Beijing Subway Guide 2025: Lines, Fares & Tips

The Beijing subway is the best travel decision you’ll make in this city. Fast, cheap, fully bilingual, and reaching every attraction that matters — it’s the kind of system that makes you wonder why every city doesn’t just copy it. This Beijing subway guide gives you what you actually need: which lines to use, how to pay (including with your foreign card), how the security works, and which exit gets you where you’re going. For the full picture of getting around the capital — buses, taxis, airport runs — see our complete Beijing transportation guide.

2026 quick stats: 27 lines, 490 stations, roughly 10 million trips per day. Foreign Visa, Mastercard, JCB, and American Express contactless cards tap in directly at every gate — no setup, no app, no cash required. The go-to navigation tools for foreigners are Yitongxing (official Beijing transit app with cumulative fare discounts) and MetroMan (cleaner English interface with real-time updates). Every sign, every announcement, every ticket machine: bilingual.

Here’s the thing most guides skip: the on-the-ground experience is far less intimidating than the wall map suggests. Trains come every two to three minutes in peak hours. The main friction points for first-time visitors are the security X-ray at every entrance — it’s mandatory, bring no large liquids — and figuring out which numbered exit leads where. Both are sorted below.

Beijing Subway at a Glance

Metric	Value
Total lines	27 (numbered plus named lines: Airport Express, Yizhuang, Daxing)
Stations	490+ across the network
System length	836 km (one of the world’s longest)
Daily ridership	~10 million passenger trips
Operating hours	~05:00 to 23:30 (line-dependent)
Train frequency (peak)	Every 2–3 minutes
Train frequency (off-peak)	Every 5–7 minutes
Single ride fare	¥3–10 ($0.40–$1.40 USD)
Airport Express (PEK) fare	¥25 flat ($3.50)
Airport Express (PKX) fare	¥35 flat ($4.90)
Languages	Chinese + English on every sign and announcement

The Lines You’ll Actually Use

Of the 27 lines, tourists realistically stick to about six or seven. Know these and you can reach 90% of Beijing’s sights without ever consulting anything more complex than a basic map.

Line 1 (Red) — The Tourist Spine

Runs dead east-west through the historic core along Chang’an Avenue. This is the line. Tiananmen East and Tiananmen West drop you at the old imperial palace and Tiananmen Square. Wangfujing handles shopping. Dongdan connects you south. Ride east to the end of the Batong branch and you arrive at Universal Resort station for Universal Beijing Resort. If you ride only one line in Beijing, make it Line 1.

Line 2 (Blue) — The Old City Loop

A circular line tracing the footprint of Beijing’s old Ming Dynasty city wall. Qianmen covers the famous shopping street, Jianguomen gets you to the Ancient Observatory, Yonghegong puts you at the Lama Temple, and Beijing Railway Station handles inter-city trains. The loop format is forgiving — miss your stop and you’ll swing back around.

Line 4 (Green) — North-South Through the Sights

Connects Beijing South Railway Station — where the high-speed trains depart for Tianjin, Shanghai, and beyond — up through Xidan, Xizhimen, and on to the Summer Palace at Beigongmen. Essential for any Summer Palace day trip. Also the line for Beijing Zoo.

Line 5 (Purple) — Hutong Country

North-south through east-central Beijing. Yonghegong for the Lama Temple, Beixinqiao for the Wudaoying Hutong strip, Tiantandongmen for the Temple of Heaven’s east gate. If you’re spending a day exploring the old alleyways, this is your line.

Line 6 (Brown) — Modern Chaoyang

East-west through Chaoyang District. Use it for the Sanlitun bar and restaurant zone (Dongdaqiao or Hujialou) and for Beihai North station, which puts you right on the edge of Beihai Park and Jingshan — two parks that most first-timers miss and shouldn’t.

Line 10 (Light Blue) — The Outer Ring

A second ring line outside Line 2. Good for Chaoyang nightlife at Tuanjiehu, and the Sanyuanqiao interchange where you pick up the Airport Express. Also useful for cross-city connections that don’t require fighting through the central core.

Airport Express — Capital Airport (PEK) to City

Not numbered — just called the Airport Express. Runs from Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 at Beijing Capital Airport to Dongzhimen and Sanyuanqiao for ¥25 flat. Terminal 3 to Sanyuanqiao takes about 20 minutes. You transfer there to Line 10 or Line 2 for anywhere in the city. Full breakdown in our Beijing airport to city center guide.

Daxing Airport Express — Daxing Airport (PKX) to City

A separate express for Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX), running into Caoqiao on Line 19. ¥35 flat, 19-minute non-stop. It’s a purpose-built high-speed-design train, so it’s actually the faster of the two airport links despite the longer distance.

Fares: What You’ll Pay

Beijing uses a distance-based fare on all numbered lines. Most tourist trips land in the ¥3–6 range. The system calculates your fare automatically when you tap in and tap out — you never have to pre-select a price.

Distance	Fare (CNY)	USD Approx
0–6 km	¥3	$0.42
6–12 km	¥4	$0.56
12–22 km	¥5	$0.70
22–32 km	¥6	$0.85
32+ km (per 20 km)	+¥1	+$0.14
Maximum single fare	¥10	$1.40

The Airport Express lines run flat fares: ¥25 for PEK Capital Airport, ¥35 for PKX Daxing. One important rule — don’t lose your ticket or card mid-trip. If you can’t tap out at your destination, station staff charge you the maximum fare for exit. It happens more than you’d expect when people stuff tokens into a jacket pocket.

How to Pay in 2026

Foreign tourists have three solid payment options. Which one suits you depends mostly on how long you’re staying.

Option 1: Tap Your Foreign Card (Easiest)

Since 2024, every gate accepts contactless Visa, Mastercard, JCB, and American Express. Tap the yellow scanner area on entry, tap again on exit. The fare lands on your statement in CNY as a foreign transaction. This is the right choice for short stays — no app, no cash, no queue. One caveat: use a physical card. Apple Pay and Google Pay with foreign cards work intermittently at best. Bring the card itself.

Option 2: Yitongxing App (Best Value for Longer Stays)

Yitongxing (亿通行, “Easy Travel”) is the official Beijing subway app. Download it from the App Store or Google Play, register with your passport, link a credit card or Alipay/WeChat Pay, and use the in-app QR code at the gate. The real incentive: cumulative ride discounts kick in after you spend ¥100 in a calendar month — roughly your 20th ride — dropping fares by 20% and scaling to 50% on heavy use. If you’re in Beijing for five or more days and riding often, this pays off.

Option 3: Single-Journey Token

Buy a plastic token from any vending machine in the station. The machines have an English toggle (top-right corner of the screen). Pick your destination by name or map tap, pay with cash (¥1, ¥5, ¥10, ¥20, or ¥50 accepted) or Alipay/WeChat QR. Tap the token on the gate sensor to enter, drop it in the slot on the way out. Perfectly functional, just slower to set up than card-tap if you’re doing multiple rides per day.

What About the Yikatong Travel Card?

Beijing’s traditional plastic transit card — buy one at any station service window for a ¥20 refundable deposit plus whatever you want to top up. Works on subways, city buses, and some taxis. Still valid and useful, but a bit redundant now that foreign cards tap in directly. Get a Yikatong if you want something tangible to hand to a travel companion or if you’re planning heavy bus use, where card-tap is less reliable than on the metro.

Step-by-Step: Riding the Subway

Every station follows the same sequence. Do it twice and it becomes muscle memory.

• Find the entrance. Look above ground for a blue circle with a white ‘B’ (北京地铁, Beijing Metro). Large stations have multiple lettered entrances — A, B, C, D — at different street corners. Google Maps and Apple Maps both tell you which entrance to use.
• Pass security. Every entrance has an X-ray scanner. Put your bag on the belt, walk through the metal detector, collect your bag. Liquids over 100ml may be swabbed. It takes under two minutes unless there’s a queue.
• Choose your line. Color-coded overhead signs indicate which line is served at each gate bank. Multi-line stations have separate banks per line.
• Tap or insert. Credit card on the yellow scanner, Yitongxing QR at the reader, or token in the slot. The tall plastic gate flaps open.
• Find your platform direction. Platform signs name both terminal stations of the line. If you need to go east on Line 1, you want the platform for Sihui East (the eastern terminus). If you’re going west, it’s Pingguoyuan. Check the map once and you’ll have it.
• Wait behind the yellow line. Arrows on the floor show where to queue so exiting passengers can come off first. Beijing riders follow this — do the same.
• Board. Trains stop at every station, doors open automatically. Let people out, then get on.
• Listen for announcements. The next station is named in Mandarin and English before each stop. The overhead dot-map on the carriage wall tracks your progress.
• Tap out. At your destination, tap your card, show your QR, or drop your token. Follow the numbered exit signs (A1, B2, etc.) to the street.

Which Exit to Take

This is where most first-timers lose five minutes. Each station has lettered exits leading to different street corners — sometimes the difference between the right exit and the wrong one is a ten-minute detour above ground. Apple Maps is reliable for this in China (unlike Google Maps, which can be patchy). Search your destination, and it’ll specify which exit number to follow. Alternatively, each exit in the station has a small sign listing the street names and major buildings accessible from it. Take thirty seconds to read it before climbing the stairs.

If you’re doing a lot of independent exploration without Chinese, our guide to getting around Beijing without speaking Chinese has a fuller breakdown of navigation apps and workarounds that apply beyond just the subway.

Subway Stations for Major Tourist Sights

Attraction	Best Subway Station	Line
Forbidden City (south entrance)	Tiananmen East or Tiananmen West	Line 1
Forbidden City (north exit)	Tiananmen East, then walk north	Line 1
Tiananmen Square	Tiananmen East or Tiananmen West	Line 1
Temple of Heaven	Tiantandongmen	Line 5
Summer Palace	Beigongmen	Line 4
Lama Temple	Yonghegong	Lines 2 and 5
Confucius Temple	Yonghegong	Lines 2 and 5
Wangfujing Shopping	Wangfujing	Line 1
Sanlitun Nightlife	Tuanjiehu or Dongdaqiao	Lines 10 and 6
Beijing Zoo / Pandas	Beijing Zoo	Line 4
Olympic Park / Bird’s Nest	Olympic Sports Center	Line 8
798 Art District	Wangjing, then short taxi/bus	Lines 14/15
Nanluoguxiang Hutong	Nanluoguxiang	Lines 6 and 8
Wudaoying Hutong	Yonghegong	Lines 2 and 5
Beijing South Railway Station	Beijing South Railway Station	Lines 4 and 14
Beijing West Railway Station	Beijing West Railway Station	Lines 7 and 9
Beijing Railway Station	Beijing Railway Station	Line 2
Capital Airport (PEK)	Capital Airport T2 / T3	Airport Express
Daxing Airport (PKX)	Daxing Airport	Daxing Express / Line 19

Practical Tips That Actually Matter

• Avoid rush hour. Peak commute hits 07:30–09:00 and 17:30–19:30 on weekdays. Not just crowded — genuinely pressed-against-the-glass crowded. Schedule your sightseeing to start at 10:00 and you’ll ride in relative comfort.
• Download offline maps before you go underground. Cell signal in tunnels is patchy. Apple Maps works well in China — download the Beijing area offline. Google Maps is unreliable on the mainland; use it only as a backup.
• Always check the exit number. A1, B2, C3 — they matter more than people expect. Check before you climb the stairs.
• Mind the gap on original Line 1. The oldest rolling stock on Line 1 has a noticeable gap between train and platform. Step over it deliberately, especially with luggage.
• Security rules to know. No knives, no aerosols over a certain size, no fireworks. A small penknife in a backpack outer pocket occasionally gets flagged. Avoid the headache and leave it at the hotel.
• Last train is non-negotiable. Services end 23:00–23:30 depending on the line. After that, you’re looking at taxis or hailing a car through Didi. Don’t bank on making a 23:25 train from a station three stops away.
• Strollers and large bags. Elevators exist at most stations but aren’t always fast or obvious. Allow extra time, follow the accessibility signs, and don’t attempt rush-hour trains with an oversized suitcase if you can help it.
• Transfers are free. Switching lines at an interchange station doesn’t cost extra as long as you stay within the paid area. Some transfers are long walks — Wangfujing’s Line 1 to Line 8 link takes about five minutes underground — so budget accordingly.

Safety and Comfort

The Beijing subway is one of the safer metro systems you’ll ride anywhere. Pickpockets are rare — security cameras are dense, uniformed staff are present at every station, and the culture around public crime is different from many European or South American metros. Standard sense still applies: keep your phone in a zipped pocket in peak-hour carriages, wear a backpack on your front when it’s densely packed, and don’t leave bags unattended.

No eating or drinking in the carriages — staff occasionally enforce this, and other passengers will notice. No lying down across seats. But honestly, on a typical tourist ride these rules rarely come up.

FAQ

A Practical First-Day Route

A realistic opening-day plan: tap into Line 1 at whatever station is nearest your hotel, ride to Tiananmen East for the Forbidden City. Spend three hours. Re-enter at Tiananmen West, ride two stops to Xidan, switch to Line 4 northbound for Beihai Park or southbound for Xuanwu. Total subway spend: about ¥9 per person. That’s not a typo.

If you’re planning side trips beyond Beijing — the Great Wall by train, a day trip to Tianjin — the subway connects to high-speed rail at Beijing South (Line 4) and Beijing West (Lines 7 and 9). Both stations are straightforward from the center. The subway is the connective tissue of the whole city: learn it early and the rest of your trip gets easier.

More Beijing Transportation Guides

• Getting Around Beijing: Full Transportation Overview
• Beijing Airport to City Center: Every Transfer Option Compared
• Beijing Taxi Guide: Fares, Apps & Tips for Foreigners
• Beijing Bus Guide: Routes, Payment & How to Use Public Buses
• Didi in Beijing: How to Use Ride-Hailing as a Foreigner
• Beijing High-Speed Trains: Lines, Stations & Booking
• Planning a Beijing Trip: The Complete Guide