Transport in Beijing - By Subway

The subway is the most reliable form of public transport. There are just no traffic jams under the ground (yet), crazy taxi and bus drivers just don’t seem to be an issue, and reasonable spacing between the trains means you never have to wait on the platform for more than five minutes during the daytime, but crowded wagons are not uncommon during the rush hours. 

The city-wide price for taking the subway is only 2 RMB, regardless of where you are going. Beijing is busily expanding its network of subways and in the pre-Olympic period 3 new lines have been opened. There are an impressive 7 lines being planned for the coming years.

Line 1 is a West – East connection starting at Pingguoyuan. It stops at, amongst others, Tian’anmen square, the sophisticated Wangfujing shopping street and the modern CBD business area. Line 1 goes East until Sihui East Station where a transfer to the Batong line (further to the South-East) is possible.

Line 2 is a circlar line around the city centre, having stops at interesting places such as the Lama Temple, Dongzhimen (with its red-lantern restaurant street the perfect location to start a night out) and Qianmen. Importantly Line 2 also has a stop at the Beijing Railway Station.

Line 5 goes from the upper North to the lower South of the city. It crosses all the lines but no. 8 at some point – Line 1 at Dongdan, Line 2 at Lama Temple and Chongwenmen, Line 10 at Huixinxijie and Line 13 at the suburbian Lishuiqiao.

Line 8 was especially built for the Olympics and is a small connection which only consists of 3 stations, including the Olympic Stadium and Olympic Forest Park.

Line 10, for a long way, parallels the third ring road and is the only subway line which connects with the Olympic Line (8). It is the line which crosses the West Side of Chaoyang area, where many foreigners live and work, and where most of the business in Beijing is done.

Line 13 is shaped like an upside down "U" and at both ends it connects to Line 2 (Xizhimen and Dongzhimen). Apart from Beijing’s main student area (Wudaokou) it doesn’t go to any places which would normally be of interest for Hutong School students.

The Airport Express starts at Dongzhimen, crosses Line 10 at Sanyuanqiao and, apart from this station, is a non-stop connection to the Airport terminals 1/2 and 3. A ride on the Airport Express is considerably more expensive and will cost 25 RMB.