Beijing Transportation Tips by filipdebont

'Mode': TO
Category: Airplane
Getting TO/AROUND: My trip started with a 4 hour train trip from Belgium towards Schiphol, Amsterdam, Holland.

From Schiphol, Amsterdam we had a direct flight with KLM to Beijing, China.

At first the travel agency had said we would fly with Lufthansa via Frankfurt, Germany. Anyway I was happy when I heard that they changed it into a direct flight.

Flight time was about 9 hours.

It was a good flight, and there was plenty of beer on board.

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Website: www.klm.nl

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: In Beijing there are two Subway lines, the blue line named the circle line, which goes around the city centre, and the red line which goes from east to west.

With a good Beijing map it is not so difficult to find a subway station. But as the circle line goes around the city centre, you sometimes need to walk a few blocks before you reach the station.

The subway stations are marked with a blue sign (see picture) with a kind of special G on it.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: Once you have found the Subway station, you can go down the stairs towards the ticket booth in order to buy a Subway ticket.

The price for a ticket was 3 Yuan. And of course you can change from the red line on to the blue line with the same ticket.

So that was not expensive at all.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: So once you have bought your ticket, you can proceed towards the ticket control. This control is not done automatically, no no, a person is manually controlling each ticket by tearing off the small part.

Of course there are a lot of Chinese, and they all need a job . . . .

Then you can go down the stairs towards the platform. And here you need to choose left or right. But luckily for us the destinations are also written in English, so it is not so difficult to find your way. Also there are maps in every station (if you do not have one of your own).

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: At the platform there are digital signboards, which display the destination and the estimated time of the next train.

At certain times (rush hour) it can be very, very busy in the metro stations and trains. And at those times you really need to push yourself in and out the train. Do not be afraid to push as the Chinese also push. Like this I had some advantage in stepping in and out of the trains as I am a bit bigger and heavier then most Chinese.

So it happened at one station when I wanted to get out of the train, a few more Chinese also left the train (without wanting it) as I passed by . . .

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: After I had visited the Forbidden City, I left the complex via the Northern gate (Devine Military genius gate).

But from there it was difficult to grab a taxi, in order to return to my hotel.

And then it started to rain, not a little rain, but a lot of water, even too much water, as very soon all the streets were flooded.

And no taxi wanted to take us to the other side of the city. So the only thing we could do was to return towards the Tiananmen Square by foot. And that was quite a distance in these heavy rain showers.

So that is why I should advise that it is wise that you start your visit at the Forbidden City via the Northern gate, and like this after the visit you finish at the Tiananmen Square, close to the Subway station.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Car/Motor Home

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