Part of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s Practical A-Z

Tours to China from overseas

The purpose of organised tourism in China is to separate you from as much money as possible while delivering as little value as possible, and simultaneously delivering…

Part of the Travel section of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s Practical A–Z

From the Airports

For full details of airport services including shopping, dining, train tickets, and wi-fi see Getting Away.

Part of the Travel section of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s Practical A–Z

By Air

Buying Air Tickets

飞机票 fēijī piào air tickets

Part of the Travel section of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s Practical A–Z

Despite the manic driving, travelling by taxi in Běijīng is safe, inexpensive, and convenient when done with intelligence. Select your taxi according to the following recommendations…

Part of the Travel section of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s Practical A–Z

In Lanchow the authorities, when they gave us back our papers, had assured us that they were in order for Chinghai. But they were not; before sending us on to Sining, Lanchow should have provided us…

A guide to nearly 100 sights within Běijīng’s Third Ring Road, plus five walking routes and 28 background stories, all from A Better Guide to Běijīng

IMPERIAL CITY

Introduction to the Imperial City and Tiān’ān Mén Square
Palace Museum or…

A directory of practical advice from A Better Guide to Běijīng

Books and Maps
Crime, Scams, and Nuisances
Electricity
Embassies and Consulates
Entertainment
Festivals and Public Holidays, Potemkin Běijīng
Guides
Health
Internet and Other Digital Resources, Just My Fifty Cents…

Beyond the Third Ring Road: 58 Běijīng sights, 11 background stories, and two Great Wall walks, all from A Better Guide to Běijīng

Introduction

SUMMER PALACES

Part of A Better Guide to Běijīng’s Practical A–Z

Mark Twain was never more wrong than when he said, ‘Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness,’ and this is rarely more clearly demonstrated than when discussions on tipping begin.

Part of A Better Guide to Běijīng

Note that much of what’s listed below is within the Fourth and Fifth Ring Roads, and sometimes barely beyond the Third, and reachable in half an hour or so for ¥20 to ¥30 by taxi, or for much less still by metro or public…