beijing city guide:
Getting Around
The subway, or Underground Dragon, is definitely the best way of travelling quickly within Beijing. It can move at up to 70 km (43 mi) per hour--a jaguar compared to the lumbering buses. But while it's clean and easy to use, the trains are starting to show their age.
If you simply must catch a bus around town, sharpen your elbows, chain your wallet to your underwear and muster all the patience you can--you'll need it. Oversized and overstuffed buses are the norm in Beijing. There are about 140 bus and trolley routes, which makes navigation rather confusing, especially if you can't see out the window.
Beijing taxis are multiplying fast: finding one is not difficult. but making yourself understood in English may be a bit more problematic. If you don't speak Chinese, bring a map or have your destination written down in characters. Telephone bookings are possible.
Like much of China, Beijing looks so much better once you're pedaling. A bike shortens those long dreary stretches, avoids the footpath throng, and helps you feel a lot more like a local. Hotels--especially budget hotels--often rent out bikes at reasonable rates, or there are the numerous bike hire outfits in the streets around hotels and tourist spots.
< back | next >
© 1999 Lonely Planet Publications Pty. Ltd. All rights reserved
|
|
|
