The capital’s bus routes are not designed for non-Chinese speakers, with signage in Chinese only, but some routes may be worth exploring as part of the Beijing experience.
Most bus journeys cost between 1RMB and 2RMB; passengers pay a conductor or swipe magnetic cards as they get on. Buses run from around 6am to 10pm, with a handful of night buses.
An English bus route map is available at
bjbus.com,where you can enter your starting point and destination to have your bus journey automatically planned out.
There are a few very useful buses that serve as cheap-rate tour buses. Catch the No.1 at Beijing Railway Station to explore the central business district. The No.5 can be picked up at Zhongshan Park, from where it meanders around the tree-lined streets behind the Forbidden City; hop off anytime to see the hutongs. The No.10, from Beijing Railway Station, goes past Tiananmen Square, up Chang’an Jie and into the Muslim quarter.