By City-bus

There are hundreds of public bus routes in Beijing. They play an important role in the common people's daily lives. But visitors should avoid taking a public bus during rush hours, as it is very crowded. Commonly, buses No.1 – No.122 run in the downtown area; buses No.300 – No.949 run to the outskirts of Beijing. Bus numbers beginning with '8' are air-conditioned; other numbers indicate double-decker, special tour lines, night buses, and so on. Some buses do not have a conductor; so passengers should board the bus at the front, drop the ticket fee into the box and exit at the rear. Please prepare your small bills before boarding. The ticket fee for a public bus in Beijing is very cheap. The ticket price is CNY1 for city routes. The ticket price for buses with air conditioning is CNY2. But different buses often charge differently:

Tickets:
Bus No.1 – No.200: CNY1
Bus No.201 – No.212 (night bus): CNY2
Bus No.300 – No.599: starting from CNY1 and CNY0.5 added for following each 5 kilometers (3.1 miles)
Bus lines starting with 'Te': CNY2

In addition, the Tourist Special Smart Card is the most convenient and economical way for visitors when taking a public bus in Beijing. Passengers can get a big discount with the card.

Bus Routes:
Here are some public bus routes to main stops which may be helpful for your trip:

Furthermore, as a cultural center of China, there are plenty of universities in Beijing. Bus No.331 and No.375 can take you to many famous universities of China, including Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Beijing Normal University, Beijing Film Academy, China University of Political Science and Law, Beihang University, Peking University Health Science Center, China University of Petroleum, China University of Geosciences, Beijing Language and Culture University, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Peking University, Tsinghua University and finally, the School of International Studies of Peking University.

Bus No.323 from Beijing Zoo to the Summer Palace also passes by many universities and research institutions, such as Central University for Nationalities, Beijing Dance Academy, Beijing Institute of Technology, Renmin University of China, Peking University, National Library and Chinese Academy of Sciences.

To make sure the athletes and audience of Olympic Games can travel more efficiently, there will be 34 special bus routes open to navigation by the end of July, 2008.

During the Olympic Games, visitors can get on the buses free by showing their entrance ticket to the games. Recently, two Olympic special lines have opened. These buses run from 05:30 to 22:00 every 20 minutes. The charge is CNY1 an 80% discount with a public bus card. The special routes start from the north section of Olympic Park and run to Bei Taipingqiao and Shuangquanbao separately.

Tips:
1. IC card can only be used for one person each time.
2. Some of the bus routes are charged according to the distance, passengers should use the card twice both when getting on and off the bus. For detailed information, please visit the official website of Beijing City-bus at http://www.bjbus.com/english/default.htm.

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