We will be going to Beijing and will need transportation from the airport to the Beijing Hotel. We will have two large pieces of luggage plus 2 carryons so a bus is not an option. Can anyone give me information about taxis. Is there a fixed rate, meter, or is the rate subject to the whim of the driver? I am told none of them can read or understand English. How will I be able to tell them where we want to go? We do need some service which is DIRECT to the hotel and not some combination of shuttle and taxi. Thanks for any advice.

Tourist class hotels in China have what I call a "Get Lost Card", which is a business card with the name and location of the hotel written in Chinese characters. The idea is that when you want to get back to your hotel, you just hand the card to your driver.

Since you want to GET to you hotel in the first place, I would recommend you try to find the hotel's website and see if there is a map showing its name and location in Chinese for you to print out and take with you.

It has been years since I was in Beijing. From my experience, the taxis drivers are honest and dependable and know major hotels and locations, but no English. You need to have your hotel name and address written down in Chinese characters for you to hand to the driver.

Even going to Taiwan, I found it helpful to have my local Chinese-speaking friend write down city names for me to help me purchase train tickets when I arrived in Taipei.

If you want to make really easy ... contact the hotel and have them send a car to pick you up. Highly recommended if you don't want an (mis)adventure upon arrival.

Make sure that the concierge writes down where you are going. I made the mistake of simply telling the doorman where I wanted to go and the driver took me to my CO HQ. Apparently the driver saw the company name on my shirt or briefcase. It took a number of phone calls before I finally found someone who could explain to the driver where I needed to go.

Taxis in Beijing vary in price... with the cheapest being flea ridden and having no A/C.

The top end taxis are hard to find but are worth the slightly higher expense.
If I recall correctly: 1.40 RMB no A/C, 1.80 RMB for A/C, 2.40 RMB A/C large car. Many taxis will have a sign saying something about having been flea-bombed... Skip the 1.40 RMB taxis unless you like fleas & smog (open window AC -- and beijing is on its way to being the next Mexico City!)

Unless you are travelling from city center to the outer ring road during rush hour a typical 1.80 RMB taxi fare around town will run about 10-14 RMB (or < $2 USD). Taxis are cheap and plentiful -- making them the easiest way to get around. There is also a subway line but we didn't need to use it.

No, the taxis fall into the following 3 categories: Rmb1.20/km, Rmb1.60, and Rmb2.00, all with a Rmb10 flag drop. No tipping. The category is shown on a decal in a circle on the window.

The lowest two categories have and use their meters consistently and although the smallest category is small and often doesn't have working a/c, I wouldn't call them "flea ridden."

From the airport to the Beijing hotel should cost about Rmb80 in a 1.60 taxi, plus a Rmb10 airport highway toll. However, if you want optimum comfort, you'll have to bargain with the Rmb2.00 guys -- approximate rare to the hotel should be in the Rmb120 range (again plus the toll) but it isn't a huge ripoff if you pay 140.

The main thing to note at the airport is that you will be beseiged by people offering you a ride as you leave customs. Do not listen to these people, they will cheat you. The only thing to use inside the terminal building is the ATM machine if you need it. Then proceed right outside to the taxi rank, which has a line that is actually fairly well run for China.

While the hotel pickup service is even more luxurious, the Hyatt was charging anywhere from 400-700 for that, which is way more than the taxi.

It is absolutely mandatory to have the name and address of the hotel written in Chinese on a piece of paper, no one will understand where you want to go otherwise.

You get a receipt at the end of the taxi ride; keep it as you can use it later on if you left anything in the taxi or if you have a complaint. Generally speaking, we found the metered cabs in Beijing to be honest, once they figured out where you wanted to go.

www.sinohotelguide.com is useful for getting the address and phone number of your hotel in Chinese characters: each hotel entry includes a jpeg image that you can print out for the taxi driver.

JIMCHI, the Beijing Hotel does offer pick-up service for its guests, simply call 86-10-65137766 EXT.3800 to book it.

Otherwise, opt for a cab, as what RichardInSF said, go straight out of the terminal building and proceed to the taxi rank, never ever listen to those other 'fake' cab drivers asking you inside the terminal building.

As acknowledged earlier, the taxis fall into the following 3 categories: Rmb1.20/km, Rmb1.60/km, and Rmb2.00/km, all with a Rmb10 flag drop. The category is shown on a decal in a circle on the window. Although tipping is not necessary, but those drivers are increasingly more acceptable to it, so a tiny tip won't hurt anyway.

Generally speaking, a ride from the airport to Beijing Hotel should cost no more than Rmb150 max. (perhaps another Rmb10 for the airport highway toll), unless there are traffic jams everywhere which may happen considering how pack those roads could be.

Additionally, more and more cab drivers are being told to learn basic English, so although it is still better to have a card or paper showing the hotel's name, address and phone number in Chinese, but you may be surprised to meet a cab driver who can actually speak quite alright English.

Happy touring in Beijing!

I didn't speak a word of Chinese, but still managed to bargain the 2.00 guy we used down to Rmb120 to the Grand Hyatt Beijing. You write down amounts, they do sign language, they grumble, you walk away, throw your hands up in the air, etc. I dunno, it just works.

I've bargained with ticket touts outside the sumo arena in Tokyo and I don't speak Japanese either. Bargaining is a universal language!

I am currently in Beijing for one more day. While there are some amazing sites to see here, I've personally found the transportation service/industry to be a joke.
We arrived and were swarmed with guys directly outside of customs trying to get us in the car to transport us. We exited the airport, and got in the official taxi line. There still must have been 5-6 guys all trying to get our business. They tried telling us we'd have to split up as they couldn't get our luggage in one car. There are only 2 of us, one bag each. I made it fit and off we went. We are staying at the St. Regis which is close to the Square. We informed the driver, as well as provided the address and name of the hotel. He had no clue where he was going. I happened to see the hotel from one of the main roads and starting yelling to get him to turn. He kept wanting to take us to the square.

The second day we were here, we went to dinner a Green T House, great place, but again a nightmare to get there. The hotel wrote down in Chinese the address and again the drive had no clue where he was going and wanted to drop us off on the street. The place was 15 minutes from our hotel max.

The next day we rented a car to tour the Great Wall. Mixed decision, while the driver and guide (arranged by hotel) certainly knew where the wall was and spoke English, we were taken to the state owned jade factories and malls for shopping. I wasn't happy about any of that, my agenda was to see the wall, not some gosh awful factor where jade is made.

The same night, Christmas Eve, we wanted to grad some Indian food. Received recommendation from the hotel and again directions/address written down in Chinese. The bellman and cab driver communicated back and forth and it was apparent the driver had no idea where he was going. After 40 minutes of wandering the city in terrible traffic, we finally got the taxi driver to bring us back to the hotel.

I share this because this city's bigger issue is not having to have the address written in Chinese, it's the fact their cab drivers have no idea where anything is located.
Hosting the Olympics here at this point is going to be a complete joke and the world with laugh!

Regarding the stops at "Jade factories:" One of the reasons you pay that overprice to your hotel for a private car is so you don't have to put up with that nonsense, although if they just got you a CITS driver, they might have had less control. Still, why not complain to the hotel -- not to the concierge, but to the manager?

Next time, just demand to leave the shop, you are the customer.

This is endemic to all Chinese tours, unfortunately.

We also experienced a taxi driver not knowing what the Chinese characters naming the hotel meant. In fact, it was the hotel's "cheat card" and had a small map, which the driver couldn't read. In our case, he consulted with another taxi before turning on the meter, so we were treated honestly.

I had a similar experience in Bangkok; it isn't unique to China. Also in Tokyo and Manhattan. Just about the only place where it won't happen is with a London cabbie -- but you can still be taken for a ride!

What is the expected cost range to rent a taxi for a day from the hotel? I'm visiting in February and staying at the St Regis and expect to do this at least one day.

Thanks.

First of all, you are going to LOVE the St. Regis Hotel there, it rivals the Peninsula - it's a beautiful property. They have car hires (which are oddly enough, Chinese-made Audi A6s). The St. Regis is right next to a couple of the markets and you can walk there - however if you are going to go the the Great Wall (I went to Badaling), you are going to have to have a car hire.

Just in case the driver asks to take you to a hospital with "special herbs" decline. You can e-mail the hotel directly via the *wood website.

Happy travels.
UG

When you stay at a nice hotel like the St Regis, you automatically become a target for the taxi drivers to rip you off.

The taxi we took from the Airport to the St Regis had a rigged meter which tripled the fare, a short distance before we reached the hotel.

The next day, we hired a taxi (a blue VW Santana) to go to the Great Wall (Mutianyu) and throughout the journey the driver kept mentioning that the St Regis was the most expensive hotel in Beijing. When we got back to the hotel, he demanded for extra money with the excuse that he was caught for speeding . Fortunately the bell boy was there and asked him to take what was agreed and screamed at him to leave ^ .

The next morning, he was outside the St Regis again waiting for his next victim !

Basic rule when arriving in foreign country where you don't speak the language or have never been before... get the hotel to pick you up. Simple. If you can afford the Grand Hyatt or St Regis, then the cost of an airport transfer is marginal, given the hassle saved.

When Sean arrived in BJ a few months ago, and was collected by Kerry Centre hotel car - they even met him at the plane jetway and whisked him through immigration. Marvellous.

Being driven to your hotel means you get your bearings faster, can relax and enjoy the view, not have to struggle getting to an ATM etc etc etc. By all means take taxis later.. but wait until you have got over jet lag.

To see the sights in central BJ, the underground/metro and a good map are all you need, as well as a pair of comfy shoes. Maybe a taxi or two depending on how much shopping I suppose !

As for day trip to Gt Wall, the last time we did this it was easy, we checked out the options in the hotel travel desk and went for a driver only (no guide) and had a great day out. Cost was about $70 i think, not sure as have thrown bill away ages ago. Just avoid Badaling, unless you like crowds and need to buy a few hundred more t-shirts.

Regarding the souvenir shop stopovers, I am sorry to say it does happen, but you can refuse to get out of the car you know. Or spend 10 mins there, just in case, then leave.

And yes, taxi drivers can often simply not read. This happens in a lot of countries, but commonly in China. Also, as you'll see BJ is changing, and fast. Construction is everywhere. Whole districts have been demolished. Place names in English sound nothing like their real names.

Simplest way to sort this out is walk to nearest hotel (or office complex) with a cab rank and get the doorman to direct him. Have a drink in their bar while you decide where to go next perhaps.. or keep your cellphone handy and call for directions.

Just don't call me, as my friend did, as if the taxi driver would understand me better.