moondog

Ah, that makes sense. Taxis are pretty good (and very cheap) in Beijing when you can find them, and the city layout is extremely straight forward (ring roads, E/W central artery, almost all streets are either N/S or E/W with even spacing). Just don't get fixated on street names (they change every km or so) or addresses (a single address can represent 5 city blocks), and you'll be fine.

The subway system can also be useful during busy times if you don't mind being in close proximity to strangers. Transferring lines is something I try to avoid though (long walks in large throngs of people).