Arriving in PEK with Lots of Luggage
 

We're finally arriving in BJ as a family next week. We'll be coming on the late night AA flight and will head to a nearby holiday inn or something for the first night, before going to our temporary apartment the next day.

However, we have a LOT of stuff -- i.e. six suitcases, car seat, stroller and hand luggage -- no way it will fit into one taxi, and I'm worried it won't even fit into two...which would be a disaster. Can I book a van (online, or I could get my colleague to book) or get one at the airport?

Since will be travelling with my wife/ young daughter, I am a little more risk averse than normal -- and at that time of night don't want to shuttle back to and from a hotel etc.

Help appreciated, and very excited (and nervous) about moving to BJ.

tb

PS mandarin skills still practically non-existent, in case that makes a difference

options at BJ.
 

Some options;

1- IMO, two taxis can do this as they will use the front seat and trunks for luggage. OR

2- Nearby airport Hilton has a large shuttle bus with helpful drivers on the bus level. OR

3- A lot of 6 passenger mini vans can handle the luggage volume & stuff. There are hotels with these, or contractors, or Hertz at the airport. Hertz is pricey, but will rent a van with a driver, check out their website, or call them.

With option 1 or 3, the travel time to Haidian from the airport is about 45 minutes after 9 pm, & about 100 rmb by taxi. BTW, the BJ weather is golden now, abet cool at night.

Hire a van straight to the apartment. Don't know if Beijing has those van-like taxis like in Shanghai but someone else would be able to confirm that. If such things exist you can use two of them with no trouble.

Probably would have been best if you could have flown in earlier.

Have your colleague call around for transport companies that have vans and they can book one for you. Although the vans are much narrow/smaller in china so not sure if you need 2.

Vans come in different sizes but with only 2 adults and a child, you and the luggage should fit in a normal size--and with your wife minding the child and you minding everything else, for peace of mind, you need to corral all people and stuff into one vehicle. If your six suitcases are pretty full size, then two taxis aren't going to work--you'd need three. Try this service which has been used by other FT'ers (for van) with success:
www.tour-beijing.com
Their cost for one-way transfer is USD 65 and in your situation, absolutely worth it. With proper instructions and taking the address of hotel in Chinese with you, only a driver (non-English speaking) is needed. The driver will meet you outside Customs with a sign with your name on, and help with the luggage carts.

I also second the notion to go directly from airport to apartment if it will be ready (such as a serviced apartment). If your reservation is already set up to begin the next night, or you will be going to a non-serviced apartment that may need supplies in order to be liveable, and you must stay at a hotel for one night, then choose a hotel in town that is relatively close to your temporary apartment. Tell us where this apartment is and we can advise on a suitable hotel. Doing it this way rather than staying at the airport will give you two benefits:
1) Traffic into town and in town will be light late at night, hell the next day. Take advantage of the late hour.
2) Once you are ensconced in a hotel, you can then use much cheaper taxis to ferry your 6 suitcases, stroller, etc. from hotel to temporary apartment. Even if it takes 3 ferry trips, it will be a lot cheaper and less headache than having to hire a van for a second day. Or if you are getting reimbursement or don't mind spending the cash, just hire a van for a half-day the next day to ferry luggage and do errands/pick up household stuff you might need to get set up.

ETA: I've requested that a moderator create a new thread for this topic and move posts 92-96 to it. There have been enough previous posts in a similar vein that it would be useful for the topic to stand alone for current and future discussion and information adds. Thanks.

Thanks for the tips everyone. My colleague is arranging for a van to pick us up -- haven't received the details as yet. I've tentatively booked a hotel for one night in haidian -- our apartment is a university one, so I can't imagine it will be quite liveable on arrival, and at any rate, I won't have a key. I'll wait to hear back what my work suggests, however.

Fingers crossed it won't all go belly up -- I think my china sim phone credit expired in early september, so I hope we won't have to make any late night calls.

Look forward to being a member of the BJ community.

tb

I have been living in Haidian the last 7 months. Haidian, known as the Silicon Valley of China is a neat city, abet different than BJ east..

I will ping you my land line # & email. I am NOT addicted to my various cell #'s, and seldom answer them, as they are mostly spam calls.

If you can, get the van license plate #, and the drivers cell #. It will take you about 40 minutes to an hour to clear passport control and gather your luggage in T2, or T3. T2 is abet easier and much more friendly for a van pick up.

Thanks for the tips and the PM Jiatong. I found out that my boss has borrowed a van and will be coming to pick me up himself -- very nice of him -- albeit completely unecessary. However, I think insisting on a no would probably be a no-no etiquette-wise.

Look forward to catching up once we're in BJ.

tb