensive underground rail system in Beijing. Presently, five lines are in service; eight lines in all will be in service before the 2008 Olympics.
For a city its size, the Beijing Subway is still considered relatively small. However, there are extensive plans for expansion: the network will grow to around 200 km by the start of the Beijing Olympics in summer 2008, and up to 561 km by the year 2015, beating well-established systems such as the Paris Metro and the London Underground. Long-term plans envision a Beijing with 1,032 km of subway by the year 2050, an impressive figure at that.
Bus
Buses, which are mostly overfull, travel regularly throughout Beijing. There's a forest of signage at every bus stop. Signs display individual bus lines with every stop in both Chinese script and the western alphabet. Tickets are purchased from a conductor (not from the driver); just name your destination. You can save up to 40% off the tickets if you use the bus card.
Taxi
Taxi rides are comfortable and inexpensive. You pay a flat fee of 10 yuan and, beyond a certain distance, 2.00 yuan per kilometer. Cheap taxis can be recognized quite simply: they have no antennas on the roofs. Taxi drivers speak little or no English, though this is supposed to change by the 2008 Olympic Games. If you don't speak Chinese, have your destination written down for you, or ask for a well-known landmark in the vicinity of your actual goal. Make sure the driver starts the meter, and act as though you know the way.
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