Opinions are mine

Back in December of 2018, we’ve been planning a trip to Japan and were looking for ways to save on airfare. The cheapest option we found was to fly with Air China and included an overnight layover in Beijing.

Our friends1, who flew with some other Chinese airlines, told us they got free accommodation whenever they had a stopover. We couldn’t find such an option on our reservation, but even counting the price of 2 extra nights, it was the cheapest alternative.

For what it worth, later I discovered a way to request accommodation for booking via Air China iOS app2. It could’ve reduced our expenses even further may I notice it earlier.

Our itinerary was such that on the way to Japan we would land at PEK around 18:35 and fly to NRT next morning at 09:10. On the way back we would arrive at PEK at 18:25 and leave home around 12:45 the next morning.

In other words, even not counting potential delays, we didn’t have much time for anything. Nevertheless, we wanted to use this opportunity to get a sneak peek at Beijing.

We set 2 goals for ourselves:

  1. Try Peking duck
  2. See the Great Wall of China

The plan was to use the first stopover to practice passing the border control and getting to the city. On the second stopover, we would try to get to the Great Wall of China. Peking duck would have to fit somewhere along the way.

As fellow Ukrainians, we need a visa to visit China. But at the same time, we can leverage 144-hour visa-free transit program when traveling through certain areas. Luckily, Beijing is one of them.

An important thing to note is that you’re not guaranteed to be admitted. As even a visa is not a guarantee of admittance to a country you’re not a citizen of, with visa-free transit, you may be easily refused an entry.

Entry permit request form

The process itself is quite simple, and well outlined on Wikitravel.

Once out of the plane, we just followed the crowd. At some point, it split into two streams: transfer and exit. A critical note here is that you should not go to the international transfer area. If you go there - you won’t be able to come back and exit to the city.

Around the place where crowd forks, we saw a stand labeled “144-hour visa-free transit” - that’s where we went. But before doing so, we had to submit our fingerprints and fill out a form to request an entry.

There was airport staff tasked to assist foreigners like us. They are trying to help but whenever they unsure about something - they fall back on sending you to the international transfer area.

Once we submitted our fingerprints, each of us got a special receipt. We had to show it both to get the entry permit stamped into our passports and at the border control when we were entering the country. Later, we were able to reuse it during our second stopover.

Fingerprints Receipt (redacted)

Having a fingerprints receipt and a filled out form for each individual, we lined up for an entry permit. Few people in front of us got rejected and didn’t have any other options besides going to the transfer area. Some of them were refused because the immigration agent deemed they don’t have enough time to go to the city before their outbound flight. At least one person was denied based on their passport or travel history - we didn’t hear all the details. But many more were admitted.

Immigration agent asked everyone about the confirmation of their outbound flight and why they want to go to the city. Even when we were going to visit the Great Wall of China on our way back, we said we want to spend a night in a proper hotel and try local cuisine. Just to not shock anyone with our tight schedule.

Our permits were approved, photos taken and passports stamped. If there is no wait - all of it can be done in just 5 minutes but if there is a line - it can take quite a while. Once done, we made a left turn and followed signs to the border control for the exit to the city.

One last time, a kind airport representative tried to send us back to the transfer area while we were checking signs. After bypassing them, we breezed through the last check and took a train to the main building of Terminal 3.

As we just had a connection between two legs of our trip, our checked baggage remained in possession of the airline, and we only had a small backpack on us.

There are several ways to get to the city from the airport. We opted for Airport Express train which cost 25 CNY at the time. It’s possible to buy single-use tickets, but we went with a pre-paid subway card to save time. It’s refundable and cost 20 CNY on its own.

Once at the main building and in the arrivals area, we started by getting some cash from an ATM. I asked at the information desk, and the staff sent me to the other side of the hall. There was a special room with about a dozen ATMs lined up. My Visa debit card worked like a charm.

Finally, ready to leave the airport, we followed signs for the train station. Between border control checkpoint and the train station platform, we passed through at least two brief security checkpoints. Neither we had to remove laptops from our bags for X-ray nor anything from our pockets for metal detectors.

Now, at the train station, about to leave for the city - where do we go?

Airport Express runs in a loop

The primary destination for those taking Airport Express is Donghzimen station. Being a transport hub of Dongcheng District, there is not much to do around the station itself, and many would transfer to subway or bus once there.

With very little time to spare, it was our final destination for the night. Having a flight at 9:10 in the morning, we were aiming to catch first Airport Express to the airport.

Donghzimen Station

By the time we reached Donghzimen, it was 22:30 - a little over 2 hours since our plane landed with a slight delay. And less than 11 hours before we were supposed to take off for Japan.

All the checks and formalities at the airport can be handled within 30 minutes, Airport Express takes another half an hour or so. Rest of the time we spent frantically looking for a place to stay for the night.

Residential buildings around Donghzimen station

We had a reservation for one night at Beijing Eastern GINZA Hotel long before our trip, but it was canceled the very last moment. All the time I had before the flight that day I spent on the phone with Booking.com support. Unfortunately, they weren’t of much help. Given that the reservation was “for tonight” there were very few rooms available. Most were too far away from the station, which didn’t work for us. Others were more expensive, which didn’t work for Booking.com as they didn’t want to cover the price difference of more than 20 USD. Angry and frustrated, I hung up and started looking for available options on my own.

As our plane was taxiing for take-off, I put a reservation at Hotel Qianyuan International Business via their website. As we rolled onto the runway, I hurriedly switched my phone into airplane mode and relaxed. Phew. The only thing that bothered me was that I didn’t get any confirmation email. I discarded that worry, assuming I shut down my phone too quickly - “I will get it once online again.”

The very first thing I did once we landed at PEK was to check an email only to see a message that the room we requested was not available. We were offered another one, though, which was a little bit more expensive. To secure it, we had to submit credit card details. It was a very strange online form where I had to type the hotel’s name in a plain text field along with some other oddities. In a panic mode, I was able to complete it by the time we walked out of the plane.

The only good thing that followed was that the reply came quickly - “sorry, all rooms are sold out for tonight.” This message came exactly when we were filling our entry permit requests. Not having anything to put into the “Address in China” row we thought our chances to leave the airport went to 0.

Beijing Baifuyi Hotel

We felt desperate and were trying all the options we could think about - from web search to Google Maps to Booking.com. After a while, we got an email from the latter that we have a room confirmed at Yi Chao Service Apartment. Not really knowing what to expect at this point, we went ahead with our entry permit forms.

For what it worth, none of the immigration agents we talked with attempted to verify our accommodation reservation in any way. Not that I ever had such experience with any other border control staff, but we didn’t know what to expect from China. After all, China is infamous for its police state.

Once past the border control, we realized that our reservation appears to be rather a guesthouse than a hotel, and we don’t have any check-in instructions. Not sure about how to proceed, we tried calling the number from the email. After a while, we were greeted by a lady who spoke as much English as we Chinese. Nevertheless, she was eager to help, and with some struggle, we got in touch with her sister. Apparently one of them runs a guesthouse, and another one runs a hotel. The bottom line was that they couldn’t host us at the guesthouse, but we’re welcome at the hotel. We got a map location in a message where we would need to go.

Toiletries at Beijing Baifuyi Hotel

As much as all of this was sounding promising, it also seemed pretty shady to us. On top of that, the presumed hotel was located even further away than all other options we considered.

Around the same time, we ran across Beijing Baifuyi Hotel on Booking.com. I don’t know how come we didn’t consider it earlier as it’s located pretty close to the station. It looked like a legit option, and we got an email confirmation immediately.

Following our hunch, we excused ourselves from the ladies we were talking to and jumped on the Airport Express to Donghzimen Station.

Google Maps walking directions weren’t quite right, and we ended up in some restricted area. Luckily, security guards were friendly and pointed us in the right direction.

All in all, it took us 10 minutes to reach the hotel lobby from the station. We were greeted by the front-desk staff and immediately confused the heck out of them as they couldn’t find our reservation. That being said, the very first thing they did was to reassure us are available rooms and they will get us settled in. As it turned out later, the way the hotel system is integrated with Booking.com is such that they get updates once a day and therefore same-day reservations are tricky.

We agreed to hold on our credit card equal to the standard rate of the hotel, which was higher than what we had in the confirmation email. They promised us to adjust it to the price stated by the Booking.com next day at 9 AM when they will get fresh data. Running a bit ahead, they did what they promised.

As we learned later, the sole reason for the turmoil was a special regulation that we didn’t know about. All foreign visitors have to be registered with a local police office within 24 hours of arrival. Hotels can do it automatically, but individual hosts are most likely to cancel your reservation at the very last moment. Even though it’s a visitor’s responsibility, presumably there is some penalty for individually owned accommodations such as guesthouses if they host unregistered tourists. Bottom line and lesson for future: prefer hotels over Airbnb and guesthouses for short stays in China.

Very happy to have proper accommodation, we felt exhausted, hungry and craving for a drink to relieve stress. Given that it was 23:30 at the time, we didn’t have high hopes but weren’t in a mood to give up without trying either.

Not learning our lesson on the first try, we used Google Maps to look for any bars open late and followed directions for the closest one.

Not only we didn’t find the brewery we were expecting to see, but also we ended up in some dark and shady-looking alley. You can imagine looks on the faces of a few locals who passed by.

Along the way, we saw something which we assumed to be a grocery store and some local dinner. We didn’t feel like it will be easy to get something edible in either of them but noted them as a last resort.

Giving up on whatever we found online, we decided to walk around a few blocks in each direction from the hotel to see if we can find anything trustworthy.

Just two blocks away from where we started, we saw a 2-story building that looked like a restaurant that closed for the day. Nevertheless, the stairway to the patio on the second floor was lit, and I decided to check it out of curiosity.

It was dim and empty, but I could hear some jazz music playing from the direction of a well-lit door in the corner of the patio.

Feeling adventurous, we decided to give it a try and pulled on a handle. The door opened easily, and we stepped into a glamorous hallway with nobody around.

As we walked in, music became stronger, and we could hear people talking in the background. Glancing at each other we agreed that, whatever we found, our curiosity wouldn’t let us leave without checking it out. At the end of the hallway, there is a curtain that, when drawn aside, lets us into a large room.

Tango by Ala House

To our surprise, the music playing is not from speakers but rather a live band performing on stage. And the room itself appears to be a restaurant with about a dozen tables and a bar.

Judging from the atmosphere, we make a bet that it’s not a private party and look around. All the tables are taken, but there are last two empty seats at the bar which we immediately land into.

Bartenders, worn in rather a formal attire, greet us gently and we have a cocktail menu in front of us the next moment. That’s when we start noticing something odd about the place.

Ever since we walked out of the plane, we barely heard anything besides Chinese. At this place - it was all English. Not only the menus or the language bartended spoke with us, but also everybody around. It was all Asians around us, but all the chatter we could hear in the background was in English.

Puzzled and surprised, we were also relieved as it made things easier.

The menu only had drinks in so we inquired about food. The only things they had available, at least at the time, were “meat” and “cheese” platters. We ordered both.

“Meat” and “cheese” platters

“Meat” and “cheese” platters turned out to be jamón and brie. As we learned later, they tuned out to be pretty, ugh, expensive, but we didn’t care by the time as we were craving for some proteins.

The cocktail selection was vast, and we liked everything we ordered. Not only the drinks were delicious, but it also was a pleasure to watch bartenders making them, and they were very curious about our feedback.

As the jazz band was wrapping up the performance just after midnight, they introduced themselves, and it turned out that they’re Canadians. We heard them speaking at least Chinese, English and French, and we just kept wondering how many languages they know in total.

While enjoying music and drinks, we lost track of time. Only when we realized we are one of the last few people left we looked at the clock. It was just 8 hours before our flight and 5 hours before we would need to wake up.

Closing the bill - with a Visa credit card - we rushed back to the hotel.

By the time we got into a bed, we had less than 4 hours of sleep remaining, but at least we were well fed, in a good mood and optimistic.

Getting ourselves out of a comfortable bed was a tough battle, but we made it somehow. Deprived of sleep, we felt we were too slow and going to miss the first train we were aiming for. I think that’s what would’ve happened if it wasn’t so cold outside. Not really enjoying surprisingly low temperature we walked fast and made it in time. The train doors closed behind our backs as we stepped inside.

As we were flying from Terminal 3, it was the first stop at the airport, and it took us just about 20 minutes since train departed. That being said, there is just one more stop on the line for all other terminals.

We spent another 30 minutes going through security and immigration check while on the way to the section of the terminal where our gate was located.

Having a full hour before boarding, we had a chance to explore all the restaurants around and enjoy a breakfast at Crystal Jade.

It was a very short night in Beijing but it was a lot of fun!

Inspired by our little adventure, we walked onto our next flight.


  1. Hi, Andrew & Ken! ↩︎

  2. Select Trip in the tab bar > Chose your trip > Open the outbound leg from a stopover location > Switch to Trip Service > Look for Transit Hotel item at the bottom ↩︎