Hello,
I am thinking of moving to the Beichun/ Bejing area (North, around Metro) and I am wondering it the buses will be reliable there.
I have heard many times it is one of the worst part of town regarding the commute (which don't match my own experience with 72 bus that was just fine most of the time).
If anyone lives around there and can share his/her experience, it will be greatly appreciated !
Thanx !
Oooh, Beichen.. I have to go out to the North for work sometimes and I hate the commute. I live near Wenlin. Basically you can take the 84 that takes you all the way to the North bus station.. I'm not sure about other buses.
To be honest there's not much out in the North apart from Metro, O Reilly's etc. If you are into night life I would suggest the North isn't for you.
It takes a little under an hour to get to the North bus station IF the traffic is good, which isn't very often. During rush hour, you'll need to double that. If I have to be somewhere at 5.30PM, I need to leave home well before 4PM. Also for the past four months Beijing Lu has constantly had roadworks, slowing up traffic even more.
If you really wanna live out in the North, I would suggest you get an ebike.
It won't be too bad if you don't need to come downtown very often, once or twice a week is bearable. That being said, if you don't need to leave the North area very often, you can find everything you need up there.
The Downtown to North commute is certainly not something I would want to do on a regular basis.
On a side note, the apartments up there are certainly nicer, especially in the Beichen walking area.
Along Beijing Rd there are many, many bus routes, so I suppose it depends a lot on where you want to go (or to come from). There is also going to be a subway station at the corner of Beichen and Beijing Roads if they ever finish the subway.
RE the subway, can't wait for it to be finished, it will make travelling around KM so much easier and I will be able to avoid most of the traffic.
I actually would love to live in the Wenlin Jie area (or even better, around Green lake) but I work close to the Expo garden which is quite far away from downtown... and quite a nightmare to reach with buses (55 or 69).
That's why I was thinking of Beichun as a better option to be able to get to work without too much difficulties and still having a foreign atmosphere thanx to O'Reilly's or Prague Café...
Hey mPRin, I think you're a little off on a few things. The 84 bus does not go to Beichen, it goes to the north transit terminal just off of LinYu Road via Longquan Lu. If you live at Beichen and want to go downtown you can take the 23, 236 to the train station, 61 or K5 to Renmin west, and many others that I don't even know.
As for Beijing Road construction, it's been a lot more than 4 months - more like 4 years. The work is right on schedule, I just wish they would stop changing the schedule!
Karina, Beichen is nice, but if you were to come further north to LinYu road you could get a bus directly to Expo Garden without having to change.
Alpage48, If you read my post, I stated that the number 84 goes to the North bus station and I wasn't up to speed on other buses in the area as this is the only one I use. I said four months on construction work, because that's how long I have been travelling that route, I don't know about before that.
Hey but maybe I'm just being pessimistic because I really hate that bus route to the north.
Karina, as I said, I think an ebike would be a good option for you. : )
I second mPRin's suggestion about getting a scooter. The bus is probably a good means of transportation if you live in Dianchi or Chenggong, but scooters are quite convenient for avoiding traffic inside the third ring road, plus they come with a free raincoat. Chuanjin Lu directly connects Beichen to the Cuihu/Yuantong Temple area. The whole road as been newly asphalted a few months ago and there are a lot less vehicles than Beijing Lu. When I lived in the North, it usually took me about 20 minutes to reach Cuihu from Beichen.
I lived in the north and sometimes had to commute to Renmin Xi Lu. Time on bicycle - 25 minutes (normal traffic) 30 minutes (rush hour). Time on bus 2 hours (rush hour) or 45 minutes (normal traffic). An e-bike would be much the same speed.
Living in the north is pretty nice actually, a lot less busy than middle of town. I would recommend it if you aren't into going out every night to lots of different pubs. Orielly's is there if you need the occasional night at a bar though and don't want to travel in.
I can say that you would notice a world of difference with your commute if you want to go to the expo gardens.... I really can't imagine commuting every day from the centre of town to there, jeez, sucker for punishment!
Like others say also - if you are here for a long time (a few years) you will have the benefit of the subway pretty soon, hopefully within the next year. Then commute times will be dramatically shorter along Beijing Lu for buses/cars/bikes/subway users etc.
If you travel often you may want to consider the long distance bus stations. I have a home in Dali so I usually travel west often so I live in Xi Shan District just 5 minutes from Ma Jie - the West Bus station. When I have to go North, south or east I need an hour just to get to the bus station. As others mentioned, the new subway line will open next year so that will facilitate travel depending on where you live.
