How to get to & around Beijing 2023

As the capital of China, Beijing is the busiest city serving international flights to major cities in almost all continents (except sub-Saharan Africa and sub-USA American), and domestic flights to every provincial capital and major cities in China. Beijing Capital Airport and Beijing Daxing Airport have served over 160 domestic and international/regional routes which connected 136 cities. >>Learn More about Flights to Beijing

✈ International Flights to Beijing

Passengers can fly to Beijing normally within 1 day by nonstop/connecting flights, departing from international/regional cities, such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle, Washington, Vancouver, London, Manchester, Sydney, Melbourne, Moscow, Amsterdam, Auckland, Paris, Rome, Milan, Madrid, Frankfurt, Prague, Zurich, Vienna, Munich, Berlin, Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Jeju, Bangkok, Bali, Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Cairo, New Delhi, Doha, Hong Kong, Macao, Taipei, etc. Beijing Capital International Airport has set up 144-Hour Visa-free counters in Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, where the international or regional flights will land. >>Learn More about International Flights to Beijing

✈ Domestic Flights to Beijing

Besides the international flights from all over the world, there are also multiple domestic flights in Beijing opening to the visitors who come from/head to the other mainland cities in China including Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan, Chengdu, Chongqing, Kunming, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Guilin, Guiyang, Zhangjiajie, Huangshan, Lhasa, etc. Most of the direct flights take about 2 to 4 hours, and the flight route covers all the provincial cities in China.

Currently There are 2 major airports in Beijing serving passengers, namely Beijing Capital International Airport and Beijing Daxing International Airport, which was put into use by the end of September, 2019. Please note Beijing Capital International Airport is much closer to the downtown area, and we suggest book a flight to Beijing Capital Airport if possible.

✈ Beijing Capital International Airport (北京首都国际机场 IATA: PEK)

• Address: Jichang West Rd, Chaoyang District, Beijing 北京朝阳区机场西路

Located in the northeast of Beijing, Beijing Capital Airport is about 25 km away from Tiananmen Square, the center of Beijing, and it takes at least 100 CNY to the downtown by taxi. As one of the largest and busiest international airport in the world, it serves numerous international/regional flights which connect China with almost every continent of the world. There are also lots of domestic flights from/to every provincial capital city and other major cities in China. There are three Terminals, namely the Terminal 1, Terminal 2, and Terminal 3. Terminal 1 is for domestic flights of China Southern Airlines Company only; Terminal 2 serves for China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Xiamen Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, Hainan Airlines (international flights) foreign airlines of SkyTeam, etc; and Terminal 3 is usually for China Air, Sichuan Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines, and foreign airlines of Star Alliance and One World Alliance…

>>Beijing Capital Airport Layover and Transit Visa Guide

>>How to Transfer from Beijing Capital International Airport to Beijing Downtown

>>Beijing Capital International Airport Express (Subway)

>>Beijing Capital International Airport Shuttle Bus Lines & Timetables

✈ Beijing Daxing International Airport (北京大兴国际机场 IATA: PKX)

• Address: Daxing District, Beijing & Guangyang District, Langfang City, Hebei北京市大兴区礼贤镇、榆垡镇及廊坊 市广阳区交汇处

Beijing Daxing International Airport is Beijing’s second international airport. It’s much big in scale and highly advanced in techniques. It is linked with northern China’s other modes of transportation, such as high speed rail, highway, subway, etc. Beijing Daxing International Airport has only 1 terminal – Terminal 1 which has 4 floors. The first floor serves for international arrival; the second floor serves for domestic arrival; the third floor is for domestic departure; the fourth floor serves for international departures. There are 82 boarding gates, but it takes less than 8 minutes for passengers to get to each boarding gate by walking from the departure hall. It also receives many international/regional flights which connect China with almost every continent of the world, as well as domestic flights from many capital cities and some other big cities, including, Shanghai,, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu, Chongqing, etc.

>Learn More about Beijing Daxing International Airport

Beijing Railway Stations

Beijing, the great capital of China, mainly has five railway stations running for the passengers, Beijing South Railway Station (the largest and uppermost high speed train station operating 383 G & C trains), Beijing West Railway Station (the second high speed train station running 191 G & D trains ), Beijing Railway Station (handling 48 D trains), Changping North Railway Station (departing 10 normal trains) and Beijing East Railway Station (freight train station with few subsidiary normal trains) are included. Currently, the former three in downtown Beijing are frequently used for high speed train travels while the latter two are slow trains and specialized short-distance tourist trains.>>More details about Beijing Railway Stations.

Beijing South Railway Station (北京南站 Pinyin: běi jīng nán zhàn)

• Location: No.12, Yongwai Avenue, Fengtai District, South Beijing 北京市丰台区永外大街12号

Beijing West Railway Station (北京西站 Pinyin: běi jīng xī zhàn)

• Location: No.118, East Lianhuachi Road, Fengtai District, Western Beijing 北京市丰台区莲花池东路118号

Beijing Railway Station (北京站 Pinyin: běi jīng zhàn）

• Location: No.13, Maojiawan Hutong Jia, Dongcheng District, Southeast Beijing 北京市东城区毛家湾胡同甲13号

Beijing East Railway Station (北京东站 Pinyin: běi jīng dōng zhàn)

• Location: No. 27, Baiziwan Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 北京市朝阳区百子湾路7号

Changping North Railway Station (昌平北站 Pinyin: chāng píng běi zhàn)

• Location: North Ring Road, Changping District, North Suburb of Beijing 北京市昌平区北环路

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Forbidden City is rightly located at the center of Beijing City, very close to Tiananmen Square. You could easily find it and get there by taxi, subway, bus, bicycle, etc. If you go there by subway, you could take the metro line 1 to get off at Tiananmen East Stop (天安门东), walking about 900m, and then enter Forbidden City form the Meridian Gate. You can also get to Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square from the airports directly.

How to Get to Temple of Heaven

The visit of Temple of Heaven takes about 1~2 hours, so it is usually recommended to tour with other sites in Beijing city, such as the Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City. Subway and public buses are also available for independent travelers. You can take subway Line 5, and exist at Tiantan Dongmen Station which is only several minutes’ walking away from the East Gate of Temple of Heaven. Many buses pass by the park, including 120, 17, 2, 35, 36, 504, 53, etc.

How to Get to Summer Palace

Located in the northwest outskirts of Beijing, Summer Palace used to be the royal park where the emperors of China dwelt during Summer. As a famous scenic site, summer palace is surrounded by multiple bus stops around its 4 entrances such as Bus 74, Bus 374, Bus 437, Bus 952, Bus 469, Bus 539, etc. Besides multiple buses, you can also take the metro line 4 and get off at Palace Gate Station (Pinyin: BeigongmenZhan 北宫门站) to the Summer Palace. You can easily get there and transfer to other attractions such as, Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven. >>Learn More about Getting to Summer Palace

How to Get to Beijing Hutongs

Many visitors in Beijing will ask: “Where is Beijing Hutong?” Actually, there are hundreds of them interlaced in Beijing. They are alleys lined with traditional Chinese quadrangle courtyards where Beijing people live. Among them, the most famous hutongs are Nanluoguxiang (南锣鼓巷), Yandaixie Street (烟袋斜街) and Bell & Drum Towers Hutongs (钟鼓楼胡同). To get to their surrounding area, you can take subway Line 2 to Guloudajie Station (鼓楼大街站) or Line 6 to Nanluoguxiang Station (南锣鼓巷站).

How to Get to Olympic Park

Though Beijing Olympic Park is a little far from downtown, the complete transportation network of Beijing City still can take you there on a subway or bus. You can take subway Line 8 or Line 15 and get off at Olympic Green Station (奥林匹克公园站) or get to Guojia Tiyuchang Dong Station (国家体育场东站) / Guojia Tiyuguan Station (国家体育馆站)by bus 82, 419, 538, 81, 82, 86, 510, 607 or Special Line 13 or 15, etc.

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