It's not so difficult to get around Beijing just knowing pleasantries. Thanks to the Olympics most of the taxi drivers and shop keepers know some basic English, and all of the shopkeepers speak "calculator," so you can easily negotiate prices! With cab drivers it helps to have an address in Chinese or at least a map where you can show where you want to go. Most of the cab drivers understand English for the major tourist spots like "Tiananmen Square," "Airport," "Panjiayuan."
You can get around Beijing pretty easily (and VERY cheaply) via the subway system, which will take you to most of the major tourist spots. Just buy an ICT card (20 yuan deposit plus another 20-30 yuan to cover your actual fares) and you can swipe in on any subway or bus, just like in London.
I really preferred using the bus system to using a tour group to get to Mutianyu. Mostly I preferred this because I could spend as much time as I wanted at Mutianyu (otherwise you have to wait for your group, or your group has to wait for you). The tour buses also stop by the Ming Tombs on the way back, an experience I find both uninteresting and claustrophobic, but YMMV.
If you are taking the bus from Dongzhimen to Mutianyu Chang Cheng, you want to leave early in the morning. You want to be on the bus no later than 9 or 10am. This is both to give you enough time to get to the wall, explore it and get back and to get there early before the heat sets in. There are two buses from Dongzhimen:
* Bus 916 leaves from the Dongzhimen station about once every 20-30 minutes. It does not go all the way to Mutianyu. The guidebooks say you have to get off at Mingzhu Square (Huairou International Conference Center), and take a mini-bus to Mutianyu Great Wall. The bus makes several stops in Beijing, then gets on the highway, and then makes several stops in Huairou before you get off. Tell the bus driver you are going to Mutianyu Chang Cheng. At the correct stop, a minibus driver should come to the bus and announce that he goes to Mutianyu. Be careful tho, on our bus one of these drivers made the announcement a stop before the minibus stop. Ask your driver. It should cost no more than 50 yuan for the driver to take everyone on your bus to Mutianyu. If you are the only rider, it may cost you 50 yuan, but if you are with other people it should collectively cost about 50.
* Bus 936 goes direct to Mutianyu, but leaves from a stop outside of the Dongzhimen station proper. Also, there are a couple of 936 buses, so make sure that you ask for Mutianyu Chang Cheng. 936 also leaves once an hour.
I think it is easier to take 916 to the minibus to Mutianyu and then take 936 back. There is a big bus stop at the back of the parking lot at Mutianyu where you can wait for 936. Be warned, tho: The 936 I caught from Mutianyu broke down on the highway, everyone had to get out and wait for another bus. Luckily, as foreigners, the bus lady made sure we got on the next bus to Beijing, but it was crowded and uncomfortable and slow.
It's not so difficult to get around Beijing just knowing pleasantries. Thanks to the Olympics most of the taxi drivers and shop keepers know some basic English, and all of the shopkeepers speak "calculator," so you can easily negotiate prices! With cab drivers it helps to have an address in Chinese or at least a map where you can show where you want to go. Most of the cab drivers understand English for the major tourist spots like "Tiananmen Square," "Airport," "Panjiayuan."
You can get around Beijing pretty easily (and VERY cheaply) via the subway system, which will take you to most of the major tourist spots. Just buy an ICT card (20 yuan deposit plus another 20-30 yuan to cover your actual fares) and you can swipe in on any subway or bus, just like in London.
I really preferred using the bus system to using a tour group to get to Mutianyu. Mostly I preferred this because I could spend as much time as I wanted at Mutianyu (otherwise you have to wait for your group, or your group has to wait for you). The tour buses also stop by the Ming Tombs on the way back, an experience I find both uninteresting and claustrophobic, but YMMV.
If you are taking the bus from Dongzhimen to Mutianyu Chang Cheng, you want to leave early in the morning. You want to be on the bus no later than 9 or 10am. This is both to give you enough time to get to the wall, explore it and get back and to get there early before the heat sets in. There are two buses from Dongzhimen:
* Bus 916 leaves from the Dongzhimen station about once every 20-30 minutes. It does not go all the way to Mutianyu. The guidebooks say you have to get off at Mingzhu Square (Huairou International Conference Center), and take a mini-bus to Mutianyu Great Wall. The bus makes several stops in Beijing, then gets on the highway, and then makes several stops in Huairou before you get off. Tell the bus driver you are going to Mutianyu Chang Cheng. At the correct stop, a minibus driver should come to the bus and announce that he goes to Mutianyu. Be careful tho, on our bus one of these drivers made the announcement a stop before the minibus stop. Ask your driver. It should cost no more than 50 yuan for the driver to take everyone on your bus to Mutianyu. If you are the only rider, it may cost you 50 yuan, but if you are with other people it should collectively cost about 50.
* Bus 936 goes direct to Mutianyu, but leaves from a stop outside of the Dongzhimen station proper. Also, there are a couple of 936 buses, so make sure that you ask for Mutianyu Chang Cheng. 936 also leaves once an hour.
I think it is easier to take 916 to the minibus to Mutianyu and then take 936 back. There is a big bus stop at the back of the parking lot at Mutianyu where you can wait for 936. Be warned, tho: The 936 I caught from Mutianyu broke down on the highway, everyone had to get out and wait for another bus. Luckily, as foreigners, the bus lady made sure we got on the next bus to Beijing, but it was crowded and uncomfortable and slow.
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