Beijing airport arrival guide: SIM, eSIM, transport, and the first night
Updated: 2026-10
PEK or PKX, data before you leave the hall, then the Airport Express (¥25 at Capital, ¥35 on the Daxing airport run) or a metered taxi. Check in with the passport the same night.
The first hour is data, then a ride, then the hotel desk
Land at Beijing Capital (PEK) or Beijing Daxing (PKX), get a working data connection before you leave the arrivals hall, and only then choose the train or a taxi. The ticket shows which airport. Capital is northeast of the center. Daxing is south. Treating them as interchangeable is an hour-class mistake, and a driver who hears the wrong Chinese name will not correct it for you. Have the hotel’s name in Chinese characters on the phone before the wheels touch.
A short-trip data eSIM bought before departure often sits in a roughly $5–10 budget, and an airport counter plan from China Mobile, China Unicom, or China Telecom commonly starts around ¥100–200 for a few days. Those are traveler budgets, not a posted carrier tariff. The eSIM checkout and the counter show the price you pay. The carrier plan is a third-party cost. First72 China’s Landing 72h fee does not include it.
Buy the connection where the passport can be checked
An eSIM installed at home is the faster path, because the arrivals hall is a bad place to create an app-store password. Confirm the phone is unlocked and that the eSIM activates on a Chinese network, not only on the vendor’s map. If you skipped that, the three carrier counters in the arrivals area sell a visitor SIM against the passport. Real-name registration is mandatory. A photo of the passport is not a substitute for the booklet at the counter.
Airport Wi-Fi can finish an app download, and it is a weak tool for a taxi QR code or a hotel form once you are in a car. Keep the home number reachable for bank texts if you will bind Alipay or WeChat Pay the same day. A Chinese SIM helps with local SMS later. It does not replace the home number on the card account. Roaming charges, if your carrier bills them, are between you and that carrier.
Capital Airport Express is ¥25, and the last trains are early
The Capital Airport Express is a flat ¥25 per person, published by the airport and by Beijing’s subway fare notice, separate from the regular metro fare. Trains run about every 10 minutes. Stops in town are Beixinqiao, Dongzhimen, and Sanyuanqiao, then Terminal 3 and Terminal 2. There is no station inside Terminal 1, so T1 passengers use the free inter-terminal shuttle and connect at T2 or T3. Dongzhimen to Terminal 3 is about 25 minutes of ride, plus the walk from the platform to the curb.
Citybound last trains are early relative to a delayed long-haul arrival: the airport’s posted window from T3 toward the city ends at 22:52, and from T2 at 23:10. The last train from Dongzhimen toward the airport is 22:30. After those clocks, take a taxi. A ride from Capital to a central hotel is commonly around ¥100–150 before a highway toll, and 40–70 minutes depending on the hour. That range is what travelers meet, not a city tariff. The meter plus any toll is the fare. Pay it in cash or with a payment code you have already tested.
Daxing’s ordinary airport ride is ¥35, and the center is farther
The ordinary Daxing Airport Express fare for the long airport run is ¥35 one way. Beijing’s English page of 27 October 2026 states that price for Caoqiao to Daxing Airport. The operator’s ticket rules, revised in August 2026, price ordinary carriages at ¥10 within 20 km, ¥25 from 20 to 30 km, and ¥35 beyond 30 km, and they price the business carriage at a flat ¥50. You change to the regular metro at Caoqiao. Budget the metro fare on top, which starts at ¥3 within 6 km on the city network.
A taxi from Daxing to a central hotel is commonly about ¥150–250 and closer to an hour or more. Again, the meter and the toll decide, not this page. Some airline tickets include a free or reduced Daxing express ride through 31 December 2026, including on certain Air China, China Southern, China Eastern, and Xiamen tickets. The airline’s own app is where that ride is issued. It is not included in a First72 China service fee, and a missing promo code is not a failed pickup. Leave the center 3.5–4 hours before a Daxing departure.
The first night is the hotel desk, not a monument
Go to the hotel before you go to a landmark. A licensed hotel scans the passport and files the stay with public security. That scan is the legal check-in, and it is slower when the guest arrives with a dead phone and no Chinese name for the property. Payment-app coaching belongs in this same block: one small successful charge before you sleep is worth more than a night-time walk. The Forbidden City can wait until the next morning, with a timed ticket booked in the passport name.
If someone is meeting you, name a door, not “arrivals.” Capital and Daxing both have several exits. Write the terminal, the door, and the flight number in the arrival sheet after you pay a service fee, and keep a copy on paper in case the phone dies. Airport pickup coordination can be part of Landing 72h. The fare itself is billed at actual cost. We do not operate a fleet, and we do not quote a fare as if it were a flat transfer price.
Do it in this order
01Confirm PEK or PKX
Read the ticket for Capital or Daxing before you tell anyone a hotel. Save the hotel name in Chinese characters and a door at the terminal. A screenshot of the booking is the backup when the mail app has no data.
02Get data in the hall
Turn on the eSIM you bought before the flight, or buy a visitor SIM at China Mobile, China Unicom, or China Telecom with the passport. Budget about $5–10 for a short pre-bought eSIM and about ¥100–200 to start at the counter. Pay the price on that screen.
03Choose the train if it is still running
At Capital, pay ¥25 for the Airport Express if you are inside the posted hours, and remember T1 has no station. At Daxing, the ordinary ride to Caoqiao is ¥35. After the last train, use the taxi queue and the meter.
04Check in, then pay one small bill
Hand over the passport for the scan, confirm the deposit amount before you tap, and make one ¥10–30 Alipay or WeChat Pay charge the same evening. Cash of ¥300–500 covers a broken reader. Sleep. Sightseeing starts the next day.
FAQ
Which airport is closer to central Beijing?
Capital (PEK) is the nearer of the two for most central hotels: about 25 minutes on the Airport Express to Dongzhimen, or commonly 40–70 minutes by taxi. Daxing (PKX) is a longer taxi ride, commonly an hour or more, or the ¥35 express to Caoqiao plus a metro connection.
Can I buy a SIM with a foreign passport?
Yes. China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom counters register a visitor SIM against the passport booklet. An eSIM bought before departure skips that queue if the phone is unlocked. The plan price is whatever that counter or checkout shows.
Does the Airport Express ticket include the city metro?
No. The ¥25 Capital fare and the ¥35 Daxing airport fare are the airport-line fares. A ride onward on the regular network is a separate ticket. The city fare starts at ¥3 within 6 km.
What if my flight lands after the last train?
Use the official taxi queue. From Capital, the citybound T3 window ends at 22:52 and the T2 window at 23:10. From Dongzhimen back to the airport, the last train is 22:30. The meter plus toll is the fare.
Does Landing 72h include the taxi and the SIM?
Landing 72h is a $90 service fee for coaching and coordination: pickup coordination, SIM or eSIM coaching, payment-app coaching, and hotel check-in help. The fare and the carrier plan are billed at actual cost. They are not inside the $90.
Related guides
Want this handled with you?
Want the first night handled with you? Landing 72h is the $90 service fee for pickup coordination, SIM or eSIM coaching, Alipay or WeChat Pay coaching, and hotel check-in help. Fares, the carrier plan, and the room are billed at actual cost.