B
eijing is China’s center of politics, history,
culture, and national and international
exchange and is rapidly catching up to
the economic centers of Shanghai and Hong
Kong. This is reflected in its government-backed
initiative to build up Financial Street, which
aims to become the city’s version of Wall Street.
In preparation for its role as host of the 2008
Olympics, Beijing underwent a massive makeover
that has greatly improved transportation and
communication infrastructure.
Infrastructure
Road
Currently, Beijing's road network is comprised
of nine expressways (Badaling, Jingcheng,
Airport, Jingtong, Jingha, Jingshen, Jingjintang,
Jingkai and Jingshi) with a further six on the
way (Jingping/Jingji, Northern Jingjin, Southern
Jingjin, Second Airport, Northern Airport and
Litian Expressways). Further projects will see
expressways linking Beijing with Hong Kong/
Macau, Urumqi, Lhasa, Harbin, Shanghai, and
Kunming, amongst other cities.
In the run-up to the Olympics, one of the city's
biggest endeavors was to reduce the driving time
from the centre of suburban districts and counties
to the downtown area to one hour. In addition,
efforts were made to reduce driving time from
the border of the city to downtown Beijing to
two hours and under three hours to pass the city.
Road freight facilities are also being enhanced,
with the construction of five freight terminals
at Majuqiao, Yancun, Tianzhu and Shibali
Laiguangying.
Railway
Beijing has four major passenger railway stations:
Beijing Railway Station (Central Station) which
serves the routes to the north and east; Beijing
West Railway Station, which is Asia’s largest
rail terminal and serves the south and the west;
Beijing North Railway Station, which mainly
serves the suburban short-distance routes; and
Beijing South Railway Station. In addition, the
Beijing East Station and Fengtai Railway Station
are used as auxiliary passenger railway stations.
4 | DEZAN SHIRA & ASSOCIATES
Beijing’s railway network boasts 10 major
railway lines and now includes the recently
completed high-speed railway line between
Beijing and Tianjin.
To compete with the airlines, the construction
of regional bullet and high-speed railways has
developed rapidly in recent years. Bullet trains
link Beijing with six major cities, traveling
between 200 and 250 kilometers per hour
and reducing journey times by an average of
two hours. Those cities are: Shanghai, Wuhan,
Shenyang, Changchun, Harbin and Qingdao.
Ticket prices for the bullet trains are 50 percent
more than the current express trains, which
usually travel at 115 kilometers per hour. Nonstop express trains will also begin operation
between Beijing and Nanchang, Nantong and
Fuzhou.
The year 2011 should witness the completion of
the new Shanghai-Beijing high speed rail. With
a travel speed of faster than 350 kilometers per
hour, the journey between the two cities will be
cut down to less than five hours. This bullet train
will make stops in 24 different cities including
Tianjin, Jinan, Xuzhou, Bengbu and Nanjing.
Although many doubted that the line would be
completed before well into this decade, testing
is in progress and there is hope that the first
passengers will board the train before the end of
2011. The total cost of the new line is expected
to be RMB220 billion.
Beijing's links with Tianjin have also been
improved with the development of a 115
kilometer high-speed rail line that travels up to
300 kilometers per hour, reducing the journey to
just 30 minutes.
Subway
The Beijing subway network has 14 lines. Several
lines were added just for the 2008 Olympics (line
4, line 5 and line 10) and a light railway to the
Capital International Airport.
Air
The Beijing Capital International Airport is 26
kilometers northeast of the city center and has
three terminals. More than 5,000 scheduled