By a combination of bus, subway and walking, this was the circuitous route I took round Beijing today. Well a small portion at least and it took me 12 hours.
I set off on buses which show no more than the origin and destination in pinyin.
So my first stab was a total guess, I just aimed for approximately the right direction. Then, seated on the bus, pleased with myself for paying the right amount, I read that the number 900 buses (2 Yuan) were long distance. So I quickly jumped off at the next stop. I then took a number 400 (1 Yuan), then a number 3 (1 Yuan), getting more central all the time.
I grabbed a couple of chicken on a sticks for breakfast, washed down with what tasted like semi-frozen actimel from an earthenware pot (which I originally tried to steal - you have to down it at the shop).
This was the view from the first subway station I took:
Greener and calmer than you'd expect, innit.
The Beijing Subway is actually an excellent system, from my 1 day experience of it. Although let's see how long that lasts after 6 months of commuting...
The especially good thing I found though is the Yikatong Card it's essentially like an Oyster card in London, except in can be used in taxis and shops too. Oh and it reduces the bus fare to 3p.
That's to 3p, not by 3p.
Now you can see why it was so easy and cheap to jump on and off buses as I figured my way around.
Anyway, I took the subway (line 2) from Andingmen to Dongzhimen, near where Caroline's office will be and where we will live - tomorrow I meet Danielle from Chrisdy Real Estate to go house hunting.
After walking for about 20 minutes in the wrong direction, I booled up at another subway station, which was not what I'd been expecting. So I nipped back the other way on a number 100 (Trolley buses).
Eventually I found what I'd been looking for:
Not bad considering I'd forgotten to write down the address and just had a vague inkling where it was...
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