A city designed to welcome: Beijing's bigger push for accessibility

From free shuttle buses to getting connected to the wider city, Beijing's effort to welcome international visitors doesn't stop at the airport doors, it follows you all the way through the city.

We've looked at Beijing's digital map ecosystem and the platforms making it easier to navigate and pay for the city from your phone. However, the infrastructure of welcome extends well beyond apps and services – it begins the moment you land. The first hour after arriving in a new city sets the tone for everything that follows, from finding transport and getting connected to figuring out how to pay for things. These are the moments that can make a destination feel either genuinely welcoming or exhausting. 

Beijing has been paying close attention to that first hour, and what's taking shape at its airports and across the city reflects a visibly sustained effort to get it right.

A cluster of recent initiatives, including a free airport bus campaign at Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX), dedicated international arrival service counters, an expanding payment infrastructure and a multilingual support hotline, means that travelers arriving in Beijing today are set for a frictionless adventure. 

Arrival and on the ground experience: Free buses from Daxing International Airport, until October 31, 2026

Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX), the city's newer and rapidly growing international hub, has launched a free shuttle bus campaign for all international arrivals as well as those from Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and China's Taiwan region. Running until October 31, 2026, the campaign covers six popular routes into central Beijing and surrounding districts, removing what has historically been one of the first financial pain points of any arrival, getting from the airport to the city.

Here's how to claim the benefit. After collecting baggage, eligible passengers can visit the "Beijing Service" counter outside the international and regional baggage claim hall, present their boarding pass or other proof of flight, register and pick up a ride voucher. They should then proceed to the bus ticket counter near Gate 20 on the first floor of the terminal, where staff will confirm the route and departure time. The service runs from 2 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

A few practical details worth noting – the offer applies to independent travelers only, each voucher is valid for a single ride, and tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis each day. The Fangshan, Yizhuang and Tiantongyuan routes are not included in the campaign. For those heading to central Beijing or other covered areas, it is a genuinely useful saving – and a signal that the city is willing to absorb some of the cost of making arrivals feel welcome.

What's waiting at the service counter

The airport service counters have become something of a one-stop shop for newly arrived international visitors. Beyond the bus voucher, they offer a range of services designed to get visitors set up from the first minutes after landing.

Multilingual staff at the counters are on hand to help with consultations, whether that means planning an onward journey, understanding which services are available or simply getting oriented in a new city.

Local SIM cards can be obtained on the spot, ensuring connectivity before you've even left the terminal. 

The Beijing Pass, an all-in-one card that simplifies payments for transportation, tourist sites and shopping centers across the city, is available to pick up here as well. 

Apart from Daxing International Airport, the pass is also available for purchase at Beijing Capital International Airport, as well as major railway stations. It can be bought with cash, international credit cards, Alipay or WeChat Pay, so there is no need to have Chinese Yuan on hand before you arrive. The card itself costs ¥20 (non-refundable), and pre-made cards typically come loaded with ¥30 to get you started. You can top up to a maximum balance of ¥1,000 at any designated counter. 

Once you have it, a single tap covers subway rides, public buses and taxis across Beijing, entry to over 30 popular tourist sites including the Summer Palace and the Great Wall, and purchases at participating shops and restaurants displaying the Beijing Pass logo. It also works on public transport in over 300 cities across China, handy if Beijing is just one stop on a longer trip. Refunds are available at the same counters where you bought it.

Getting connected to the wider city 

Once in the city, the support continues. The English version of the Jingtong App allows visitors to log in instantly using passport information, with identity verification completed in seconds. From there, they can book attraction tickets, schedule hospital appointments, apply for cards and access an English-language map and events calendar, without needing a Chinese ID or local bank account.

The GO BEIJING platform, recently launched as Beijing's one-stop service hub for international visitors, supports 16 languages and offers 39 services including ride-hailing, hotel booking and ticket purchasing. Its Travel Wallet function allows users to load funds via cross-border remittance before they even board their flight, so payments are ready to go from the moment they land.

For shopping, 23 major stores across the city now participate in the Instant Tax Refund upon Purchase program, with the refund process taking as little as two minutes via a tap of the phone. Locations and procedures are mapped on the updated Beijing English Map, which also covers cultural hubs, hotels, currency exchange machines, transit card top-up points and SIM card vendors throughout the city.

If something goes wrong: The 12345 online hotline

Even the best-laid plans hit snags. Beijing's answer to that is the versatile 12345 hotline service. Visitors can call directly (+8610) 12345, with support available in eight languages, English (24 hours a day), French, German, Russian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Arabic. For languages not covered, operators connect callers to a specialist via a three-way call, so no one is left without help. For those who'd rather type than talk, the 12345 Online channel is accessible through the International Web Portal of Beijing and directly via the English versions of both the GO BEIJING and Jingtong apps – messages can be submitted in your native language, no Mandarin required.

Either way, the process is the same once your query is received. All cases are transferred immediately into Beijing's "Swift Response to Public Complaints" workflow, where relevant departments collaborate to resolve them through a closed-loop process of submission, referral, resolution and feedback. For those who prefer face-to-face support, the "Beijing Service" airport counters also provide on-site consultation.

It is worth noting that 12345 is a non-emergency service channel. If you find yourself in an urgent situation, China's emergency hotlines are: 110 for police, 119 for fire, 120 for medical emergencies and 122 for traffic accidents.

Overall, a city designed to welcome

The infrastructure being built now is Beijing's answer to what comes next – once visitors arrive in greater numbers than ever before, how does the city make sure they feel at home? The solution, increasingly, is to meet them at the door. 

All these initiatives, part of a sustained and widening effort to make the city genuinely navigable for people who don't speak Mandarin, translate directly into a better visitor experience and, in turn, stronger word-of-mouth and repeat visits.

Editor's note: Zaruhi Poghosyan is a multimedia editor for CGTN Digital. This is the third article in a series on Beijing's evolving digital services for international visitors. Read part one on Beijing's one-stop ticketing platform, and part two on the city's wider digital ecosystem for navigation and daily life.