Getting Around Beijing: Subway, Alipay QR, DiDi and Bikes

Inside the Second and Third Ring Roads, surface traffic slows sharply during morning and evening rush hours, making the underground rail grid paired with short bike rides or DiDi hops the most reliable way to move across the capital. Every station features clear bilingual English and pinyin signs, numbered exits and airport-style bag X-ray scanners at the entrance.

Key Beijing Subway lines for visitors

• Line 1 (red east-west spine): runs beneath Chang'an Avenue past Wangfujing, Tiananmen East and West (for the Forbidden City and National Museum) and east to Guomao CBD, continuing seamlessly into the Batong Line toward Universal Beijing Resort.
• Line 2 (inner ring loop): traces the old Ming city wall around the Second Ring Road, linking Qianmen, Gulou Dajie, Yonghegong and Dongzhimen.
• Line 4 (northwest-south): connects Beijing South Station with Xidan, Ping'anli, the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) and the Summer Palace (Beigongmen).
• Line 5 (north-south through Dongcheng): links the Temple of Heaven (Tiantan East Gate), Dongsi, Beixinqiao (Airport Express) and the Lama Temple.
• Line 6 and Line 8: Line 6 crosses east-west past Beihai North and Nanluoguxiang, while Line 8 runs north-south along the Central Axis from Qianmen and Wangfujing through Shichahai to the Olympic Park.

Contactless cards, Alipay transport QR, DiDi and bikes

Foreign travellers can tap a physical contactless Visa or Mastercard straight onto the Subway gate reader without buying paper tickets, or generate a Beijing Transit QR code inside the Alipay or WeChat apps. For door-to-door trips, open the DiDi mini-programme inside Alipay: its English interface sets exact pickup pins, translates chat messages with your driver and bills your linked card automatically. For short flat hops between hutongs, scan a blue Alipay HelloBike or yellow Meituan shared bicycle parked inside white pavement boxes, and ride in the wide segregated bike lanes that flank almost every Beijing avenue.