PEK Beijing – Know Your Terminal!

When travelling to or from Beijing’s Airports, keep these items in mind:

BCIA stands for “Beijing Capital International Airport” and is commonly used when referencing the Beijing Airport even though PEK is the same Airport.

Know your Terminal! PEK is a *huge* Airport, and the taxi will need to know which Terminal you are departing from. My United Airlines PEK to SFO flight was from Terminal three and I think most international departures are now from that terminal. Your hotel concierge may ask you “which airport” and I think they really mean “which terminal”. Clear this up before getting in the Taxi as the Chinese Taxi drivers rarely (read that as “never”) speak English. If you plan to use Taxis in China be sure to get the excellent printed cards from your concierge (or make some yourself before you leave) that list locations in Chinese so the driver will understand where you want to go.

PEK is the Airport Code for Beijing’s main Airport which, without much traffic, is approximately a 40-50 minute taxi ride from most areas of the city. The cost for the taxi should be about 100 Yuan, perhaps a little more. In Beijing and Shanghai always ride in taxis with meters to avoid scams.

Note: This is a repost from AirportCityCodes.com, where this got no traction. I’m trying to see how the ranking will differ at JoeDuck which has higher authority with Google, seemingly pretty much for anything I write about!