Most of the time when you take subway, you will find it is very crowded, though the subway may be the one of the fastest tool to go around the city center.
The present Beijing subway system has two rail lines( underground train ) and two light-rail lines ( city rails above ground ). The two rail lines consist of Line 1 and Line 2. The Line 1 is a line from east to west under the Chang An Avenue. The Line 2 is a loop line within the second ring road. The Line 1 and Line 2 exchanges at Fuxingmen and Jianguomen. The two light rail lines consist of Line 13 and Batong Line. Batong Line starts from Sihui to Tongzhou District.The Line 13 starts from Dongzhimn to Xizhimen.The line 5 is under construction.It’s learn that a city train from Beijing Capital Airport to Dongzhimen will be built within the year 2008.
To take subway is quite simple. Go to the nearest station and buy a ticket at the price of RMB 3. With the ticket, you can go to any station within Line 1 and Line 2 and Line 13. For Batong Line, you have to pay RMB 4.The trains arrive each 10 minutes from 5.30 am-11:00 pm. Stops signboards are bilingual and all stations are shown in both English and Chinese.

The subway is an excellent way to quickly get around the city and a traveller can easily figure it out through the station

maps and English signs and language.

Beijing now has four subway lines:

Line 1 runs from the industrial Pingguoyuan area in the west to Sihui East in eastern Beijing. It has 21 stops and follows Chang’an Dajie, the main avenue of Beijing. It links Xidan, Tian’anmen East and West, Wangfujing, Dongdan, Guomao, and Yong’anli. Transfer stations are at Fuxingmen (Line 2), Jianguomen (Line 2), and Sihui/Sihui East (Batong Line).
Line 2 is also called the Loop Line and follows the 2nd Ring Road. Major stops of interest include Qianmen, a major transportation hub as well as an attraction in its own right. Transfer stations are at Fuxingmen (Line 2), Jianguomen (Line 2), Xizhimen (Line 13), and Dongzhimen (Line 13).
Line 13 does an extended northern semi-loop from Dongzhimen via Huilongguan through to Xizhimen. Transfer stations are at Xizhimen and Dongzhimen (both to Line 2).
The Batong Line runs east from Sihui to Tuqiao in eastern suburban Beijing. Transfer stations are at Sihui and Sihui East (both to Line 1). The Batong Line is not of much use for travelers.Subway station in Beijing.Seven additional subway lines are under construction in preparation for the 2008 Olympics.

The subway station entrances are identified by a large blue stylized letter B wrapped around a smaller letter D.

Purchase tickets at the window. Note that if you want two tickets, do not show your thumb and index finger, the Chinese way

to signify numbers is different from the west, thumb and index finger mean eight not two.

The ticket for Lines 1 and 2 costs ¥3 and transferring between these two lines are free. The fare for Line 13 is ¥3 and for the Batong Line is ¥2. If you are transferring to Line 13 or the Batong Line, purchase the combination ticket (Line 2 and Line 13 fare: ¥5, Line 1 and Batong Line: ¥4).

All the lines use paper tickets, except for Line 13, which has magnetic tickets and automatic fare collection machines. When transferring to Line 13 from Line 2, you will first exchange your paper ticket for a magnetic ticket at the booths before the automatic barrier.

There is also a new pre-paid card system. There is a ¥20 payment for the card, and then all rides cost ¥3. It can also be used for reduced-price bus rides.