Beijing Travel Guide - Transportation

Getting around in Beijing by taxi is not hard, as long as you are prepared. The Taxi driver always dose not speak English, so you’d better keep the name of your hotel written down in Chinese characters. A brochure, business card or receipt may also work or have the hotel staff to write it down for you. Or keep the confirmation from Sinoway Travel with the detailed hotel information in Chinese characters if you booked the hotel with us. Then you can easily show it to a driver.

Note that taxis cannot stop anywhere they want. Try a side street or look for a taxi stand. If you know which way you want to be going, catch a taxi on the correct side of the road as it will be faster.

Beijing taxis start at ten yuan (around US$1.33Chinese dollars) and they are metered. It will tick up after 3 kilometers. So just get in the taxi and pay the fare when you get out. The machine will also print out receipts automatically for you if you need it.

Beijing Taxi

There are at least 3 kind of taxies in Beijing and the prices are different accordingly to different cars. They are priced according to the rate per kilometer.

1.20 RMB The cheapest one, it is small, but takes you where you want to go. Its comfort and quality of ride varies from awful to not too bad. The car brand is Xiali, (Chinese car)

1.60 RMB it is for a reasonably new Citroen or Volkswagen. The car is a bit bigger, a bit faster, more comfortable and work better.

2.00 RMB not so sure it is best cars or not, whatever, it is the most expensive one. Most of the cars are Red Flag, Chinese limousine. They are black, biggish, and the driver likely to have some customer service and even speak some English. They are likely to drive carefully too.

The taxi price is displayed in the corner of the rear left or right side window. When you are hailing a Taxi, be aware of the price on the windows.

In airport, you can just wait in the queue and get one on the regular site in front of the building of the airport lobby. The charge is no more than RMB120 to the hostel inc. toll.

In railway stations, we suggest you walk a bit distance to the Taxi station and queue for the taxi.

Note: Always do not believe the guys who are over-warm to you to offer you a ride. They do not have Taxi license and do not charge you by meter and they will charge you much more than normal.