Beijing or Peking
Beijing is served by three big railway stations: Beijing Railway Station, Beijing South, and Beijing West Railway Stations. In addition to that there are three more train stations within the city limits: Beijing East, Beijing North, and Fengtai station. Some stations are also located in the suburban zone.
As of 2006 August 1 Beijing Railway Station had 167 trains stopping daily, while Beijing West Railway Station had 176 trains.
Beijing is the largest railway hub in China. There are railway lines from Beijing to Guangzhou, Shanghai, Harbin, Baotou, Tianjin, Chengde, and Qinhuangdao.
Most international passenger trains, among which are trains to Moscow and Pyongyang, run through Beijing. There are also direct trains to Kowloon (Hong Kong).
In 2008 Beijing-Tianjin high-speed railroad was opened.
Beijing is connected to all parts of China through highways. Nine speed highways (plus six more that are in project or under construction) and eleven state highways run through Beijing. The city itself has five circle roads that look more like squares in shape, because Beijing is characterized with square structure as the streets of the city are oriented in cardinal directions.
One of the biggest transportation problems in Beijing is related to traffic jams that became common in the city during the rush hours and sometimes even at regular hours. Most often the traffic is jammed on the ring roads and the main streets near Changanje avenue.
In the recent years there has been a major reconstruction of the roads within the Third Ring and the streets between the Rings are rebuilt into high-speed roads without traffic lights as they are connected to speed highways outside the Third Ring. It should solve the problem of “jumping the Rings” for Beijing drivers. As one of the measures for solving the traffic problem separate lanes were introduced for public transportation only. Other vehicles are not allowed to use this lane during the rush hours.
Changanje avenue runs through the entire city of Beijing from East to West, crossing Tiananmen Square. Quite often it is called “The First Street of China”.
The main airport of Beijing is called “Capital” (“Shoudu” airport, Beijing Capital Airport, PEK). It is located close to Shunyi, 20 kilometers north-east of Beijing’s city limits. The capital’s airport serves most of the inner flights and practically all international flights. It is the main air gateway of China and home airport of the national carrier Air China. It is connected to the city by the “Airport” speedway which takes forty minutes to get you downtown. For 2008 Olympic Games one more speed highway was added as well as a line of light rail system.
On the administrative territory of Beijing the following airports are located: Lianxian airport, Nanyuan Airport, Xijiao Airport, Shaqe airport, and Badaling airport. They are mainly used for military purposes.
Beijing’s subway has eight lines. Several lines were opened for the beginning of 2008 Summer Olympics. In 2004 in Beijing there were 599 bus and trolleybus routes.