As I stepped out of the airport, the first thing got to me was the weather. It was like -2 degrees celsius.
Note: - Getting a taxi is not a problem in Beijing. The only problem is communicating with the driver as many taxi drivers are not able to communicate in English. So you have to be creative here with sign language, the unofficial one of course. So, if you do have any contact who is able to speak the language here which is Mandarin, you don't have to worry.
Eventhough taxi drivers do not speak English, it does not mean they are not cooperative. They are willing to take their time and more than happy to assist you to find out your destination. All you do is call your contact over your handphone and pass the phone to the taxi driver to speak to your contact to give direction in the language. After that you should be okay. As for the taxi fares, all taxis are equiped with meters and the fare I would say is quite reasonable too. You can easily ask for receipt after payment for your record or claim.
The moment my taxi drove out of the airport I noticed that the traffic was getting a little heavier. There were cars everywhere but they were smooth flowing. I was excited seeing many luxury cars especially the American brand such as Buick, Chrysler and even Lincoln. It was just around 7.00 AM when we left the airport heading to the hotel.
Note: - One thing about Beijing road is that they are so wide with at least 3 lanes on each side and to me it looks like highways from where I come from. Quite impressive I would say about the traffic system here in Beijing and everyone seems to follow order. The only thing that I feel quite weird is all cars are left hand drive because the road system is left hand drive. So it was kind of funny sitting on the right side of the car as I am so used driving on this side back home.
One other thing about roads and buildings in Beijing is that all their buildings especially for accomodation and roads leading to it all look the same and very familiar. So it would be quite hard to distinguish one street to the other and often confusing to set a familiar landmark if you wish to go around on your own.
But be rest assured that there are plenty of taxis around. I would say getting a taxi would not cost you more than 10 minutes to wait but all you need to do is be alert and look out for the taxi. The good thing is they are not that strict that you must wait at a taxi stand. As long as you wait by any road side and wave for the taxi surely you will get one as any taxi will stop by and pick you up.
My trip to the hotel which I was supposed to live in for the next at least 3 weeks was situated quite a distant from the airport. On my way there I wasn't thinking of anything other than enjoying the scenery and building as we were passing by them. There were many banks around such as Bank of Beijing, Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank and shopping complexes.
Probably due to the cold weather I saw everybody walking very fast in the streets. There were a lot of people travelling around by bicycles and I was quite amazed that these bicycles have their own special lane by the road side. But I didn't see any motorcycles around.
Note: - Public transportation is quite easy in Beijing. Apart from taxis and buses you can also take the train or the tube as it passes along the city.
I was relieved once we arrived at the hotel. It was situated in an urban area and I saw familiar outlets brand such as MAKRO shopping outlet next to the hotel and Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) (Although I don't eat the chicken as it is non HALAL I can take the potato fries/mashed)There were also small bakeries and local shopping centre nearby the hotel.
