Memoirs of Beijing

It’s been quite some time since I’ve posted tips in living in Beijing.  One of the most important thing in living in China is navigating the city without looking dumb.  If you’ve been to Hong Kong, you’d probably notice their infamous Octopus card. 

In Beijing, the Octopus card counterpart is called the Yi Ka Tong.  This card can be bought at the nearest subway station.  Not all ticket booth in the station have this card.  They might direct you to a different ticket booth to purchase this.

Basic Information:

• Cost:  RMB 20 for the card
• Recharge:  Increment of 10, 20, 50 or 100. 
• Recharge Location: Vending machines in subway station, ticket booth in subway stations or CITIC bank.
• Charges:  RMB 2.00 for city subway;  RMB 0.40 for bus (minimum)
• Where can you use it?  Subway, Bus, Some taxi, Some supermarkets
• Maximum load:  RMB 1,000
• Valid only for use in Beijing

Benefits:

• Subway – ease of access as you don’t need to queue at the vending machine or ticket booth.  No cash needed.
• Bus – discounted rate of RMB 0.40.  Without the card, the minimum bus rate is RMB 1.0
• No cash to carry around.

I’ve been using this card for a few years now and I’m quite happy with it.  I rarely use it in the taxi or supermarket as I don’t put much money on it.  Cash is still king in China but people are being slowly weaned out by carrying a huge wad of it.  This card is especially useful before Chinese New Year when robbery is rampant.

If you plan to travel to Beijing, don’t bother buying one as there’s no discount for subways.  I doubt you’d like to take the bus especially as it’s not very friendly to tourists. 

Happy Travels!