Most tourists visiting Beijing will first arrive at Beijing Capital Airport. Once they have passed through immigration and customs the next requirement is normally finding transport options to take them into the city of Beijing.

If you have gone on a package tour this will most likely have been taken care of for you. You just need to find the tour guide and follow them onto the tour bus and then to the hotel. For the rest of the tourists it means using public transport. Following the recent opening of the Airport line subway here are the transport options available to the Beijing tourist.

For 25RMB or around USD3.70 you can take the subway from Beijing Capital Airport to Sanyuanqiao or Dongzhimen stations. The Sanyuanqiao station allows transfers to line 10. At the airport end of the line there are stops at Terminal 2 and 3.

The first train departs from Terminal 3 at 6:21.
The last train departs from Terminal 3 at 22:51.
The first train departs from Terminal 2 at 6:35.
The last train departs from Terminal 2 at 23:10.

Trains going to the airport from

The first train departs from Dongzhimen Station at 6:00.
The last train departs from Dongzhimen Station at 22:30.

Map of the Beijing Subway system including

If you are not catching a train from the airport you could use a taxi. The cost for a taxi is 2.0 yuan per kilometer. It is around 28km from the airport to the center of the city. Once you travel 15km the rate per kilometer attracts an additional 50%. You would expect the taxi fare to be around 75 to 80 RMB depending on your destination.

When catching a taxi it is best to line up at the official taxi rank. Try to avoid the hawkers who go to the terminal and try to attract your business.

The third transport option from Beijing Capital Airport to the city is the shuttle bus. The fare is 16 yuan and buses leave every 15 minutes on some lines or every 30 minutes on others.

Go here for more information regarding routes and service times.