Traffic: Beijing has serious traffic problems, in common with every other world capital. Trying to get anywhere during rush hour is not easy.

Taxis: Beijing has more than 75,000 taxies and the service has improved greatly in recent years.

Cab fares are reasonable: the small Daihatsu cabs are 1.20 yuan per kilometer with a 10 yuan minimum fare. The new Citroen (Fukang) cabs are good value: they are rather larger, have powerful air conditioners and of course are slightly more expensive, at 1.60 yuan per kilometer. At the top level are the Volkswagen Santana 2000 cabs, which cost 2.00 yuan per kilometer with a 12 yuan flag drop for the first four kilometers. You will also be charged for time spent stuck in traffic.

For non-Chinese speakers, it's probably best to give destinations to taxi-drivers in writing. Beijing inhabitants and those familiar with the city generally refer to places by landmark names; most neighborhoods and major intersections have common names, often referring to a nearby bridge, an old city gate, a temple or what have you. These are easily learned and make navigating the city by cab a lot easier.

Don't negotiate a pre-set fare with your cab driver. Pay the amount shown on the meter, and always get a receipt: the receipt has printed on it the number of the cab and contact information for the cab company, in case you either wish to lodge a complaint or recover that handbag you forgot.

Taxis from the airport into town cost anything from 75 to 200 yuan, depending on where you're going and what kind of taxi you take.

Subway: Beijing has a subway system consisting of two lines, one of them an east-west line extending from Xidan, close to the city center, out to the western suburbs, opened in 1969. End of the line is the charmingly named Pingguoyuan (Apple Orchard) Station. The subway is also being extended eastwards and is nearing completion . A loop roughly following the position of the old city wall was added later, opening in the 1980s. The system now has 39.7 km of track and 31 stations. It operates from 5:30am to 11:30pm.

The system is cheap, costing only two yuan per journey, but like other forms of Beijing public transport, it can get extremely crowded at times, and may require a bit of pushing and shoving. Watch your wallet or purse!

Public buses and Trolleys: Beijing's bus network covers the entire urban area comprehensively and is very cheap. Buses can be very crowded and often move only slowly due to traffic congestion. Frequencies on main routes average once every five or ten minutes. A few routes have all-night services. There is a complex fare system based on the number of stops you pass; just ask the attendant what your fare is. Take some small change with you, and watch out for pickpockets. There are also minibuses which follow the standard bus routes and will pick up and let down passengers anywhere.

Roads: Beijing's major streets are, for the most part, laid out perpendicularly in a sensible grid. Circling the city are a series of Ring Roads: the Second (Erhuan Lu), Third (Sanhuan Lu), and Fourth (Sihuan). The second and third, completed in late 1992, are without traffic lights but are nonetheless often jammed to a stand-still during peak hours. The main east-west artery is Chang'an Avenue, which runs from the far western suburbs through the center of the city (in front of Tiananmen Gate) and out toward Beijing's eastern sattelite cities. A new thoroughfare-- Ping An Da Dao-- has been opened recently, offering a smooth-paved six-lane conduit crossing the city from east to west, north of Chang'an Avenue. There are very modern highways running north toward the Badaling section of the Great Wall and northeast toward Capital Airport.