Jurg Ott 8 February 2009
Beijing, China 100022

Tips for Visitors of Beijing

Here I write down personal observations that may be useful to visitors of Beijing as this information may not easily be found in the many guidebooks.

Of the 8370 restaurants in Beijing (quoted on CCTV9, 14 June 2006), my favorites are as follows:

Minzu Hotel, restaurant on ground floor. Excellent service and food, spacious and elegant hall, surprisingly low cost given the high standards. The hotel is located west of the Xidan subway station, on the north side of Chang'an street (at that location, Chang'an street has become Fuxingmennei street). Tel 6601 4466.
Mihunzhen restaurant, good food from Guizhou province, rustic spacious place. I particularly like their fish, a common type but prepared in an unusual and most delicious manner. Tel 8454 5539, 8454 5538. The restaurant is located close to the northern end station of bus no. 3, at no. 26 Tianze Road, northeast of the Kempinski hotel (Lufthansa shopping center). See map in red.
Peach Island restaurant, located inside the shopping mall ("Oriental Plaza") at Wangfujing subway station, delicious southern Chinese food, unusual choices. See card below.
A chain of five Mongolian restaurants that serve excellent lamb. My favorite is the one on Xi Cui Lu (西翠路) west of Fuxingmen, the last on the list below. In addition to tender meat they also serve unusual dishes that I have not seen elsewhere.
The Dadong Roast Duck restaurant (East Third Ring Road) serves delicious Peking Duck and other means, also accepts American Express. Reservations are highly recommended.

There is no tipping in China. If you do want to give a small amount, for example, to a worker in a public toilet at an airport, don't be excessive. ¥5 to ¥10 is a good tip (¥7 = US$1).
Public transportation: The quickest way to get around is by subway. The fare is ¥2 per ride. All station names (and most street names) are in Chinese and English. Each subway station lists the name of the station coming up next in a given direction, so it is easy to recognize the correct direction of the train. Be aware that subway trains tend to be crowded, particularly at rush hour.
Buses may be a little more difficult to use because the conductor may ask you where you want to go. The fare is low, around ¥0.4 and higher depending on bus, and there are many buses throughout the city but you have to know where they go. It is easiest to carry an electronic bus/subway card -- generally no need to tell the bus conductor where you want to go. You simply present the card to the card reader. On some buses and in all subways, you need to do this twice, at the beginning and at the end of your trip because the fare depends on distance travelled, but some bus lines (and the subway) have only one fare irrespective of distance.
Taxi drivers generally don't speak English. It is best to ask a Chinese person to write on a card in Chinese where you want to go. I carry various such cards, for example, for the airport and my own home. At the end of the ride, you pay the exact fare shown on the meter. Taxi drivers know that foreigners are used to tipping, so they sometimes need to be reminded to give you change. It is best to carry a sufficient amount of small bills. Fares are low and start at ¥10. For example, a taxi ride from Beijing center to Capital airport costs close to ¥100. In my experience, taxi drivers usually are honest and don't make unnecessary detours, although this has happened.
Traffic clearly favors cars -- be very careful when crossing the street. A green light does not mean pedestrians have the right of way, at least not in practice. Also, at the time of this writing (May 2006), automobile accident insurance is not mandatory. Country-wide only about 1/3 of automobiles carry insurance.
At many markets and some stores, it is customary to bargain for the best price. A visitor may not be successful in this activity. To avoid excessive prices at such places without bargaining, it is preferable to shop at supermarkets and other stores, where there is no bargaining.
Foreign credit cards are accepted at major hotels and in a few stores. Many stores, however, accept only credit cards issued by a Chinese bank. When foreign credit cards are accepted, this is a suitable way of paying for goods. For example, my MasterCard from New York charges the official exchange rate plus 1% of the amount spent, which appears reasonable.
Beijing is a rather safe city, at least in terms of violent crime, but theft is not uncommon. Also, Western tourists are targets for scams. For example, young people may start talking to you saying they would like to practice their English. Sooner or later, however, they may steer you to a place where you can buy art (and then presumably get a certain percentage of the sales proceeds) or to an innocent looking bar, where the unwary may order a small dish and be hit with an outragious bill. Fortunately, for Western standards, the sums involved are generally modest.
In larger shopping areas such a Wangfujing (a stop of the #1 subway line) you will find most things you are used to abroad. However, dental floss is difficult to find. So, stock up on it before coming to China.
If you are planning on buying appliances such as a TV set, printer, and so, you'll get some good quality Chinese items at low prices. However, many of the instruction manuals are available only in Chinese, which can be a major problem. So, be aware of this and perhaps buy only those items that come with an English manual or for which you can download a manual in English, but various models are made only for the Chinese market, so an online manual may not be available.