Beijing News: Flights to India, Tourist Hub & Intercity Rail Services

      Beijing is a vibrant city! Stay informed with our weekend summary of the latest updates.

      China and India to Restart Direct Flights

      On October 6, a representative from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that direct flights between China and India will recommence by the end of October 2025. This development follows a meeting between the leaders of both nations in Tianjin in August and aims to enhance China-India relations and encourage interactions between the peoples of China and India. It also signifies a revitalization of collaboration between the two countries concerning peace, security, and development in Asia.

      Beijing to Unveil Unified Booking Platform for Tourists

      Efforts to make Beijing an appealing international city persist, with the latest initiative being a unified booking platform for foreign tourists. The initial phase of this project will provide reservation options for key tourist attractions, museums, and scenic areas in Beijing, all available on a single platform. This will allow users to easily make, view, and manage their reservations and itineraries without the complications of coordinating plans across various platforms. The platform is in the testing phase and is expected to launch soon, with foreign residents also set to benefit from this service when it becomes available.

      Beijing's Integrated Central Transit Hub Set to Open This Year

      Beijing is preparing to inaugurate Asia's largest underground integrated transportation hub in Tongzhou District later this year. The Beijing Sub-Center Station, also referred to as "Jing Fan" or "Beijing Sail," boasts an underground construction area of 1.28 million square meters and integrates four subway lines (Line 6, Pinggu Line, M101 Line, S6 Line), two inter-city lines (the Beijing-Tangshan Intercity Railway and the Huairou-Daxing Airport Intercity Railway), one suburban railway (the Beijing-Harbin Railway), and 15 public transport shuttle lines, along with a designated dock for cruise ships.

      The underground facility consists of three levels:

      B1 – Station entrance and urban commercial area with a sunken plaza

      B2 – Intercity railway waiting hall, primarily designed to facilitate transfers

      B3 – Platform level for the intercity railway featuring eight platforms and 14 lines

      Besides enabling quick connections to the city center and nearby areas from outlying regions, the new hub marks a significant advancement in the development of an interconnected Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Once the transit hub is completed and operational, travelers will be able to reach Beijing Capital International Airport in 15 minutes, Beijing Daxing International Airport or Tangshan in 35 minutes, and Hebei Xiong’an New Area or Tianjin within one hour.

      READ: Apartments in Beijing for Expats

      Images: Unsplash, Beijing Fabu

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Pioneering New Horizons in China: Bayuquan - Emerging Adventurers

When I selected Yingkou as our second destination in China after Dalian, I was only aware of two specific locations I wanted to see: Liaohe Old Street and a coastal area named Bayuquan. It wasn't until we arrived that I conducted more thorough research and discovered that Bayuquan was an hour and a half drive south of downtown Yingkou, where we were staying. One intriguing aspect of China is that larger cities often have the same name as the surrounding prefecture, and the English-language internet frequently overlooks this distinction. A notable example is Chongqing, which is often referred to as the largest city in the world with a population of thirty-two million; however, that figure represents the entire province's population. Four cities in China hold provincial status, and Chongqing's province encompasses areas far beyond the actual city limits. The urban area at the core of the province has a population closer to twenty million. We faced a similar confusion in Yingkou, as Bayuquan was actually a separate city located a considerable distance away.