Beijing Transportation Tips by awtraveler

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: We got overcharged double of what we should of paid by a scheme that we heard is prevalent in almost all hotels in China. Whenever the hotel baggage handlers see your luggage, and know you are going to the airport, they grab your bags and signal to a dishonest taxi, normally waiting right besides the hotel. The first time this happened, they told us that it will be hard to find a taxi because taxi's don't like to go the direction of the airport and so they referred us to a friend who could take us for, of course, double the price. Since they already put our bags in the trunk of the car, we agreed. The next time we had to go to the airport, we thought we were being smarter, and said we wanted a taxi with a meter. This meter turned out to be rigged, the rate jumped from 10 RMB to 190 RMB by the time we got to the airport. We knew we were being overcharged because we only paid 75 RMB going the opposite direction, from the airport to the hotel. So by the third time we had to go to the airport (from Xian) we held on to our bags and walked to the street and almost immediately got a taxi who charged us right. Also, they know you can't complain about this to the authoritiies because we were told in order to file a complaint you have to have an address in the area where you can be reached, but the thing is, you are going to the airport to fly out of the area so the taxi's know this and try to take advantage of it. In addition, in order to file a complaint, you also need a full receipt with the taxi driver's name and number, the date and amount of what you paid (which they will never give you if they are trying to cheat you) as well as you need the license number of the taxi (part of which is a Chinese character) and the hotel' card (the bell boy will give you a card where they will write down the taxi driver's number and the date and time you took it, but they didn't give it to us when we were going to the airport).

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'Mode': TO
Category: Train
Getting TO/AROUND: In traveling by train from Beijing to Xian and you want to travel in comfort, there is a Z train that is comparatively a newer train (operating from 2003) and offers deluxe 2-sleeper cabins and 4-sleeper cabins. We traveled by other trains in China in the past and this Z train is so much more comfortable and the bathrooms were so much more cleaner. The Z train also operates between Beijing and Shanghai. The 2-sleeper was very comfortable and more roomy than the 4 and had a toilet and sink in the cabin, as well as an electrical outlet in the cabin and bathroom. As with the 4-sleeper, they offered tv's in every berth and was a little more roomy and had more storage space than the 4-sleeper. Since it is an overnight train, if you want to take a shower but don't want to get a hotel room an extra night, we found they have pay showers at the Beijing West Train Station. We asked and they said it cost 20 RMB to take a shower there. Since there are only limited 2-sleeper cabins (9 cabins out of the 80+ cabins on the train) , we bought our tickets in advance via www.chinatripadvisor.com. We payed $118/person for the 2-sleeper and $68/person for the 4-sleeper, and it was worth the extra we paid. The only drawback with riding the train was the train was very smokey. Even though the train had comfortable air-conditioning and you closed your cabin door, it seemed the smoke seeped in from the vents and permeated the entire cabin. If you are gong to stay in the 2-sleeper section and don't like the smell of smoke, then it is best to get a 2-sleeper cabin as far away from the dining car since the 2-sleeper car is next to the dining car and the smokers seem to congregate there.

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