Transportation in Beijing (Field Report from Dr. Wang)

Dr. Wang reports: "Traffic in Beijing is very busy. However, public transit is very convenient. Subway is inexpensive - 2 Chinese Yuan per ticket to anywhere, including transfer. The closest subway station to where we stay is Wu-Dao-Kou station. (see yellow color line in the attached photo, Tsinghua University is located in northwest of Beijing City). Downtown Beijing includes Tian-An-Men, Wang-Fu-Jing, Qian-Men, Xi-Dan etc.

Taxi is inexpensive either - 2 Yuan per kilometer, minimum charge is 10 Yuan. (no need to tip). But the problem is that the surface transportation sometimes is very slow, specially in rush hours, sometimes non-rush hours. So the first choice should be subway - if possible. Most taxi drivers can understand some English - required by the government because of Olympic Games."