daiseee

Why dont you just take the subway / train? When I did it could not have been easier to do so...

moondog

Hmmm... where to begin?

-subways are often extremely crowded (e.g. Line 1 can give Tokyo a run for the money at times)
-it is usually necessary to walk up/down at least one flight of stairs
-both of the previous points are compounded when you have luggage in tow
-transfers between lines in Beijing (well, in China in general) tend to be long and sometimes uncomfortably crowded (I'm thinking of Line 1 to Line 10, in particular)

Meanwhile,

-taxis are almost always faster; in spite of Beijing's terrible traffic, when going to the airport, if traffic is bad, you can simply take a higher numbered ring road, and Chang'an Jie itself is less and less congested the further east you go
-taxis are more comfortable than subways
-taxis drop off on the departures level at the airport (therefore, closer to check in counters)

jiejie

From the Kapok (Jason's hotel) location, the taxi is the better tool to use than the subway/train combo, and particularly on Saturday morning. Only way I'd advise differently is if I knew both airport expressways (old one and the east one off the 5th ring road) were jammed up or closed off due to incoming/outgoing VIP's. In which case backup plan would be to have taxi drop me at Dongzhimen Hub then catch Airport Express light rail out.

moondog

This happens 10x per year, and for 30 minutes per occasion... kind of a non factor. As much as I appreciate the fact that utilizing public transit is better for the environment and saves 6 bucks (for the solo traveler), taxis are so much better on pretty much every front.

jiejie

I agree, it would be very unlucky to have a travel time coincide with a jam-up on all airport routes. Though I have had this happen to me on a couple of occasions when Hu Jintao was heading to and heading from the airport after an international state visit. The main "old" expressway was locked down to traffic in the same direction I was going, which meant all normal traffic was using the long way via the 5th Ring Road route---stuffing up traffic there. Which I was of course sitting in, rather than using the AE. The VIP lockdown doesn't take long, but the resulting backup takes longer to unsnarl and get moving again.

xooz

I assume the suggestion to call the taxi number and arrange for a pickup would require local language skills.. true? Seems unlikely an English speaker would have any luck.

moondog

They speak English. Try 96103.

mnredfox

Shanghai cab companies don't IIRC.

glbtrv

Hello Everyone,
I am trying to book a hotel for travel to Beijing next month. My flight departs PEK at 3 AM. I only have one day to spend in Beijing and want to visit the great wall, and am arriving by train on Thu and departing on Sat.
With the above information. my questions are
1) Should I book a hotel near the Airport or stick to the tourist areas of downtown.
2) How easy is it to get a cab to the airport at 1 AM?
3) How much does it cost?

Thanks in advance for the help.

moondog

Consider my Yo Yo place (it's not actually "mine", but I advise people to stay there every week). Sanlitun is where the action is, and it's halfway between Wangfujing and the airport. The taxi crisis is a bit over stated (my fault, to a degree; you can get them if you plan in advance). Cost is around y80 from Sanlitun to the airport (including the highway fee)... 100 from Wangfujing.

glbtrv

Thanks you very much for the prompt reply.