If your visions of Beijing are centred around pods of Maoist revolutionaries in buttoned-down tunics performing exercise in Tiananmen Square, put them to rest: this city has embarked on a new millennium rollercoaster and it's taking the rest of China with it.Beijing's youth... Read the overview

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Inspiration

Getting there and away

Beijing has direct air connections to most major cities in the world and many travellers make use of the direct Beijing-Hong Kong flights on CAAC or Dragonair. Guangzhou and Shenzhen are both near Hong Kong and have direct domestic flights to Beijing (Hong Kong is treated as an international flight). Trains connect Beijing to Russia, Mongolia, North Korea, Hong Kong and Vietnam. No international buses serve Beijing.

Getting around

The subway, or Underground Dragon, is definitely the best way of travelling quickly within Beijing. Oversized and overstuffed buses are the norm, and on the whole best avoided.

Beijing taxis are multiplying fast: finding one is not difficult, but making yourself understood in English may be a bit more problematic. Costs are around CNY 10.00 for the first 4km (2.5mi).

Like much of China, Beijing looks so much better once you're pedalling. A bike shortens those long dreary stretches, avoids the footpath throng, and helps you feel a lot more like a local.