Beijing Airports To The City: Capital, Daxing And What Each Costs

Beijing is served by two international airports and they are 46 km apart on opposite sides of the city. Capital, in the north-east, is the one most people mean by “Beijing airport”. Daxing, in the far south, opened in 2019 and now takes a large share of long-haul traffic. Which one you land at decides how your first hour in China goes.

The good news is that both have a dedicated express line into the metro network and both are served by licensed taxis at fixed ranks. The bad news is that the difference between the cheap option and the expensive one is about ¥150, and arrivals is exactly where the unofficial drivers work.

Every option, with the numbers

Both express trains are clean, have luggage racks and run every ten minutes or so. At the far end you change onto the metro, which costs ¥3–9 depending on distance. If your hotel is near Dongzhimen or Sanyuanqiao, Capital is a fifteen-minute walk from the platform.

Terminals, and why they matter

Capital has three terminals and the express calls at Terminal 3 and Terminal 2 in that order, so check your airline before you get on. Terminal 3 is the big international one; Terminal 2 handles some domestic and a few foreign carriers. Terminal 1 is domestic only, and the walk between terminals is not something to attempt with twenty minutes to spare.

Daxing is a single, enormous building shaped like a starfish, which sounds charming and means a long walk from the gates to the train. Follow the rail signs rather than the taxi signs if you are on a budget: the express platforms are on level B1, and the ticket machines take Alipay and WeChat Pay as well as cash.

Late arrivals and early departures

The express trains stop running before midnight, which leaves a real gap for flights landing after 22:00. In that window you are down to a taxi, a DiDi booked on your phone, or an airport hotel. DiDi is usually ¥30–60 cheaper than the taxi rank at Capital and the pickup point is clearly signed.

For departures, work backwards: three hours before an international flight, two for domestic, plus your journey in. From the centre that means leaving 4h30 ahead for Capital and five hours for Daxing, which is the real cost of a Daxing ticket if you are staying north of the Third Ring Road.

One practical note for first-timers. Buy a transport card or set up the metro QR code in Alipay while you are still waiting for your bag, because the ticket machines at the express station queue badly when two wide-body arrivals land together.

Which airport should you pick when booking?

Staying in Dongcheng, Wangfujing or the north-east: Capital, without question, both for travel time and for the ¥25 express. Staying in the south, or continuing straight to Xi’an or Chengdu by high-speed rail, makes Daxing attractive because its station connects into the rail network.

If the price difference is large, remember that Daxing is genuinely ninety minutes from a hotel in Chaoyang at the wrong hour. A ¥400 cheaper fare is not cheaper once you have paid ¥220 for a taxi and lost an evening.

Questions people actually ask

Express line operating hours are 06:20 to 22:50 on most days but shift slightly with the season; check the departure board before you rely on the last service.