Transportation-Port to Beijing

We will disembark from a cruise ship at Xingang, the port for Beijing, on October 2nd. We will be staying over for five days in Beijing so we will need transportation from the port to the Beijing Hilton. Hilton can arrange transportation for us but it seems quite expensive. The cruise line is not helpful. Has anyone out there experienced this situation? Do you have any suggestions for transport? Thank you.

This may be old info as there is no date on it:

PRIVATE TRANSPORT:

Until recently private car or motorcycle journeys were impossible in China, but this has slowly begun to change. You need to investigate the actual possibilities through the tourist office of PR of China or other information offices. You may also join travel agencies which organise car or motorcycle trips on a regional basis. It is also possible to hire a car with driver for a specific time through the travel agencies in China or the taxi companies.

This may be old info as there is no date on it:

 

PRIVATE TRANSPORT:

 

Until recently private car or motorcycle journeys were impossible in China, but this has slowly begun to change. You need to investigate the actual possibilities through the tourist office of PR of China or other information offices. You may also join travel agencies which organise car or motorcycle trips on a regional basis. It is also possible to hire a car with driver for a specific time through the travel agencies in China or the taxi companies.

Very old info. Drivers can be hired through many venues. China is coming into the 21st century and getting ready for the Olympics. IMHO, they have gone WAAAY overboard-wiping out all the old stuff.

To the OP-check out the other thread on port transfers. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=112565 Lots of suggestions from private car hire to taking the train.

The whole week starting from 1st October will be the Chinese people's holiday. 1st October is the national day of China. I don't know whether the traffic condition will be good! In Beijing, you must beware the terrible traffic!

From Tianjin (Xingang), if the traffic is good, it will need 1-2 hours to travel to Beijing. The location of Hiton is good, yet it is an old hotel. Don't expect too much! It is not necessary to ask the hotel to send the vehicle from Beijing to pick you up at Xingang. You can certainly take a taxi and the price should not be very high - RMB200 up??? You need to consider if you have too many pieces of baggage!!!! Someone may say that you can go to the train station at Tianjin and take a train, about 45 minutes, to Beijing. This is certainly inexpensive. But, you may face the difficulty in purchasing the train tickets and from the Beijing station, you still need to take a taxi to the hotel! So, it is not recommended for you to take the train. Good luck!:)

You may contact the taxi companies:

Web-site: http://www.wqstaxi.com

E-amil: Manager@wqstaxi.com

You may also visit the site: http://www.beijingtaxi.org/first.htm

or: http://www.stcar.cn/e_hiring.htm

:) :)

Aside from the luggage issues, I wouldn't suggest planning to take the train in. While a lot of people tend to head home (out of the big cities) for the holidays, the October National holiday is not the same. Lots of people from all over the country flock to Beijing (and all end up at Tiananmen). At almost all of the holidays, train tickets sell out and the trains' standing room fills up as well!

However, hiring a car shouldn't be too difficult. If nothing else, a regular taxi will probably take you if you pay enough (but enough could be as much as 400 RMB - $50 USD). With the cruise port, there are a lot of companies offering transfer service. Check out some of the other threads on making the connection (including doing it Beijing -> Tianjin).